Privacy Policy

The last update to this document was 18 June 2024.

Introduction

Pedder's Shock Absorber Service Pty Ltd ACN 004 848 435 (Pedders, we, us, our) and its related entities are committed to complying with applicable privacy laws in relation to the personal information that we collect in the course of running our business.

Pedders franchise stores and authorised dealers (Pedders Network Members) are operated by independent businesses (and not by Pedders), and individual Pedders Network Members may have privacy policies which differ from ours. Pedders Network Members are responsible for their own privacy policies and privacy practices. Please contact your Pedders Network Member directly for further information.

We work closely with Pedders Network Members to ensure that we provide you with a seamless customer experience whenever you purchase Pedders products or use Pedders services. We may collect personal information, and share personal information with, Pedders Network Members for this purpose.

Please take a moment to read our Privacy Policy as it explains how we manage personal information including our obligations and your rights in respect of our dealings with your personal information.

We may, in connection with particular goods or services we offer or provide to you, make other privacy disclosures to you or seek your authority to use your personal information in ways which are different from or more specific than those stated in this Privacy Policy. In the event of any inconsistency between the provisions of this Privacy Policy and those other disclosures, the other disclosures will apply. Where applicable privacy laws provide for exceptions or exemptions, we may rely on those exceptions or exemptions in our information handling practices.

Pedders may amend this Privacy Policy at any time and for any reason. The updated version will be available at www.pedders.com.au (the Website). We may highlight changes to this Privacy Policy on the Website, but you should check the Privacy Policy regularly for changes.

This Privacy Policy (other than section 11) explains how we manage personal information about individuals other than employees. Section 11 explains the position of employees.

Key definitions

In this document:

"APPs" means the Australia Privacy Principles set out in the Privacy Act;

"personal information" has the meaning set out in the Privacy Act, and (in summary) means information or an opinion about an identified individual or an individual who is reasonably identifiable, whether true or otherwise;

"Privacy Act" means the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth); and

"sensitive information" has the meaning set out in the Privacy Act, and includes certain specific types of personal information such as health information, and information about a person's racial or ethnic origin, sexual orientation or practices, criminal record, religious beliefs or affiliations, political opinions, membership of a political, professional or trade association, and biometric and genetic information.

1. How we collect your personal information

We will collect and hold your personal information in a fair and lawful manner, and not in an intrusive way.

Some of the common ways in which we may receive personal information directly from you include:

when you make an inquiry or order in relation to goods or services;

when you enter into contracts with us for our goods or services;

when you attend a Pedders (or Pedders Network Member's) event;

when you subscribe to our mailing list;

in administering and performing any contracts with service providers;

when you enquire about, or apply for, a position with us (whether as an employee, volunteer or contractor);

when you enquire about, or apply for, a Pedders franchise or authorised dealer business opportunity;

from correspondence (whether in writing or electronically) or when you contact us via telephone, e-mail, the Website, our social media platforms or other means;

when you upload content to or interact (in an identifiable manner) with our Website or our social media pages;

while you participate in Pedders questionnaires or customer satisfaction / market research surveys;

if you attend any of our premises, we may record certain contact details so that we can comply with applicable laws, and we may also record your image and/or voice if we have surveillance systems operating at those premises;

when administering any of our services; and

as otherwise required to manage our business.

Where it is reasonably practical to do so, we will collect your personal information directly from you. However, in certain cases we may collect personal information from publicly available sources and third parties, such as:

Pedders Network Members;

our suppliers, contractors, clients and business partners;

any recruitment agencies who you have registered with; and

if you apply for a position with us, your employers, referees, government bodies (e.g. police checks, if required), academic and professional bodies (e.g. to validate details and currency of qualifications).

We may also receive information about you (such as sales data about your purchases of Pedders products and services, including through Pedders Network Members) through our participation in data sharing arrangements provided by automotive industry bodies (such as the Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association and the Capricorn Group). See section 15 of this Privacy Policy for further details.

If we collect personal information about you from a third party we will, where appropriate, request that the third party inform you that we are holding such information, how we will use and disclose it, and that you may contact us to gain access to and correct and update the information.

2. Types of personal information we collect

The types of personal information we collect about you depends on the circumstances in which the information is collected. Typically, the types of personal information we may collect can include (but is not limited to) your:

Name;

Mailing or street address;

Postcode;

Date of birth;

Email address;

Phone number;

Vehicle registration number;

Vehicle make, model, year, series, variant;

Employment Status;

IP Address;

Approximate geographical location (for example, when you use the ‘my location’ function on the store locator page of our Website);

if you represent or have an interest in an entity and/or organisation, the name, ABN, contact details and address of that entity / organisation; and

ID documents and Membership IDs issued by other organisations.

If you request or purchase goods or services from us or have any other commercial dealings with us, we may also collect additional information such as your order and delivery details, payment and billing information and (depending on the circumstances) your signature, date of birth, credit card and /or banking details. We retain sales data on all transactions.

If we enter into contracts with you, request or receive goods or services from us or have any other commercial dealings with us, we may also collect your signature, date of birth, credit card and /or banking details, and billing information.

If you are a director of an organisation that is our customer and have agreed to act as guarantor, we may collect information about your assets and your other liabilities, to assess the credit risk position of that organisation.

If you are an individual contractor to us or apply for a role with us, we may also collect information relevant to your engagement with us including qualifications, length of engagement, resume, current and former employment details, pay rate and salary, bank details, feedback from supervisors, training records and logs of your usage of our equipment (e.g. phones, computers and vehicles).

If we need to confirm your identity, we may collect a copy of appropriate proof of identification.

If you access our Website, we may:

utilise cookies to collect additional information about your use of our Website, such as your internet protocol (IP) address, device information, browser information, and details on your usage. Please see section 7 of this Privacy Policy below for further information; and

if you have provided us with permission to access your device location when using our Website, we may collect information about your geographical location.

If you call us via telephone, we may monitor and in some cases record such telephone conversations for staff training, quality assurance and record-keeping purposes.

If you attend a premises we operate or manage, we may:

collect certain contact details that you provide to us (which may be via digital check-in apps), including the date and time of attendance, including so that we can comply with applicable laws (such as public health directives). If we collect such information to comply with a particular law, we will only use and disclose it in accordance with applicable laws; and

record your image and/or voice through the use of Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) systems for the purposes of managing security of the premises and health and safety of occupants and the public generally.

We only collect sensitive information about you with your consent, or otherwise in accordance with the Privacy Act. The main types of sensitive information we may collect include:

details of injuries (ie. health information) that may occur on our premises or arising through the use of our goods or services;

details of disabilities or allergies (i.e. health information) you notify us of so we can accommodate any special requirements when you attend our premises;

details of an individual's membership of professional associations and affiliations with relevant industry bodies or organisations, for the purposes of [insert].]

criminal record details, as part of pre-employment checks we undertake.

If you do provide sensitive information to us for any reason (for example, if you provide us with information about a health condition, injury or disability you have), you consent to us collecting that information and to us using and disclosing that information for the purpose for which you disclosed it to us and as permitted by the Privacy Act and other relevant laws.

In addition to the types of personal information identified above, we may collect personal information as otherwise permitted or required by law.

Where you do not wish to provide us with your personal information, we may not be able to provide you with requested goods or services and/or certain functionality of our Website.

3. Our purposes for handling your personal information

As a general rule, we only process personal information for purposes that would be considered relevant and reasonable in the circumstances. The purposes for which we use and disclose your personal information will depend on the circumstances in which we collect it. Whenever practical we endeavour to inform you why we are collecting your personal information, how we intend to use that information and to whom we intend to disclose it at the time we collect your personal information.

We may use or disclose your personal information:

for the purposes for which we collected it (and related purposes which would be reasonably expected by you);

for other purposes to which you have consented; and

as otherwise authorised or required by law.

In general we collect, use and disclose your personal information so that we can do business together and for purposes connected with our business operations (including managing our network of Pedders franchise stores and authorised dealers).

Some of the specific purposes for which we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information are as follows:

to respond to your queries or requests regarding our goods and services (for example, to provide you with information, a quotation or a booking that you have requested);

to provide you with our goods and services and manage the delivery of those goods and services, including by:

sending you reminders on recommended services and booking statuses;

providing you with reports that you have requested about your vehicle;

to provide you with tax invoices for our goods and services and, if you have ordered goods from us, dispatch and tracking information, returns and exchange authorisations;

to provide you with aftercare support services and manage and administer any product warranty or guarantee claims you may have, and to contact you in relation to any recalls affecting products you purchase from us or any Pedders Network Members;

to receive goods or services from you;

to consider you for a job (whether as an employee, contractor or volunteer) or other relationships with us;

to consider you (or your business) for a Pedders franchise or authorised dealer opportunity;

to confirm your identity;

where a business seeks to purchase our goods or services on credit, we may seek commercial credit reports that may include limited personal information about officeholders;

to operate, monitor, develop and improve our Website (including protecting the security and integrity of our Website and conducting website and system performance measurement and optimization);

to optimise and customise the user experience (including content and advertising) for users of the Websites and services;

to facilitate communications via our Website and our social media platforms, including communications with us or with other users of those platforms via direct messaging and posting to forums;

to facilitate your entry and participation in a competition or trade promotion;

to contact you (directly or through our service providers and marketing research agencies) to obtain your feedback and to find out your level of satisfaction with our goods and services;

to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations;

to protect the security, health and safety of our premises, facilities, personnel and visitors;

to address any issues or complaints that we or you have regarding our relationship; and

to contact you regarding the above, including via electronic messaging such as SMS and email, by mail, by phone or in any other lawful manner.

4. Who we disclose your personal information to

We may disclose your personal information to third parties in connection with the purposes described in section 3 of this Privacy Policy. This may include disclosing your personal information to the following types of third parties:

Pedders Network Members and their staff;

our suppliers, contractors and organisations that provide us with technical and support services or who manage some of our business functions (including mailing houses, marketing and promotions agencies, website and data hosting providers and other IT suppliers);

our related entities (who may use and disclose the information in the same manner we can);

our accountants, insurers, lawyers, auditors and other professional advisers;

any third parties to whom you have directed or permitted us to disclose your personal information (e.g. referees);

in the unlikely event that we or our assets may be acquired or considered for acquisition by a third party, that third party and its advisors; and

debt collection agencies.

We participate in data sharing arrangements with automotive industry bodies (such as the Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association and the Capricorn Group), as described in section 15 of this Privacy Policy.

We may also disclose your personal information in accordance with any consent you give or where disclosure is authorised, compelled or permitted by law.

If we disclose information to a third party who is handling it on our behalf, we generally require that the third party protect your information to the same extent that we do.

If you post information to certain public parts of our Website or to our social media pages, you acknowledge that such information may be available to be viewed by the public. You should use discretion in deciding what information you upload to such sites.

5. Storage and protection of personal information

We will hold personal information as either secure physical records, electronically on our intranet system, in cloud storage, and in some cases, records on third party servers, which may be located overseas. We use a range of security measures to protect the personal information we hold. Depending on the circumstances, these measures may include:

endpoint protection measures (including anti-virus, malware and malicious software detection, quarantine, and eradication);

DNS/URL filtering;

Secure Email Gateway deflecting Phishing attempts, virus and malware detection/protection;

network monitoring;

the Principle of Least Privilege (to restrict access to only those personnel who need that personal information in order to effectively provide services to you);

Multi Factor Authentication for staff members who have privileged access to personal information;

other supporting technological systems; and

physical security measures for our premises and databases / records.

We will destroy or de-identify personal information once it is no longer needed for a valid purpose or required to be kept by law. We may need to retain records containing personal information to comply with record keeping obligations, and for other legitimate business purposes (such as quality assurance).

6. Our marketing and advertising activities

6.1 Overview

Like most businesses, marketing and advertising is important to our continued success. We therefore like to stay in touch with customers and let them know about new offers and opportunities.

We may provide you with information and advertisements about products, services, events, opportunities and promotions (either from us, Pedders Network Members or from third parties) that we think may be of interest to you. We will only do so where:

you have opted-in, or have otherwise agreed, to receiving these materials; or

it is otherwise permitted by law.

6.2 Direct marketing

We conduct direct marketing through various channels, including over the phone and by e-mail, SMS, fax and post. If you have told us that you have a preferred method of communication, we will endeavor to use that method whenever practical to do so.

When you contact us about a product or service (for example by submitting a form or booking request) you consent to us sending you direct marketing and service-related communications about that product or service (such as service reminders, quotes, confirmation messages, reports and other types of communications) in order to respond to your inquiry or booking.

In addition to sending you communications which are related to a product or service you have expressly contacted us about, we may send you general offers and marketing materials if you have consented via the opt-in methods provided via our websites and systems.

If you would like us to stop sending you direct marketing communications, you can request this by contacting our Privacy Officer (see contact details in section 13 of this Privacy Policy) or using the unsubscribe functionality in our marketing communications.

Please note that there are certain types of communications that you may not be able to opt-out from, such as communications that we are required or permitted by law to send you. These may include service-related messages that are automatically generated in response to inquiries or bookings you make through our website.

6.3 E-mail analytics

Like many organisations, we use e-mail analytics to track and measure the success of our e-mail newsletters and other e-mail campaigns.

We use various technologies (such as tracking pixels) to collect information such as: which of our emails you have opened, which links you have clicked, which email client you are using, whether you opened our e-mail on a computer or mobile device, and the geolocation of your IP address. We use this data to analyse and improve the performance of our e-mail campaigns.

6.4 Internet advertising

We may also collect and use information about you for the purposes of online targeted advertising services that help our ads to reach you (and other people who may be interested in our products and services) on websites and social media platforms across the Internet.

We use online targeted advertising services across various paid media channels including Pay Per Click, Display advertising, social media advertising, email marketing and other forms of paid media.

These online targeted advertising services are operated by third party vendors, such as Facebook, Instagram, Google and LinkedIn.

Some of these services work by using non-identifying data about your behaviour and demographics that has been collected through cookies and other tracking technologies (such as pixels and device identifiers) when you use the Internet, including when you move between different websites and use different devices. For example, third-party vendors may use cookies and/or device identifiers to serve ads based on your past visits to our websites. Your browser or device may provide you with the option to disable or opt-out of some of these cookies and other tracking technologies (such as device identifiers).

Other services require us to use limited amounts of your personal information. For example, we may include your information in a customer list that we provide to selected online advertising service providers so that we can conduct audience-based advertising. This allows us to show our ads to you (if you also use those platforms) and to other users of those platforms who share similar characteristics with you. The customer list is usually hashed (to improve security and confidentiality) before it’s processed by the service provider to target and serve our ads.

The data that is collected through these cookies and other tracking technologies, or provided by us, may be combined with other data (supplied by our advertising service provider, or third parties) to improve the targeting and serving of ads.

Our online advertising service providers also help us by measuring the effectiveness of our ad campaigns (e.g. conversion tracking) and providing us with analytics data that we use to inform and optimise our ad campaigns. These analytics are based on data that may be collected through cookies and other tracking technologies. The analytics data we receive is generally aggregated and non-identifying.

When we use any advertising service that requires us to use or disclose your personal information, we will only do so if we are permitted to do so by applicable privacy laws. You can notify us at any time if you would like us to stop using your personal information for these targeted advertising purposes. Our contact details are set out in section 13 of this Privacy Policy.

You can also:

Opt-out of certain online targeted advertising networks directly by visiting:

the Digital Advertising Alliance’s opt-out portal at: http://optout.aboutads.info/; and

the Network Advertising Initiative’s opt-out page: http://www.networkadvertising.org/managing/opt_out.asp

view the relevant social media platform's website to learn more about how they collect and use your information and adjust your preferences regarding the types of advertising you are shown.

7. Cookies and web analytics

Our Website uses cookies. A cookie is a small text file which is placed on your device (if your settings allow cookies) and stored in your computer’s memory or on your hard disk for a pre-defined period of time. We use cookies to identify specific machines in order to collect aggregate information on how visitors are experiencing the Website and to distinguish you from other users of the Website. This information helps us to better adapt the Website to suit personal requirements.

We use cookies to improve your experience. If you do not wish to use the cookies, you can amend the settings on your internet browser so it will not automatically download cookies. However, if you remove or block cookies on your computer or device, please be aware that your browsing experience and our Website’s functionality may be affected.

Our website uses analytics services to help us better understand visitor traffic, so we can improve our services. In some circumstances your website behaviour may be identifiable and used to improve and personalise your experience.

We may use third party vendors to show our ads on sites on the Internet and serve these ads based on a user’s prior visits to our Website and other internet activity.  We may also use analytics data supplied by these vendors to inform and optimise our ad campaigns based on your prior visits to our Website.

8. Accessing and correcting your personal information

You may contact our Privacy Officer (see section 13) to request access to the personal information that we hold about you and/or to make corrections to that information, at any time. On the rare occasions when we refuse access (which we will only do in accordance with applicable laws), we will provide you with a written notice stating our reasons for refusing access. We may seek to recover from you reasonable costs incurred for providing you with access to the personal information we hold about you.

We are not obliged to correct any of your personal information if we do not agree that it requires correction and may refuse to do so. If we refuse a correction request, we will provide you with a written notice stating our reasons for refusing.

We will respond to all requests for access to or correction of personal information within a reasonable time. We generally aim to respond to such requests within 10 business days.

9. Overseas transfers of personal information

If you are an Australian resident who is purchasing goods and services, doing business with us, or working for us in Australia, we will not generally disclose your personal information to recipients located outside of Australia in the usual course of business.

For our international-based customers, suppliers and franchisees, we may need to disclose your information to recipients in your country in order for us to do business with you.

Whenever we transfer your personal information outside of Australia, we will do so in accordance with the requirements of applicable privacy and data protection laws (including, where applicable the requirement to take reasonable steps to ensure such recipients comply with applicable privacy laws.).

We may disclose your personal information to overseas recipient without your consent where permitted by the Privacy Act (and, in such circumstances, we will comply with the applicable requirements of the Privacy Act in doing so).

10. Employees

We collect information in relation to employees as part of their job application and during the course of their employment, either from the employee directly or, in some cases, from third parties such as recruitment agencies, referees, government bodies (e.g. police checks, if required) and academic and professional bodies (e.g. to validate details and currency of qualifications). 

The information we collect may include contact details, qualifications, resume, current and former employment details, pay rate and salary, bank details, feedback from supervisors and training records.

We may also collect details of disabilities, allergies and health issues that may impact the employee’s role, or which arise while on our premises or in the performance of the employee’s duties, so we can accommodate and otherwise assist the employee with any such health requirements or incidents, and the results of drug and alcohol testing we may conduct in accordance with applicable laws for health and safety purposes.

We collect camera/video footage of employees while on our premises (via CCTV) and logs of the employee’s usage of our equipment (e.g. phones, computers and vehicles) on a continuous and ongoing basis using various technologies, including monitoring:

email, internet and network use; and

the location of our vehicles and other Pedders equipment via GPS.

Under the Privacy Act, personal information about a current or former employee may be held, used or disclosed in any way that is directly connected to the employment relationship.  We handle employee information in accordance with legal requirements and our applicable policies in force from time to time.

11. Resolving personal information concerns

If you have any questions, concerns or complaints about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal information, including if you believe we have breached the APPs, please contact our Privacy Officer (see section 13).

When contacting us please provide as much detail as possible in relation to your question, concern or complaint.

We take all complaints seriously and will respond to your complaint in accordance with any applicable timeframes imposed by law and otherwise within a reasonable period. We generally aim to respond to complaints within 10 business days. We request that you cooperate with us during this process and provide us with any relevant information that we may need.

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your complaint, you may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner:

Office of the Australian Information Commissioner

GPO Box 5288, Sydney NSW 2001

Telephone: 1300 363 992

Email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au

12. Contact details of Privacy Officer

The contact details for our Privacy Officer are as follows:

Postal address: Pedders Suspension and Brakes
Attention: Privacy Officer
25-29 Letcon Drive,

Bangholme, VIC, 3175
Australia

Telephone: +61 3 9706 3500

Email: privacy@pedders.com.au

13. Links and third party services

Our Website may contain links to other websites operated by third parties, and to external services provided by third parties (such as Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) providers that are offered as payment options on our Website). If you access a third party website or third party service from our Website, personal information may be collected by that third party website or service provider when you use that website or service.

We make no representations or warranties in relation to privacy practices of any third party website and we are not responsible for the privacy policies or the content of any third party website. Third party websites are responsible for informing you about their own privacy practices and procedures and we encourage you to read their privacy policies.

You can find more information about below the third party BNPL providers that are offered as payment options on our Website (and the privacy policies of those providers):

Afterpay:

Website: https://www.afterpay.com/

Humm:

Website: https://www.shophumm.com/

Zip:

Website: https://zip.co/au

14. Social media platforms

We use social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn to communicate with the public about our services and businesses. We may collect the information that you choose to share with us through these platforms, including photos, videos and comments and posts.

These social media platforms have their own privacy policies and may handle your information for their own purposes. You can access the privacy policies for Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn on their websites.

If you choose to use these social media platforms to communicate with us, please be mindful that certain pages within these platforms may be publicly available. We encourage you to use the privacy settings available on each platform. If you would like to contact us directly, you can do so using the contact details in section 13.

15. Automotive industry bodies and commercial partners

Pedders is a member of various automotive industry bodies such as:

the Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association (https://www.aaaa.com.au/); and

the Capricorn Society (https://www.capricorn.coop/en).

As a member of these bodies, Pedders participates in various programs and initiatives run by these bodies for their members. These may include, for example:

trade promotions; and

data sharing initiatives where we supply certain information about our customers (such as name, address, member number and sales information) and receive aggregated data and reports.

We may also run competitions and special offers in partnership with various commercial partners from time to time. When you choose to participate in these competitions and special offers, we may share certain information about you (such as your name, contact details and vehicle make and model) with those commercial partners. Please refer to the competition or special offer terms and conditions for further details.

16. Changes

We reserve the right to change the terms of this Privacy Policy from time to time, without notice to you. An up-to-date copy of our Privacy Policy is available on our Website.