Privacy Policy

What is this privacy policy about?
This Privacy Policy describes how Panasonic Australia Pty Limited ABN 83 001 592 187 (Panasonic, we or us) will treat the personal information that we collect about you.

This Privacy Policy uses the definition of "personal information" which is provided in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Act).

Through your use of our websites, social media websites and pages and other communications with us, we may collect personal information about you.

We like to keep your personal information safe and want to explain to you how we collect, use, disclose or transfer it and how you can access and correct your personal information and what to do if you have a complaint.

This Privacy Policy explains how we do all this and it complies with the requirements of the Act, including the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) and any other applicable privacy laws in Australia.

Collection of personal information

• What kinds of personal information does Panasonic collect and hold?
The kinds of personal information that Panasonic collects includes names, contact details, employment history, age group and other information that is relevant to Panasonic's functions and activities.

• How does Panasonic collect personal information?

Panasonic usually collects personal information directly from individuals.

We also collect personal information about individuals from a third party contractor which provides customer service support to our customers on our behalf.

We may collect your personal information when you communicate with us, such as when you:

(a) make inquiries about Panasonic, our products and services or contact us for any other reason so that we can process, deal with and respond to your queries or other issues including any complaints and the servicing of products; or
(b) join and use My Panasonic; or
(c) contact, register with, post to, like or follow any of our social media websites, pages, forums or blogs; or
(d) use our websites; or
(e) register a product you have purchased or subscribe to any of our services;or
(f) register for and attend Panasonic events; or
(g) make applications for prospective employment and contracting opportunities at Panasonic; or
(h) subscribe to a newsletter, fill out a form or survey, enter or participate in any competitions or promotions.

Any personal information collected on our websites or our social media pages will state to the user that personal information is being collected.

• What happens if you do not provide your personal information to Panasonic?
If you do not provide personal information that we request in connection with our activities, we may not be able to provide our products or services to you.

• Why does Panasonic collect, use, hold and disclose your personal information?
Panasonic collects, uses, holds and discloses your personal information as necessary for purposes directly related to its functions and activities, including:

(a) providing our products and services to our customers and information and all services relating to our products and services;
(b) to record information regarding products purchased from us and to provide further services to you, such as repair or replacement of products;
(c) direct marketing including promotions, newsletters and competitions;
(d) supplying product warranties and guarantees and all related services;and
(e) contracting with individuals.

• How does Panasonic treat children's personal information?
Panasonic does not want to obtain personal information from children who are using our websites unsupervised.

If you are under 18 years of age, you must obtain the consent of your parent or guardian before providing us with any personal information.

• Does Panasonic use cookies or other web tracking systems?
We track traffic patterns throughout the URL's (websites) registered to Panasonic.

We use "cookies" on our websites. A "cookie" is a small amount of information which is transferred to the hard drive of your computer and which can identify your web browser but not you. If you want, you can disable your web browser from accepting cookies. If you do so, you can still access our websites, but not all services may be available.

Will Panasonic disclose personal information to anyone else?
Panasonic may disclose personal information to external companies, usually in connection with customer service support, outsourcing the repair and servicing of Panasonic products, competitions, promotions or similar services. Panasonic has agreements in place to ensure that third parties comply with our Privacy Policy.

We may also provide your information to others, if required or permitted to do so by law and in accordance with the APPs.

Does Panasonic disclose personal information overseas?
Panasonic does not disclose personal information to third parties outside of Australia.

From time to time, Panasonic may require you to provide personal information directly to its related bodies corporate, which are based overseas, for the purposes of providing support to you for specific Panasonic products. Panasonic is not responsible for any personal information is provided by you directly to such entities, which are not bound by the Act.

You may review the relevant entities' privacy policies to check how they will deal with your personal information, before providing your personal information to them.

Unsubscribing from Panasonic's marketing materials

• Unsubscribing from email lists
Every time that we send emails for marketing or promotional purposes, our emails will contain instructions on how you may unsubscribe from the relevant email list in respect of direct marketing.

• Unsubscribing from social media pages

Our social media pages provide instructions as to how you can unsubscribe from the relevant social media website or page.

Dealing with Panasonic anonymously or using a pseudonym

Tip - you can sometimes deal with us on our websites anonymously or using a pseudonym

You may deal with us on an anonymous basis or using a pseudonym when making inquiries through our websites or social media pages. However, we may need certain contact details from you to respond to inquiries.

If we host a blog or forum on our websites, you may use a pseudonym for publication on the website. However, we will require that you provide your name and contact details confidentially to us.

Security
We use industry-standard methods to protect your personal information from unauthorised access. Among other techniques, we usually store such information on a computer behind our "firewall" in a secure location, and we restrict the number of employees internally who can access such data.

Access, Correction and Removal of your Personal Information
You may seek to access or correct your personal information at any time by contacting the Privacy Officer by email at privacyofficer@au.panasonic.com, by phone to (02) 9491 7400 or by mail to the 'Privacy Officer, Panasonic Australia Pty. Limited, 1 Innovation Road, Macquarie Park, NSW 2113'.

If Panasonic does not agree to provide you with access to your personal information or to amend or annotate the information we hold about you, you may seek a review of our decision.

If Panasonic does not agree to make the requested changes to your personal information, you may make a statement about the requested changes and we will attach it to your record.

Panasonic accepts your right to opt out of any consumer research Panasonic conducts at any time.

Complaints

You can send written complaints about a breach of the Australian Privacy Principles in relation to your personal information by email to privacyofficer@au.panasonic.com or by mail to the "Privacy Officer", Panasonic Australia Pty. Limited, 1 Innovation Road, Macquarie Park, NSW 2113.

Complaints will be reviewed by Panasonic's Privacy Officer and a response will usually be provided within 30 days of receipt of the complaint by Panasonic.

If you believe that your complaint has not been satisfactorily addressed by Panasonic, after following the procedure set out above, you can make a complaint to the Office of the Information Commissioner (OAIC). The OAIC's contact details are available on its website.

For more information about making a complaint, contact Panasonic at privacyofficer@au.panasonic.com.

Amendments

Panasonic may amend this Privacy Policy at any time. Amendments to this Privacy Policy will be posted on our websites and will be effective when posted. Please check our Privacy Policy regularly for updates and amendments.

*As amended 12 March 2014.

Credit Reporting Policy

Available here.