THE MERLIN ENTERTAINMENTS GROUP
PRIVACY POLICY
- Commitment to Protecting Privacy
The Merlin Entertainments Group ("Merlin", "we", "us") is committed to protecting the privacy of visitors to its websites and attractions and mailing list subscribers. We have developed this Privacy Policy in line with the Australian Privacy Policy Principles in the Privacy Act 1988. This Privacy Policy applies to the collection, storage, use and dissemination by us of your personal information.
The Merlin Entertainments Group consists of a number of entities, each of which are listed in the Schedule below.
- About the Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy applies to all services offered by us. This Privacy Policy describes:
(a) how we collect and handle personal information;
(b) who we exchange personal information with;
(c) if we send information overseas and to which countries;
(d) how individuals can access and correct their information; and
(e) how complaints about privacy breaches are handled.
- Collecting Personal Information
We will collect information that personally identifies you only when you voluntarily provide it to us or one of our related entities. This information may include your:
(a) name;
(b) birth date;
(c) home address;
(d) other address;
(e) telephone number;
(f) facsimile number;
(g) email address;
(h) visit date;
(i) credit/debit card number and expiry date; and/or
(j) purchase history.
We collect personal information through various methods, including, but not limited to:
(a) admission tickets purchased;
(b) advanced bookings;
(c) marketing database sign ups via:
(i) Facebook.com;
(ii) Merlin operated websites;
(iii) Merlin's nominated email service provider The Rocket Science Group, LLC d/b/a; MailChimp ('Mail Chimp'); and/or
(iv) Various competitions and prize draws run by third parties.
Our web site is hosted on an internet server which may automatically record details about any computer used to access our website. This may include the IP address, domain name, browser type, the date and the time of access and details of the information downloaded. These details are not capable of identifying you and are used solely for statistical analysis and research on usage patterns to improve this website.
- Purpose of Collection of Personal Information
We collect Personal Information primarily for a variety of marketing related activities as permitted under the Privacy Act 1988. These marketing activities include, but are not limited to, provision of services, market research, advertising, email marketing and marketing strategy.
Personal Information used for marketing related activities helps us identify current market trends and to profile 'typical' customers. This enables us to create the best possible offering to customers.
You will occasionally receive promotional emails and we hope you will find these updates interesting and informative. If at any time you would like to unsubscribe from receiving our mailings or those of third parties or do not want us to share your personal information with other parties, please email us or follow the steps to unsubscribe. You will find the steps to unsubscribe at the bottom of every email you receive from us.
We use information provided by you for the purposes of providing products and services to you, to provide you with information about those products and services, to assist you with enquiries or purchases, to enhance your experience at our attractions, or to provide you with better customer service.
Personal Information collected by us will never be made available to the general public. You don't need to identify yourself when you deal with us, however in some circumstances we may only deal with individuals who have identified themselves to us. You are not obligated to provide your personal information to us however failure to do so may result in Merlin being unable to provide certain services to you.
- Disclosure of Personal Information
We will never sell or licence out Personal Information to third parties. We do disclose Personal Information to third parties for the following purposes:
(a) email marketing
(b) digital marketing;
(c) market research; and
(d) secure storage of Personal Information.
All third parties holding Personal Information comply with our Privacy Policy and we take full responsibility for all Personal Information held in accordance with current privacy legislation.
We reserve the right to disclose your personal information if we are required or authorised to do so by an Australian law or court or tribunal order.
Submission of personal information to us will be construed by us as consent to the full details set out in this policy, by, or on behalf of (through an authorised representative of the individual), the person whose personal information is being supplied.
Furthermore, by submitting personal information to us individuals or their authorised representatives agree that they are of legal age and/or status to receive any marketing and promotional communications from us that they provide express or implied consent for. We cannot be held liable for communications received due to personal information that has been supplied to us without the necessary authority of the individual in question, or where the individual does not meet the legal age and/or status requirements to receive such communications.
Entities within The Merlin Entertainments Group may also disclose Personal Information to other entities within The Merlin Entertainments Group.
- Sending Personal Information Overseas
Some Personal Information gathered by us is stored in a Data Centre located in the United Kingdom. All Personal Information in the Data Centre is strictly controlled in a physically secure location, protected by a Cluster Firewall Service and secured using best security practises.
We use a third party email service provider called Mail Chimp to send emails to our marketing databases. These databases, containing Personal Information, and are stored in a secure server located in the United States of America. In compliance with current privacy legislation we take full responsibility for Personal Information held by Mail Chimp.
Details of Mail Chimp's Privacy Policy can be found here http://mailchimp.com/legal/privacy/. Upon written request either by mail or email we will provide a paper copy of Mail Chimp's Privacy Policy to you.
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Right to Access and Correct Your Personal Information
We take all reasonable steps to ensure your personal information is accurate, up-to-date and complete. Individuals have the right to review, amend or delete their own personal and/or sensitive information that may be recorded on our databases. Information may be reviewed, amended or deleted by submitting a written request to privacy@merlinentertainments.com.au. There are no charges for submitting a written request to review, amend or delete your personal and/or sensitive information.
Approved amendments will be made within thirty days after the date of receiving your request. If we are unable to approve your request we will provide you with a written response outlining the reasons why your request was not approved.
In relation to a request to delete information all reasonable steps will be taken to delete that information, except where it is required for legal reasons. Deletion of information may result in Merlin being unable to provide you with certain services.
- Security
We are committed to keeping all personal information secure and have taken reasonable steps to prevent unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. We have implemented technology and security features to make our systems as secure as possible and to safeguard your personal information.
Please contact us immediately should you become aware or have reason to believe that there has been any unauthorised use of your personal information in connection with us.
- Use of Tracking Technologies
We may use "cookies" which are a feature placed on your hard drive to recognise and identify your computer. Cookies are used for identification purposes and allow certain functions on the website to work as intended. The cookies we pass to you are anonymous and do not hold information on you or reveal your personal identity. The cookies track your use of the website to learn about your preferences so that we may improve our website.
Please note that if you prefer not to receive cookies you can configure your Internet browser to reject them or to notify you if they are being used. This may limit the functionality of our website and we take no responsibility for your configuration of your Internet browser.
- Problems, Queries or Complaints
For further information regarding this Privacy Policy, to request a paper copy of this Privacy Policy or to make a complaint about the steps taken by us to protect your personal information or privacy, please contact our Privacy Team by emailing privacy@merlinentertainments.com.au or telephoning +61 (0)2 9333 9289.
We will investigate any complaints received in writing and do our best to resolve them as soon as possible. We endeavour to respond to your complaint within 14 days after the date of receiving the complaint.
If you are not satisfied with our response to your complaint, you can refer your complaint to the Office of the Australia Information Commissioner. You can contact the Office of the Australia Information Commissioner by telephoning 1300 363 992 or online at www.oaic.gov.au.
We reserve the right to review, amend, update and change this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect our obligations under the Privacy Act 1988 or current legislation and regulations.
Schedule – Entities in The Merlin Entertainments Group
Merlin Entertainments (Australia) Pty Limited (ABN 51 147 624 557), Sydney Attractions Group Limited (ABN 92 008 632 764), The Sydney Aquarium Company Pty. Limited (ABN 98 008 631 981), Sydney Wildlife World Pty. Limited (ABN 12 119 877 486), Sydney Tower Observatory Pty. Limited (ABN 29 103 232 748), Aqdev Pty. Limited (ABN 64 003 688 846), The Otway Fly Pty Ltd (ABN 48 099 502 833), Illawarra Tree Tops Pty Ltd (ABN 85 122 863 361), Living and Leisure Australia Limited (ABN 92 107 863 445), Oceanis Australia Pty Ltd (ABN 68 006 744 109), Underwater World Sunshine Coast Pty Ltd (ABN 97 089 366 772), Oceanis Developments Pty Ltd (ABN 71 099 604 618), Melbourne Underwater World Trust (ABN 87 656 124 575), Living and Leisure Australia Trust (ARSN 092 701 589), Legoland Discovery Centre Melbourne Pty Ltd (ABN 28 601 100 869) and each of their directly or indirectly owned subsidiaries.
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