Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

In this policy, “Baxau” (“we”, “us”, “our”) refers to the operator of baxau.com, a Sydney-based service that connects home buyers with independent buyers agents and publishes property guides.

2. The personal information we collect

We collect the following kinds of personal information:

Information you give us through an enquiry

When you submit the “Find an Agent” form, we collect your name, email address, and (if you provide them) your phone number, the suburbs you’re interested in, your approximate budget, the type of property you’re looking for, and any message you include.

Account information

If you create an account, we collect your name and email address, and either a securely hashed password or, if you sign in with Google or GitHub, basic profile information provided by that service (such as your name, email and profile image).

Information we collect automatically

Like most websites, we automatically collect certain technical information when you visit, including your IP address, browser and device type, pages viewed, and referring pages. We use Google Analytics and cookies for this (see section 7). We also use your IP address on a short-term basis to protect our enquiry form from spam and abuse.

3. How we collect it

We collect personal information directly from you when you complete a form or create an account, and automatically through cookies and analytics when you use the Site. If you sign in with a third-party provider, we receive information from that provider with your authorisation.

4. Why we collect and use it

We use your personal information to:

• Connect you with buyers agents and respond to your enquiry.
• Operate, maintain, secure and improve the Site and our service.
• Create and manage your account, if you have one.
• Send you service-related communications about your enquiry or account.
• Understand how the Site is used (in aggregate) so we can make it better.
• Comply with our legal obligations and protect our lawful interests.

5. Who we disclose it to

We may disclose your personal information to:

• Buyers agents. The core purpose of an enquiry is to connect you with agents, so we share the details you submit with one or more independent buyers agents so they can contact you. Those agents handle your information under their own privacy practices.
• Service providers. We use trusted third parties who help us run the Site, including an email-delivery provider (to send and receive enquiry notifications), analytics (Google Analytics), and cloud hosting, database and image-hosting providers who store data on our behalf. They may only use your information to provide services to us.
• Legal and safety. We may disclose information where required or authorised by law, or to protect the rights, property or safety of Baxau, our users or others.

We do not sell your personal information.

6. Overseas disclosure

Some of our service providers may store or process information outside Australia (for example, in the United States or other countries where those providers operate infrastructure). Where we disclose information overseas, we take reasonable steps to ensure it is handled consistently with the APPs.

7. Cookies and analytics

We use cookies and similar technologies to keep you signed in, remember preferences, and measure how the Site is used via Google Analytics. Analytics cookies help us understand traffic and improve content. You can control or delete cookies through your browser settings; disabling some cookies may affect how parts of the Site work. For information on how Google handles data, see Google’s privacy policy.

8. How we protect your information

We take reasonable technical and organisational steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure — including passwords being stored in hashed form and access to data being restricted. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, however, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

9. How long we keep it

We keep personal information only for as long as we need it for the purposes described in this policy, or as required by law. When it is no longer needed, we take reasonable steps to delete or de-identify it.

10. Accessing and correcting your information

You may request access to the personal information we hold about you, and ask us to correct it if it is inaccurate, out of date or incomplete. Contact us using the details below and we will respond within a reasonable time. There are some circumstances where the law permits us to decline a request; if so, we will explain why.

11. Making a complaint

If you have a concern about how we have handled your personal information, please contact us first (see below) so we can try to resolve it. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at oaic.gov.au.

12. Third-party websites

The Site may link to third-party websites and services that we do not control. This policy does not apply to them; we encourage you to read their privacy policies.

13. Children

The Site is intended for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18.

14. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The current version is always posted on this page with a revised “last updated” date.

15. Contact us

For any privacy question or request — including to access or correct your information, or to make a complaint — please get in touch via our contact form.