Privacy Policy

Introduction

This privacy policy applies to all business activities of Switch Home Swap Holidays.

Switch Home Swap Holidays (referred to as "Switch HSH") is division of HomeLink Australia (referred to as "HL Australia"). HomeLink Australia is a registered business name of Leftfield Publishing Pty Ltd, and an affiliate of HomeLink International Associates (referred to as "HLIA"), an association registered in Brussels, Belgium.

Switch HSH recognizes the importance to its members of the discreet and confidential handling of their personal information. It is Switch HSH's policy to comply with the requirements of any applicable privacy legislation in all its activities involving the collection, use, disclosure and handling of personal information. Your access to and use of this website (the "Site") is conditional upon your acceptance of Switch HSH's privacy policy ("Privacy Policy") and any other terms and conditions contained on the Site (collectively referred to as the "Agreement"). Your use of the Site constitutes your acceptance of the Agreement and any variations to it.

Collection of Personal Information

Switch HSH collects personal information from members who register with Switch HSH to exchange their homes with other members. This information is then published on the Site, along with a brief description of the home offered for exchange which is written/approved by the member. In registering with Switch HSH members acknowledge that their personal information will be published on the Site.

If you choose not to provide Switch HSH with your personal information, it may be unable to provide you with its services or respond to a request for information or feedback given by you. Examples of personal information Switch HSH collects include but are not limited to: name, address, email address, phone and fax numbers and credit card details.

Switch HSH only collects personal information by lawful and fair means and not in an unreasonably intrusive way.

Switch HSH only collects personal information directly from an individual and makes known the purpose for which personal information is being collected at the time it is being collected.

Cookies

Cookies are pieces of data stored by your web browser, on your hard drive, which contain information relating to your use of the Site. When you access the Site, cookies may record details relating to your use of the Site, including what pages you view from the Site. Switch HSH does not use cookies to track your personal information and uses them for internal management purposes only.

Particular areas of our web site employ the use of temporary cookies. For example, Switch HSH uses temporary cookies to maintain a user's state - such as logged in or not logged in. The concept is similar to visiting a theme park and receiving a hand stamp which allows entrance and exit throughout the day. Temporary cookies do not actually write anything to your hard drive. The "Help" function on most browsers will tell you how to prevent your browser from accepting new cookies, how to have the browser notify you when you receive a new cookie, or how to disable cookies altogether. However, cookies allow you to take full advantage of some of Switch HSH's best features, and we recommend that you leave them turned on.

Use and Disclosure

As a general rule, Switch HSH will not use personal information for a purpose other than the primary purpose for which it is collected unless Switch HSH has obtained your consent to such use.

Switch HSH will not disclose your personal information to any third parties except for the purpose of facilitating home exchanges between members of Switch HSH and you consent to such disclosure.

Your personal information may also be available for public viewing by visitors to the Site. However, your contact details will not be on public display and are only available for viewing by other members in a secure "Members-only" area of the Site.

You consent and agree to use and disclosure of your personal information generally in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

You also consent to Switch HSH using your personal information for the purposes of: (a) providing you with its services; (b) responding to a request for information and/or feedback by you; and (c) marketing and promoting its services and providing you with any information Switch HSH considers may be of interest to you; at any time, including changes to its services and the Site.

If you do not wish to receive future marketing or promotional material from Switch HSH, you may contact it at any time by sending an email to the following email address "info [AT] switchhomes [DOT] net" requesting that no further material be sent to you. Switch HSH will as soon as reasonably practicable after receiving your request, remove your contact details from its database.

Data Quality

Once your personal information is collected, Switch HSH then uploads that information to a central database which is maintained by Switch HSH.

Switch HSH will take all reasonable steps to ensure that personal information that it holds about a member is accurate, complete and up-to-date. Changes are made only by or at the request of the member. It is the member's responsibility to ensure that the information they have provided which will be disclosed to other members is accurate.

Data Security

You acknowledge that no data transmission over the Internet is totally secure. Accordingly, Switch HSH does not warrant the security of any information which you transmit to it. Any information which you transmit to Switch HSH is transmitted at your own risk. However, once Switch HSH receives your transmission, Switch HSH will take all reasonable steps to protect your personal information from misuse, loss or unauthorised access which may include but is not limited to any one or more of the following measures: secure network links, firewalls, password protection and virus protection.

All your personal data submitted through Switch HSH's secure online forms is transferred over the Internet using industry-standard Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology. This means that all data is encrypted and sent using a secure port. All transmissions are sent using industry-standard 128-bit encryption technology. Encryption means that your personal data is scrambled using an algorithmic key before it is sent over the Internet, so that it can be read only by the intended recipient.

Ways that you can check that protection measures are in place before you submit your personal information on the Internet:

Tip 1: You can check to make sure that your browser supports 128-bit encryption technology. If you are using Internet Explorer, click on "Help" then "About Internet Explorer" to make sure that the "Cipher strength" of your browser is 128-bit.

Tip 2: You can always double-check to make sure that your data is being encrypted and sent in a secure mode:
1. The web address (URL) will change from http:// to https://
2. You will see a small lock icon in the lower right-hand corner of your Internet Explorer browser, or an unbroken key icon in the lower left-hand corner of your Netscape Navigator browser.

Openness

On request by you, Switch HSH will make known to you the types of personal information it holds about you, the purpose for which it is held and how it collects, holds and uses that information.

Access

On request by you, Switch HSH will provide you with access to your personal information except where access may be denied under applicable privacy legislation.

To request access to your personal information, please contact Switch HSH' s Director. The Director or a delegate will endeavour to respond to your request for access to your personal information within 14 days of the date of receipt of such request. If your request for access is denied, Switch HSH will provide you with reasons for its decision.

Correction of your personal information If you believe that the personal information Switch HSH holds about you is inaccurate, incomplete or not current, please let it know and it will correct it.

Changes to Privacy Policy

Switch HSH reserves the right to change the Privacy Policy from time to time by posting such changes on the Site. Changes will be effected immediately upon notification on the Site. Your continued use of the Site following notification will constitute your acceptance of those changes.

Updated: 2 August 2012