Privacy Policy

The Big Sisters recognise the importance of safeguarding your personal information and we respect the privacy of your personal information in our care. We are committed to maintaining and using your information responsibly.

Please review this Privacy Policy carefully. It sets out what types of information we collect, how that information is used, to whom it is disclosed to and how we safeguard it and ensure your information and privacy remains protected.

This Privacy Policy applies to all personal information previously or currently provided to or collected by us. By “personal information”, we are referring to information or opinion that could reasonably identify you, such as your name, address and email address and it could include information like your IP address or information about your shopping habits. Information or opinion may be personal information regardless of whether it is true or not.

By interacting with The Big Sisters, whether on the phone, on a tablet, handheld or wireless device, through our apps, online on social media, at an event, venue or exhibition, in-store or through our website, you agree and consent to our collection, holding, use and disclosure of your information as described in the Privacy Policy.

Information about us

For the purpose of Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), our registered entity is Bitz Sisters Pty Ltd (A.C.N. 631 205 957), a company duly incorporated in Australia with an office in Melbourne Victoria.

We own various businesses, brands and trade marks, including The Big Sister Experience.

The Big Sister Experience is a new way to mentor young women to live their full potential.

The Big Sisters work with schools, families and teenage girls. Our program supports families and offers ongoing mentoring to teach girls essential life skills, knowledge and understanding of the modern world.

Personal information we collect

We collect personal information in order to run and conduct our business, to market and sell our products and services and to meet our legal obligations. We may not be able to sell our products and services without certain personal information.

When you:

  • Interact with The Big Sisters, whether on the phone, on a tablet, handheld or wireless device, through our apps, online on social media, at an event, venue or exhibition, in-store or through our website;
  • Enrol in a loyalty, rewards or promotional program;
  • Participate in contests or promotions;
  • Sign up to receive emails or other notifications from The Big Sisters;
  • Fill out a survey;
  • Create an account with The Big Sisters; or
  • Use a social media service, such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, to interact or communicate with The Big Sisters,

we collect personal information that you provide, such as your name, contact details (e.g. telephone number, email address and address), identification information (e.g. gender, age and date of birth), records of your communications and interaction with us (e.g. preferences and interests) and other user-generated content. We refer to this information as “Subscription Information”.

When you make a purchase or attempt to make a purchase, we collect personal information that you provide, such as your name, contact details (e.g. telephone number, email address, billing address and mailing/shipping address), identification information (e.g. gender, age and date of birth), records of your communications and interaction with us (e.g. preferences and interests), records of your purchases (e.g. credit card information, payment and transaction details and history of purchases) and other user-generated content. We refer to this information as “Order Information”.

When you visit our website or apps, we also automatically collect certain information about your device, including information about your web browser, IP address, time zone and some of the cookies that are installed on your device. Additionally, as you browse our website or apps, we collect information about the individual web pages or products and services that you view, what websites or search terms referred you to our website or apps, and information about how you interact with our website or apps. When you provide publicly available content, such as content posted to our social media page, we may collect that information. We refer to this automatically-collected information as “Device Information”.

We collect Device Information using the following technologies: 

  • “Cookies” are data files that are placed on your device or computer and often include an anonymous unique identifier. For more information about cookies, and how to disable cookies, visit http://www.allaboutcookies.org
  • “Log files” track actions occurring on our website or apps and collect data including your IP address, browser type, Internet service provider, referring/exit pages, and date/time stamps. 
  • “Web beacons”, “tags”, and “pixels” are electronic files used to record information about how you browse our website or apps.

Personal information in this Privacy Policy includes Subscription Information, Order Information and Device Information.

How do we use your personal information?

We collect, store and process your personal information to:

  • Help us market our products and services more effectively
  • Process, track and fulfil your order/purchase
  • Communicate with you about the status of your order/purchase
  • Identify your product and service preferences
  • Administer a contest
  • Deliver marketing communications, ads and vouchers/coupons when in line with the preferences you have shared with us
  • Administer loyalty, rewards and promotional programs
  • Improve the effectiveness of our website or apps
  • Prevent fraudulent transactions

We may provide marketing communications and targeted advertising to you on an ongoing basis by electronic messages (e.g. email, SMS text message, social media and/or digital advertising) and by other means. You can email us or write to us (details provided below) at any time to opt out of electronic and other direct marketing communications.

Will your personal information be shared?

The Big Sisters do not sell and/or rent your personal information. We may share your personal information within our organisation and the members of our group of companies (including our related entity and our related body corporate as defined in the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth)).

We may share information that you elect to make available to the public on our website or apps or on social media pages, including user-generated content. For example, if you post a review on our website or apps, or interact with us on social media pages and elect to make it available to the public, your information will be accessible on our website or apps and our social media pages.

We may use a third party processor or service provider (e.g. Google Analytics and MailChimp) to act on our behalves to use your personal information as described above.

For example, we use Google Analytics to help us understand how our customers use our website or apps. If you require further information, you can read more about how Google uses your personal information here: https://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy or email us or write to us (details provided below).

You can also opt-out of Google Analytics here: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

We may also share your information with trusted companies that provide business support services to us (e.g. schools, name and address verification, customer service, contest administration, email distribution, fraud detection and fulfilment), companies that help us market our products and services and analytics and search engine providers that assist us in the improvement and optimization of our website or apps. These companies are not authorised to use the information we share with them for any other purpose or to send you unsolicited email. With your prior consent, we may share names and addresses from our mailing list with carefully chosen marketing partners. We may also share aggregated statistical or demographic information with third parties in a manner that does not reveal personally identifiable information.

You can email or write to The Big Sisters (details provided below) at any time to request further details of the services we use. Many of these services operate without collecting or using any personal information.

We may also share your personal information to comply with applicable laws and regulations, lawful request for information we receive, or to protect our rights. We may disclose personal information about you in order to:

  • protect the legal rights, privacy or safety of our organisation or our employees, agents and contractors;
  • respond to valid legal process from government or public authorities in any country in which we operate;
  • permit us to pursue available remedies or limit the damages that we may sustain;
  • enforce our terms of use or the terms and conditions applicable to any contest, promotion or program; and
  • protect the safety and wellbeing of children and young people participating in our program.

Finally, The Big Sisters might sell or buy brands, subsidiaries or businesses as we develop our business. There might be a reorganisation, merger, sale, joint venture, assignment, transfer or other disposition (including without limitation in connection with any bankruptcy or similar proceedings) of all or any portion of the business of our organisation and the members of our group of companies. Your personal information and other information we have collected as described in this Privacy Policy may be disclosed and may be among the business assets transferred as part of these transactions.

Where is your personal information stored?

The Big Sisters store your personal information electronically and in hard copy.

Unfortunately, no storage system and no transmission of information is completely secure. Accordingly, we cannot guarantee the security of your personal information and any information you transmit to us is at your own risk.

The data we collect may be transferred to and stored at destinations outside Australia. It may also be processed by personnel operating outside Australia who work for us or for one of our service providers. Countries outside Australia may not offer the same level of data protection as Australia. By providing us with your personal information, you agree to this transfer, storing or processing.

Link to other websites and online pages

For your convenience, our website or apps may include links to and from other websites and online pages. If you follow a link to any of these websites and online pages, please accept that they are not under our control. They may have their own terms, privacy and security policies which we advise you to review and consider. We do not accept any liability or responsibility for these other websites, online pages or their policies.

Behavioural advertising

As described above, The Big Sisters may use your personal information to provide you with targeted advertisements or marketing communications we believe may be of interest to you. For more information about how targeted advertising works, you can visit the Network Advertising Initiative’s (“NAI”) educational page at http://www.networkadvertising.org/understanding-online-advertising/how-does-it-work.

You can opt out of targeted advertising by using the links below: 

Additionally, you can opt out of some of these services by visiting the Digital Advertising Alliance’s opt-out portal at: http://optout.aboutads.info.

What are your rights?

It is important that you are able to control your personal information. You have the right to request a copy of the personal information we hold about you and to ask us to update, correct or delete your personal information. You can also update your preferences and certain information at any time. Please email or write to The Big Sisters (details provided below) if you would like to exercise this right.

If you do not wish to receive any emails or communications from The Big Sisters, please follow the unsubscribe instructions at the bottom of the email or contact us.

In Australia, if you have a complaint about how we have handled your personal information, please email or write to The Big Sisters (details provided below). We will respond to you within 1 month of receiving a written complaint. You may also contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner for further guidance or if you still have any concerns about how we have handled your personal information (https://www.oaic.gov.au).

Changes to this Privacy Policy

The Big Sisters may update this Privacy Policy from time to time in order to take into account new laws and technology, changes to our operations and practices as well as the changing business environment.

We will keep you updated on the changes by posting new versions of our Privacy Policy on our website or apps. For this reason, we encourage you to review our Privacy Policy from time to time and by visiting our website or apps, you accept any such changes.

Contact us

The Big Sisters are always happy to answer any questions you may have regarding privacy or security and this Privacy Policy.

For more information about our data and privacy practices, or if you would like to lodge a complaint, please contact our Privacy Officer by email at hello@bigsisterexp.com.