Privacy Policy and data storage

• We collect what we need to quote, build and look after your fence, to run our business and to work with our installers.
• We never sell or swap your information.
• Our customer database and uploaded documents are stored by Supabase in Japan. Some of our service providers are in the United States. All are listed below.
• Our phone assistant and website chat are AI. Calls are recorded and transcribed, and we tell you at the start of every call.
• You can ask to see or correct your information at any time, and complain to us or to the Australian privacy regulator.

Expanse Fencing is the trading name of Expanse Builders Pty Ltd (ABN 33 642 257 467), a fencing contractor based in Heatherton, Victoria, and registered building practitioner CDB-U 67771. Expanse Home Maintenance is also our trading name, and this policy covers it too. In this policy "we", "us" and "our" mean Expanse Builders Pty Ltd.

We follow the Australian Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) for everyone whose information we hold, whether or not the law requires a business of our size to.

Personal information is information that identifies you or could reasonably identify you. What we collect depends on how you deal with us.

• Customers and people who ask for an estimate or quote: name, phone, email, property address, details and photos of the fence and the property, measurements, notes from the site visit, the quotes we send and whether you open them, your choices and signatures on a quote or contract, payments and invoices, and messages, calls and chats with us.
• Neighbours: when a fence is shared, your neighbour may give us your name, address and contact details so we can send a quote or a Fencing Notice. We use them only for that fence.
• Website visitors: the pages you visit, how you found us, your device and browser, an approximate location from your IP address, and anything you type into a form or the chat.
• Callers: your phone number, a recording and transcript of the call, and a summary of what was asked.
• Installer applicants and subcontractors: name, business name, ABN, contact details, experience, the areas and work you cover, your referees' names and phone numbers, and documents you upload such as white cards, insurance certificates and WorkCover certificates. Once engaged, also agreements, inductions, safety sign on records, job photos and checklists, invoices and payment records.
• Flyer partners and people who refer us: name, contact details, where you dropped flyers, and what you need for us to pay a bonus (an ABN or a signed supplier statement). We never ask for a tax file number, bank details or ID numbers on our forms.
• Staff and job applicants: the information needed to employ you and meet our legal duties.

We do not set out to collect sensitive information such as health information. If it comes up, for example after an injury on site, we collect only what we need, with your consent or where the law allows.

You can ask a general question without giving your name. To quote or build a fence we need to know who you are and where the fence is.

Mostly from you: through our website forms and instant estimate, our website chat, phone calls, text messages, email, social media messages, letterbox flyer codes and the site visit. Sometimes from others: a neighbour or a person who refers you, your referees, the public ABN Lookup, Before You Dig plans for a job, building surveyors and councils for a permit, and our installers who record job details and photos.

• To answer you, give an estimate, book a measure, write a quote and build and look after your fence, including permits, neighbour paperwork and warranty work.
• To assess installer and flyer partner applications, check ABNs, insurance and white cards, contact referees, and manage and pay the people who work with us.
• To send invoices, take payments, keep accounts and meet tax, building and safety laws.
• To keep people safe on our sites and handle any incident.
• To follow up quotes and, if you agree, to send news and offers (see Marketing).
• To improve our service, train our team and check quality.

We use your information only for the reason we collected it, a related reason you would expect, or where the law requires or allows it.

Evie, our phone assistant, and our website chat assistant are AI. They say so at the start, can answer questions from our approved information, take your details and book a measure. They cannot give a binding price, agree a start date or give legal or safety advice. You can ask for a person at any time.

Calls to our main line are recorded and transcribed so we get your details right, check the quality of our service and train our team. We tell you at the start of the call. If you do not want the call recorded, say so and we will call you back on an unrecorded line. Recordings and transcripts are saved against your enquiry and are never published.

If you send us an enquiry, Evie may call you back about it. She says she is an AI calling for Expanse Fencing, calls only at reasonable hours, and stops if you ask. Our AI assistants never make cold sales calls.

We also use AI to draft quotes, emails and replies, sort enquiries and help run our office. A person checks every quote before it is sent. We use the business versions of these AI services and choose settings that stop providers training their own models on our data wherever that is offered.

Some of our systems use personal information to make, or help a person make, decisions.

• Made by a program without a person: the instant estimate on our website (it is a guide only, the real price comes in a written quote after a free measure); holding an enquiry sent by another company's AI service until the customer confirms it by text; refusing a work order to a subcontractor whose required inductions or document reviews are not complete; and declining a flyer or referral bonus that matches a set rule, for example a self referral.
• Where a program does much of the work and a person decides: drafting quotes, sorting and prioritising enquiries, and flagging safety reports that may need to go to WorkSafe.

The information used includes names and contact details, property address, fence details, call and chat content, quote and payment status, and induction and document records. If a decision affects you, you can ask our Privacy Officer for a person to review it.

If you ask for an estimate or quote we may follow it up by email or text. We send news or offers only with your consent, and every marketing email and text has an easy way to unsubscribe. You can also tell us at any time and we will stop. We never sell, rent or swap your details.

Our website uses Google Analytics, the Meta (Facebook) Pixel and Microsoft Clarity to count visits, see which pages and adverts work, and find problems with the site. They use cookies and similar technology and may record how you move around a page. When you send an estimate form we tell Google and Meta that an enquiry was made so we can measure our adverts; our website does not send them your name, phone or address. These tools are not used on our customer pages, staff system or subcontractor portal.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser, use the Google Analytics opt out browser add on, and change your advert settings in your Google and Meta accounts. The site still works without them.

We share personal information only when we need to, and only what is needed:

• the installers who build your fence (only the details for that job, which they must not use for anything else);
• suppliers who deliver materials to your property;
• your neighbour, for a shared fence, and building surveyors, councils and authorities for a permit;
• our accountant, insurers and legal advisers;
• the service providers listed below, who run our systems for us under their own security and privacy terms;
• government agencies, regulators and police where the law requires or allows it.

If we ever sell the business, customer records may pass to the buyer, who must keep protecting them.

Some of our other providers store or process information outside Australia. This is the full list of the services that hold or handle personal information for us:

By using these providers we disclose personal information to Japan, the United States and the other countries listed. We choose established providers with strong security, and we take reasonable steps so they handle your information in line with the Australian Privacy Principles. Before we add a new service that handles personal information, we check where it stores data and add it to this list.

• Access is limited to the people whose role needs it. Staff logins use two step sign in, and we turn it on for every service that offers it.
• Information is encrypted when sent over the internet and while stored by our main providers.
• Passwords are kept in a password manager, and we review who has access every month.
• Our installers see only the details of the jobs they accept, through our subcontractor portal.
• If a data breach is likely to cause serious harm, we will tell the people affected and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, as the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme requires.

No system is perfectly secure, so please tell us straight away if you think your information has been misused.

We keep information only as long as we need it for the reason we collected it or as the law requires, then delete or de-identify it.

We may keep something longer if it is needed for a complaint, a warranty claim, an incident or a legal matter.

You can ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you, or ask us to correct it, by contacting our Privacy Officer. We will check who you are, then respond within 30 days. There is no charge to ask. If we cannot give you something, for example because it would reveal someone else's information, we will tell you why in writing.

If you think we have mishandled your information, contact our Privacy Officer. We will acknowledge your complaint within 1 business day and aim to resolve it within 5 business days. If it takes longer, we will keep you updated at least every 2 business days.

If you are not satisfied with our answer, or we have not resolved it within 30 days, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at oaic.gov.au.

We review this policy at least every 6 months and whenever we add a new system or AI tool that handles personal information. The version and date at the top show when it last changed, and the current version is always on this page.