Toyota Financial Services
Privacy Policy

Toyota Financial Services aims to provide its customers with the best possible products and service. To achieve this, we aim to make efficient use of the personal information we collect from our customers.

We also want our customers to have confidence that in handling personal information, we afford that information an appropriate level of privacy, consistent with the National Privacy Principles.

Who are we?

Toyota Financial Services is a division of Toyota Finance Australia Limited ABN 48 002 435 181 ("TFS") and is a related company of Toyota Motor Corporation Australia Limited ABN 64 009 686 097 ("TMCA").

What is Personal Information?

Personal Information is any information about an individual that identifies them or by which their identity can reasonably be ascertained.

Why personal information is collected by TFS

TFS collects the personal information it needs to provide the products and services it offers. Those products and services include various types of motor vehicle finance, warranties, insurance products and other financial services within Australia.

TFS also collects personal information about its customers and suppliers (including dealers), or employees or officers of its customers and suppliers, so that it can complete business transactions, purchase products and services, administer accounts, provide customer support, respond to customer inquiries and requests for product information and meet regulatory requirements.

If TFS is unable to collect personal information from or about an individual, it may not be able to do business with that individual or the organisation with which the individual is connected.

Where relevant, we will handle personal information about our current and former employees relying on the exemption in the Privacy Act relating to employee records.

How does TFS collect personal information?

Where possible, TFS will collect personal information directly from the individual it relates to. This may take place in a number of ways, such as when an application for a product or service is completed or a product or service is requested over the telephone or internet.

We will also collect personal information during the course of our relationship with customers, for example where a loan is refinanced or the terms of an arrangement with us are varied.

Sometimes, personal information may be collected from a source other than the individual to which it relates. Some examples are:

  • where we obtain a credit report about an individual from a credit reporting agency in the course of assessing a loan application;
  • from an accountant where we approach the accountant in assessing a loan application;
  • where an individual is an officer of a company that has applied for finance with us, we may obtain information about the officer from public records or from other officers of the company who arrange the company’s finance application; and
  • from the motor vehicle dealership where a vehicle is purchased or finance with TFS is arranged.

Regardless of who provides personal information to us, it will always be handled by TFS in accordance with this privacy policy.

Do we disclose personal information to anyone else?

In providing our customers with their chosen product or service, TFS may sometimes need to disclose personal information to others.

Examples of the types of organisations we may need to disclose information to in the course of providing a product or service are:

  • the vehicle manufacturer (including TMCA) or supplier of the vehicle or any extended warranty taken out in connection with the vehicle that is the subject of the finance;
  • insurers under insurance policies applied for or taken out in connection with the vehicle that is the subject of the finance, or in connection with the finance itself (for example consumer credit insurance);
  • a guarantor if a finance arrangement is guaranteed; and
  • parties outside TFS where that party is contracted to us to provide a particular service on our behalf and is bound by the same privacy rules we follow.

Some examples of the kinds of organisations contracted by TFS are:

  • mailing houses for bulk mailing of letters and notices;
  • printers for direct marketing material;
  • debt collection agencies; and
  • lawyers.

Those contracted parties are not authorised by TFS to use personal information for anything other than the purpose for which TFS supplies that information to them.

Sometimes, the law requires us to disclose personal information. For example, information may be disclosed to a court in response to a subpoena or to a Government agency such as the Australian Taxation Office on receipt of a direction issued under taxation laws.

We may disclose personal information to our related companies both in and outside Australia.

We may also disclose an individual’s personal information where the individual consents to us doing so. That consent may be written, verbal or implied from the individual’s conduct.

Direct marketing

From time to time, we may use personal information to inform our customers about our products and services including special offers.

If an individual does not wish to receive this information, they just need to let us know by contacting the TFS Customer Service Centre on 13 72 00.

Once an individual lets us know that they no longer wish to receive this information, we will stop sending it. The individual can change their mind about receiving information about our products and services at any time. They just need to let us know by phoning the above number.

TFS does not disclose personal information to organisations outside TFS and its related companies for the purposes of allowing them to direct market their products. However, we may join motor vehicle dealers and other business associates of TFS in joint marketing of our respective products and services to customers.

If the law requires us to provide our customers with information about our products or services, we will provide that information even if an individual has elected not to receive information about our products and services generally.

Ensuring personal information is up-to-date

We rely on the personal information we hold in conducting our business. Therefore, it is very important that the information we hold is accurate, complete and up-to-date.

We take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information we hold is accurate complete and up-to-date whenever we collect or use it. This means that from time to time, we will ask individuals to tell us if there are any changes to their personal information. If an individual finds that information we hold about them is incorrect, they should contact us immediately and we will correct it.

Security of personal information

The security of information is important to TFS and we take all reasonable precautions to protect personal information from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

Some of the ways we protect personal information include:

  • external and internal premises security;
  • restricted access to personal information to staff who need it to perform their day to day functions;
  • maintaining technology products to prevent unauthorised computer access including identifiers and passwords; and
  • maintaining physical security over paper records.

Access to personal information by individuals

An individual can access most of the personal information TFS holds about them by contacting the TFS Customer Service Centre on 13 72 00.

Depending on the amount of information requested, TFS may charge an access fee to cover the cost of retrieving the information and supplying it to the person who has requested access.

Access to personal information may be refused in a number of circumstances, such as where the information relates to anticipated legal proceedings or the request for access is frivolous or vexatious. If we deny or restrict an individual’s access, we will explain why.

Privacy and our website at http://finance.toyota.com.au

The type of personal information we collect on our website depends on how an individual makes use of the site.

When an individual visits the site, TFS records the individual’s server address, domain name, the date and time of the visit and the pages viewed. This information may be collected by using cookies (data sent to the user’s browser, which generally allows our site to interact more efficiently with the user’s computer). If an individual disables the use of cookies, the use of our site by that individual may be affected. Information collected about an individual’s visit to the TFS site is retained for statistical and website development reasons and is not in a form, which would enable us to identify the individual to which the information relates.

An individual who visits the site will not be required to provide TFS with any personal information unless that individual requests information about a TFS product or service. In that case, we will ask the individual to provide contact details along with other information required to respond to the individual’s request. The information provided may also be retained for product planning purposes, and where the relevant individual agrees, for marketing purposes.

Although TFS takes steps to protect information sent by e-mail, e-mail is not a secure method of communication and individuals who are concerned about sending their personal information to us in this manner may prefer to call the TFS Customer Service Centre on 13 72 00.

Resolving concerns

If an individual believes that the privacy of their personal information has been compromised, they are entitled to complain. Complaints can be made by the individual contacting the person or department they were dealing with or by calling the TFS Customer Service Centre on 13 72 00 and asking for the privacy officer. We will respond to complaints as soon as possible.

Additional information

Individuals who would like more information about TFS’s approach to privacy are encouraged to contact the TFS Customer Service Centre on 13 72 00.

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