OVERVIEW

Bernie Belle ("we", "us", "our") operates a beauty salon and website located at berniebelle.com.au. This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, store, and disclose your personal information when you visit our salon, use our website, make a booking, purchase products or services, or otherwise communicate with us.

We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). This policy also addresses the collection and handling of sensitive information, including health information, which we may collect as part of providing our beauty services.

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully. By using our Services or providing us with your personal information, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.

 

1. PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

When we use the term "personal information," we refer to information that identifies or can reasonably be linked to you. This does not include anonymised or de-identified information.

Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect the following categories of personal information:

 

a) Contact Details — including your name, address, phone number, and email address.

b) Booking and Appointment Information — including service preferences, appointment history, and booking notes.

c) Health and Sensitive Information — including medical conditions, allergies, skin sensitivities, medications, pregnancy status, and any other health information disclosed in your client consultation form. This is collected solely for the purpose of providing safe and appropriate beauty treatments.

d) Financial Information — including payment card details, transaction history, and receipts. Payment card data is processed securely through our payment provider and is not stored by us.

e) Communications — including the content of any messages, emails, or enquiries you send to us.

f) Device and Usage Information — including IP address, browser type, and how you interact with our website, collected automatically via cookies and similar technologies.

g) Feedback and Reviews — including any reviews, ratings, or testimonials you provide about our Services.

 

2. HOW WE COLLECT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

We may collect personal information from the following sources:

 

•       Directly from you — when you make a booking (online, by phone, or in person), complete a client consultation form, purchase a product or service, contact us via email or phone, or interact with us on social media.

•       Automatically — through cookies and similar technologies when you visit our website. See Section 8 (Cookies) for more detail.

•       From third parties — such as our booking system provider, payment processor, or marketing platforms, where you have authorised them to share information with us.

 

3. HOW WE USE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

We use your personal information only for the purposes for which it was collected, or for directly related purposes you would reasonably expect. These include:

 

•       Providing our Services — to process your bookings, deliver treatments, tailor services to your individual needs, and manage your client record.

•       Health and Safety — to assess whether a particular treatment is safe and appropriate for you, including reviewing health disclosures and patch test results prior to treatments.

•       Customer Communication — to send appointment confirmations, reminders, follow-up messages, and respond to your enquiries or feedback.

•       Marketing and Promotions — to send you promotional offers, newsletters, or updates about our services, where you have opted in or where permitted by applicable law. You may opt out at any time.

•       Payment Processing — to process payments for services and retail products.

•       Improving our Services — to analyse how our website and services are used, and to improve the client experience.

•       Legal Compliance — to comply with applicable laws, regulations, or valid legal requests, and to protect our legal rights.

 

We will not use your health or sensitive information for any purpose other than providing, assessing, or improving our beauty services, or as required by law.

 

4. DISCLOSURE OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

We do not sell your personal information. We may disclose your personal information to third parties only in the following circumstances:

 

•       Service Providers — including our booking system, payment processing, email marketing, and website hosting providers, who process your data on our behalf and are bound by confidentiality obligations.

•       Health or Safety Emergencies — where disclosure is necessary to prevent a serious and imminent threat to health or safety.

•       Legal Obligations — where we are required to disclose your information by law, court order, or a government or regulatory authority.

•       Business Transfers — in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of our business, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you of any such change.

 

We will not share your health or sensitive information with any third party without your consent, except where required by law or necessary to protect your health or safety.

 

5. HEALTH INFORMATION

As a beauty salon, we collect health and sensitive information as part of our client consultation process. This includes information about skin conditions, allergies, medications, medical history relevant to treatments, and pregnancy. This information is classified as sensitive information under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and is afforded a higher level of protection.

We collect this information with your consent, and only to the extent necessary to safely and effectively provide our services. Health information is stored securely and is accessible only to relevant staff members involved in your treatment.

You may choose not to provide health information; however, this may affect our ability to perform certain treatments safely.

 

6. STORAGE AND SECURITY OF YOUR INFORMATION

We take reasonable steps to protect your personal information from misuse, interference, loss, and unauthorised access, modification, or disclosure. These steps include secure storage systems, restricted staff access, and encrypted payment processing.

Despite our efforts, no security measures are perfect or impenetrable. We cannot guarantee the absolute security of your personal information, particularly information transmitted to us over the internet.

We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to provide our services, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. Health information collected during consultations is retained in accordance with our professional and legal obligations. When no longer required, your personal information is securely deleted or de-identified.

 

7. YOUR RIGHTS AND CHOICES

Under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and Australian Privacy Principles, you have the following rights in relation to your personal information:

 

•       Right to Access — You may request access to the personal information we hold about you.

•       Right to Correct — You may request that we correct personal information that is inaccurate, out-of-date, incomplete, or misleading.

•       Right to Delete — You may request that we delete your personal information, subject to our legal and professional obligations to retain certain records.

•       Right to Withdraw Consent — Where we process your personal information based on your consent (e.g. for marketing), you may withdraw your consent at any time.

•       Opt-Out of Marketing — You may opt out of receiving promotional emails at any time by using the unsubscribe link in our emails or by contacting us directly. We may still send you non-promotional communications related to your bookings or account.

 

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details in Section 11 below. We may need to verify your identity before processing your request. We will respond within a reasonable time as required by applicable law.

 

8. COOKIES AND WEBSITE TRACKING

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to enhance your browsing experience, analyse website traffic, and support marketing activities. Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you visit our website.

We may use the following types of cookies:

 

•       Essential Cookies — required for the website to function correctly, such as for booking or login functionality.

•       Analytics Cookies — used to understand how visitors interact with our website (e.g. Google Analytics). These are anonymised and do not identify individuals.

•       Marketing Cookies — used to show you relevant advertisements on third-party platforms, based on your visit to our website.

 

You can control or disable cookies through your browser settings. Please note that disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of our website.

 

9. THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES AND LINKS

Our website may contain links to third-party websites, including social media platforms and booking directories. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those sites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party sites you visit.

Information you share publicly on third-party platforms (such as reviews or social media posts) may be visible to others and is subject to those platforms' terms and privacy policies.

 

10. CHILDREN'S PRIVACY

Our Services are not directed at children under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 18 without the consent of a parent or guardian. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information without your consent, please contact us and we will take steps to delete that information.

 

11. COMPLAINTS

If you have a complaint about how we have handled your personal information, please contact us in the first instance using the contact details below. We will investigate your complaint and respond within a reasonable period.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at www.oaic.gov.au or by calling 1300 363 992.

 

12. INTERNATIONAL TRANSFERS

Some of our third-party service providers (such as cloud storage or software platforms) may store or process your personal information outside Australia. Where this occurs, we take reasonable steps to ensure that those providers handle your information in a manner consistent with the Australian Privacy Principles.

 

13. CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to our practices or for legal, operational, or regulatory reasons. The revised Privacy Policy will be posted on our website with an updated "Last updated" date. We encourage you to review this Policy periodically. Your continued use of our Services following any update constitutes your acceptance of the revised Policy.

 

14. CONTACT US

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests relating to this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal information, please contact us:

 

Business Name:   Bernie Belle Beauty Salon

Email:                    hello@berniebelle.com.au

Phone:                   0449 697 968

Address:              44 Aayana St, Cranbourne East VIC 3977

Website:              berniebelle.com.au