Privacy Policy

1. About this Privacy Policy

Ascendio Pty Ltd (Ascendio) understands and appreciates that privacy is a major concern for our Clients, as it is for us.

We value the privacy of our Clients and their employees and want to be transparent about the way we collect personal information, how we use it and your rights to control that information. 

This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use and handle Personal Information both about our Clients, their employees and on our Client’s behalf when providing our services.

It also describes what you can do if you have any concerns or complaints about the way we collect or process Personal Information.

Please read this policy carefully to understand how we will treat your Personal Information. If you have any questions, please contact us using the details provided below.

2. About Ascendio and your information

Ascendio is a provider of SEO and related services to Clients (the Service). The Service involves the collection, processing and storage of data about potential Clients, signed-up Clients and employees of those Clients. That data includes Personal Information but does not include Sensitive Information.

We utilise a combination of hardware and software to provide the Service, all of which is controlled by us from our premises in Sydney, Australia.  We use Google and Atlassian for information management and data processing and some of the servers employed by them may be located offshore.

We do not collect, process or disclose Personal Information, other than for the purpose of providing the Service, as described in more detail below.

3. What personal information do we collect?

Client information

The Personal Information we collect about our Clients is called Client Information. This information may include:

• Client contact details such as name, title, address, e-mail address and phone number or other addresses of employees of a Client that allow Ascendio to send messages
• Other information about the Client necessary to provide the Service, such as banking details and other information which may be necessary for activities such as credit checking
• Information to help us understand our Client, such as the types of services that might interest a Client
• Transaction information, being information about how the Client interacts with Ascendio, including inquiries, account information and information about how the Client uses the Service and the Site

We may collect Client Information from Clients in the following circumstances:

• When you register to use the Service
• When you enter into an agreement with Ascendio
• When you use the Service
• When you contact the Ascendio support team
• When you post or subscribe to the Ascendio blog
• When you visit the Site

You can always choose not to provide us with Personal Information, but it may mean that we are unable to provide you with the Service.

Personal information of our Client’s customers

Ascendio does not require Personal Information of our Client’s’ customers (Customer Information) to provide the Services and you should not send us any customer PersonalCustomer Information.

It is our Client’s’ responsibility to maintain a privacy policy dealing with customer personal informationCustomer Information.

If a Client sends us Customer Information, the Client’s privacy policy must allow us to use that Customer Information in the manner we collect, use and share Personal Information under this Privacy Policy and or agreement with you.

4. Why do we collect personal information?

We collect Client Information for the following purposes to:

• provide the Service
• answer your enquiries and provide you with relevant information about the Service, including billing and account management
• assist with the resolution of technical support issues or other issues relating to the Service
• update our records and keep your contact details up to date
• provide quotes and marketing communications, training and offers for products and services, including new or changed services offered in relation to the Service
• comply with any law, rule, regulation, lawful and binding determination, decision or direction of regulator, or to co-operate with any governmental authority

At all times, Personal Information will not be shared, sold or disclosed other than as described in this Policy.

5. Aggregating Non-Personally Identifiable Data

Ascendio may access, aggregate and use non-personally identifiable data it has collected from you. This includes demographic and product use information.

Ascendio may use this aggregated non-personally identifiable data to:

• Assist us to better understand how our Clients are using the Service
• Provide Clients with further information regarding the uses and benefits of the Service
• Enhance business productivity, including by creating useful business insights from that aggregated data and allowing you to benchmark your business’ performance against that aggregated data
• Otherwise to improve the Service

Ascendio may also make that aggregate information publicly available. This data will in no way identify you or any other individual.

6. Security and Protecting Personal Information

Security

Ascendio is committed to protecting the security of your personal information and we take all reasonable precautions to protect it from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.   

Ascendio maintain appropriate technical and organizational security measures to protect against Personal Information Breaches and to preserve the security and confidentiality of Personal Information processed by it.  

The Internet is not in itself a secure environment and we cannot give an absolute assurance that your information will be secure at all times. We also cannot guarantee that the information you supply will not be intercepted while being transmitted over the internet. Accordingly, any personal information or other information which you transmit to us online is transmitted at your own risk.

We will only keep Personal Information for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes of providing you with the Service, unless otherwise required. For example, we may be required to keep Personal Information for specified periods of time, for example under certain laws relating to corporations, money laundering, and financial reporting legislation.

Personal Information Data Breach

In accordance with its obligations under Data Protection Laws, Ascendio will inform the competent regulatory authority and Data Subjects in the event of a Personal Information Data Breach affecting Client Personal Information.  

Upon becoming aware of a Personal Information Data Breach affecting Personal Information, Ascendio will notify the Client without undue delay and will provide all information relating to the Data Breach as reasonably requested. 

Ascendio will use reasonable endeavours to assist our Client in mitigating the adverse effects of any Personal Information Data Breach. 

7. Information Sharing and Disclosure

Ascendio will only disclose Personal Information to entities outside the Ascendio group of companies if it is necessary and appropriate to facilitate the purpose for which that Personal Information was collected, including the provision of the Service.

This may include:

• Contracted service providers, such as Google and Atlassian, which provide services such as IT and system administration, hosting, credit card processing, marketing, customer support and data enrichment. All our service providers are bound by law or contract to protect the Personal Information and only use it as directed by Ascendio
• Businesses we work with which provide goods and services which are complementary to our own or which allow us to provide services which we could not provide on our own
• Our business partners where you have requested services which they provide whether independently from, or in connection with our own Service
• Professional advisers including lawyers, bankers, auditors and consultants who provide consultancy, banking, legal, insurance and accounting services

Personal Information collected by the third parties listed above (Third Parties) or provided to them by our Clients is subject to the privacy policies maintained by them.

We may also be required to disclose your Personal Information:

• To regulators and law enforcement agencies and other relevant government authorities and agencies, where legally required
• As otherwise required by law (e.g. in connection with subpoenas, search warrants, court orders or other legal processes).

Where possible and appropriate, we will notify you if we are required by law to disclose your Personal Information.

Ascendio may disclose Personal Information to a member of the Ascendio group of companies, Third Parties or Sub-processors in other locations around the world, as necessary to provide the Services. The countries to which we may transfer Personal Information include the United States, the United Kingdom and New Zealand.

Any Personal Information or other information you choose to submit in communities, forums, blogs, or chat rooms on our Site may be read, collected, and/or used by others who visit these forums, depending on your account settings.

8. Requesting Access to Personal Information

You must ensure that the personal information you provide to us is accurate, complete and up-to-date.

Clients may request access to the Client Information we hold, or request that we update or correct any Client Information, by sending a request in writing to info@ascendio.ai.

Ascendio will process your request as soon as reasonably practicable, provided we are not otherwise prevented from doing so on legal grounds. If we are unable to meet your request, we will let you know why.

In some circumstances, it may be necessary for us to seek to arrange access to your personal information through a mutually agreed intermediary.

If you believe that Personal Information we hold about you is incorrect, incomplete or inaccurate, then you may request that we amend it. We will consider whether the information requires amendment. If we do not agree that there are grounds for amendment, we will add a note to the personal information stating that you disagree with it.

9. Cookies, Google Analytics and Third-Party Sites

Cookies

In the course of providing the Service, Ascendio may utilise “cookies”.  A cookie is a small text file that is stored on your computer for record-keeping purposes.  A cookie does not identify you personally or contain any other information about you but it does identify your computer.

We may use a combination of “persistent cookies” (cookies that remain on your hard drive for an extended period of time) and “session ID cookies” (cookies that expire when you close your browser) on the Site to, for example, track overall site usage, and track and report on your use and interaction with ad impressions and ad services.

We do not use cookies to retrieve information that was not originally sent by us to you in a cookie.

You may choose to refuse cookies but, if you do so, this may have a negative impact on the functionality and usability of the Site. You will still be able to access Ascendio content without using cookies by turning them off in your browser’s settings, however you won’t be able to log in because this functionality requires cookies to remember who you are.

For more information about cookies, including further details as to what they are and how to refuse them please visit: http://www.aboutcookies.org/.

Google Ad settings

We use Google Analytics software to monitor the number of people visiting the Site, which uses a cookie to collect this information. Google Analytics only collects anonymous aggregate data, i.e. we cannot tell who you are or link data back to a specific username, and everyone’s data is shown as a whole, not individually.

We use this only for statistical purposes to tell us information like how many people are new to the Site or have visited before and which pages are the most popular. For information about using Google Ads Settings to manage the Google ads you see, and opting out of Google Ads Personalization, please visit: https://www.google.com/policies/technologies/ads/

Third party sites

Our Site may contain links to third-party sites and social media features (for example, Facebook and LinkedIn buttons and widgets). Social media features are either hosted by a third party or hosted directly on our Site.

We have no control over those third-party sites, and we are not responsible or liable for their content or the privacy practices applying to them.

For information about those companies’ privacy practices and how they may use your Personal Information, please visit the company websites.

For information about how to opt out of having your information collected in mobile applications, please visit: Ghostery

10. Privacy Complaints Process

If you have any query or wish to complain about how we have handled your personal information, please provide our Privacy Officer with full details of your complaint and any supporting documentation in one or both of the following ways:

• e-mail at info@ascendio.ai
• letter to The Privacy Officer, Ascendio, 3/55 Mountain Street, Ultimo, Sydney 2007.

Our Privacy Officer will endeavour to:

• Provide an initial response to your query or complaint within five (5) business days; and
• Investigate and attempt to resolve your query or complaint within thirty (30) business days or such longer period as is necessary and notified to you by our Privacy Officer.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome, you may contact us again or may wish to contact the Australian Privacy Commissioner in writing at the following address:

• Australian Privacy Commissioner, OAIC, GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001

11. Definitions

In this policy:

• Client includes all users of any of our services, any prospective clients, suppliers and other third parties who we may deal with, individuals who may contact us by phone or email and visitors to our Site.
• Data Protection Law means the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).
• Personal Information has the same meaning as defined in the Data Protection Law and for the purposes of this Privacy Policy includes Client Information and Customer Information.
• Personal Information Data Breach has the same meaning as ‘eligible data breach’ in the Data Protection Law.
• Sensitive Data has the meaning given to it in the Data Protection Law.
• Site means the Ascendio website Home | Ascendio (ascendio.ai).
• Sub-processor means any third party entity engaged by Ascendio to processes Personal Information for the purpose of providing the Services.

12.  Changes to our Privacy Policy

Ascendio reserves the right to change this Policy at any time, and any amended Policy is effective upon posting to this Site. Ascendio will make every effort to communicate any significant changes to you via email or notification via the service. Your continued use of the Service will be deemed acceptance of any amended Policy.

If you have any questions or concerns at any time about our privacy policy or the use of your personal information, please contact us at privacy@ascendio.ai and we will endeavour to respond within five (5) business days.

This Privacy Policy was the last reviewed on 16 December 2021.