Privacy Policy

1. Scope

This policy applies to visitors to this website (www.mcbizempire.com) and to people who contact us through it. As a reporting entity under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006, we are bound by the Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) when handling personal information collected for our AML/CTF obligations — an obligation that applies regardless of business size.

2. What personal information we collect

We only collect information directly relevant to providing our services. Through this website, that means:

• Enquiry form: your name, email, phone (optional), enquiry type and message.
• Website analytics: we use Google Analytics, which uses cookies to collect page views, referral source, device and browser type, and approximate location inferred from your IP address.
• Information you give us when you contact us by phone, email, WeChat or RedNote.
• Once a client is formally engaged, we collect further information as required by the type of service and by law. This may include identity documents, your tax file number (TFN), and income and asset details. We will tell you what we are collecting and why at the time we collect it.

3. Why we collect it and how we use it

If you don't provide the information we need, we may not be able to respond to your enquiry or act for you. Some information — such as identity verification material — must be provided because the law requires it.

• To respond to your enquiry and arrange a consultation or quote.
• To provide and administer accounting, taxation and related professional services.
• To meet legal obligations, including customer due diligence, record keeping and suspicious matter reporting under AML/CTF law, and lodgement obligations under tax and corporations law.
• To improve this website's content and usability, using aggregated analytics data.

4. Cookies and analytics

This website uses cookies and similar technologies. We use Google Analytics to measure site usage, and Google Ads (including remarketing) to advertise — remarketing means you may see our ads while browsing other websites. You can refuse or delete cookies through your browser settings, install Google's Analytics opt-out add-on, or turn off personalised advertising in Google's Ad Settings (adssettings.google.com). None of this affects your ability to browse this site.

5. Who we disclose it to

We don't sell personal information. We may disclose it to:

• Service providers who help us operate, including our email delivery provider (Resend), website hosting, and Google Analytics.
• Regulators and authorities where required or authorised by law, such as the ATO, ASIC, AUSTRAC or the TPB.
• Anyone else you consent to.

6. Overseas disclosure

Some of our service providers are located outside Australia, so your personal information may be transferred to and stored overseas: enquiry emails are sent via Resend (United States); analytics data is processed by Google (United States and elsewhere); this website is hosted on Vercel (United States). We take reasonable steps to require overseas recipients to handle personal information consistently with the Australian Privacy Principles.

7. Storage, security and retention

We take reasonable technical and organisational steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss, and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. Tax file numbers are separately protected by the Privacy (Tax File Number) Rule 2015: we collect, use and disclose them only for purposes permitted by law.

• Website enquiries: kept until your enquiry has been dealt with, then deleted once no longer needed (we aim for no longer than 12 months).
• Tax agent service records: kept for at least 5 years after the service was provided, as required by the Tax Agent Services Act 2009; business books and records are kept for 5 years as required by the ATO.
• AML/CTF customer due diligence records: kept for 7 years after the business relationship ends, as required by the AML/CTF Act 2006.
• Once a statutory period expires, we assess whether records should be returned, de-identified or securely destroyed.

8. Access and correction

You can ask us for access to the personal information we hold about you, and ask us to correct anything inaccurate, out of date or incomplete. Contact us using the details below. We'll respond within a reasonable period, and if we refuse we'll explain why in writing. In some cases the law limits what we can tell you — for example the 'tipping off' provisions under AML/CTF law.

9. Complaints

Our privacy contact is Martin Chen. If you believe we've handled your personal information in breach of the Australian Privacy Principles, please contact us first. We'll investigate and respond in writing. If you're not satisfied with our response, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at oaic.gov.au or on 1300 363 992.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The current version is always published on this page, with the last-updated date shown at the top.