Privacy Policy

Caree is operated by Braid Finance Pty Ltd (ABN 80 638 771 007), Australian Credit Licence #536690, of 9B 3360 Pacific Highway, Springwood QLD 4127. We are committed to protecting your privacy in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and Part IIIA of that Act, which governs the handling of credit information. This policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your personal information and credit information when you use our website and platform.

This policy should be read together with our Credit Guide, which sets out additional information about the credit assistance services we provide.

1. Information We Collect

We may collect the following types of personal information:

• Identity information: name, date of birth, drivers licence details
• Contact information: email address, phone number, residential address
• Financial information: employment status, income details, existing debts and assets (for finance applications)
• Vehicle/asset information: details of vehicles or assets being bought or sold
• Technical information: IP address, browser type, device information, cookies, and usage data
• Communication records: emails, enquiry form submissions, and call records

2. How We Use Your Information

We use your personal information for the following purposes:

• Processing finance enquiries and applications
• Creating and managing seller links and marketplace listings
• Providing pre-qualification estimates and repayment calculations
• Communicating with you about your enquiry, application, or listing
• Submitting your information to lenders and credit providers on your behalf (with your consent)
• Improving our products, services, and user experience
• Complying with legal and regulatory obligations
• Preventing fraud and ensuring the security of the platform

3. Third-Party Disclosure

We may share your personal information with:

• Lenders and credit providers: to process your finance application (with your consent)
• Credit reporting bodies: as required for credit assessments (see Section 4)
• Service providers: including hosting, analytics, communication, and payment processing providers who assist in operating the platform
• Professional advisors: including legal, accounting, and compliance professionals
• Regulatory authorities: where required by law or regulation

We do not sell your personal information to third parties for marketing purposes. We require all third-party service providers to handle your information in accordance with applicable privacy laws.

Overseas disclosure: We do not disclose your personal information or credit information to recipients located outside Australia, except where a third-party service provider stores data overseas under contractual obligations equivalent to the Australian Privacy Principles. Where this occurs, we will take reasonable steps to ensure the overseas recipient does not breach the APPs.

4. Credit Reporting (Part IIIA)

In the course of providing credit assistance, we may collect and disclose credit information about you under Part IIIA of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). Credit information we may collect includes:

• Identification information
• Consumer credit liability information (details of current and past credit accounts, including credit limits and account terms)
• Repayment history information
• Details of credit applications you have made
• Default information and payments following default
• Court proceedings information and personal insolvency information
• Publicly available information that relates to your credit worthiness
• Credit scores, ratings, or summaries derived from the above

How credit information is used: We use and disclose credit information to assess applications for credit or credit assistance, to verify your identity, to manage and enforce credit, to assist you in avoiding defaults, to deal with serious credit infringements, to participate in the credit reporting system, and to meet legal obligations.

Disclosure to other credit providers: We may disclose your credit information to other credit providers (such as lenders we submit applications to on your behalf), to credit reporting bodies, and to your guarantors.

Overseas disclosure of credit information: We do not disclose credit information to recipients located overseas.

Credit reporting bodies: Our current credit reporting body is Equifax (13 8332, equifax.com.au). You may contact Equifax to obtain their privacy policy, request a copy of information they hold, request they not use your information for pre-screening purposes, or request a ban period if you believe you are a victim of identity theft.

Your rights: You have the right to access the credit information we hold about you, to request correction of information that is inaccurate, out-of-date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading, and to make a complaint about our handling of your credit information (see Section 9).

5. Data Security

We take reasonable steps to protect your personal information and credit information from misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification, or disclosure. Our security measures include encrypted data transmission (SSL/TLS), secure server infrastructure, access controls limiting data access to authorised personnel, and regular security reviews. While we strive to protect your information, no method of electronic storage or transmission is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

6. AI and Automated Tools

We use AI-assisted tools (including our “Skippy” chat assistant, automated calculators and document-processing tools) to help answer general questions, estimate repayments and borrowing capacity, identify suitable credit products, verify information, and route your enquiry. These tools provide general information only — they do not provide personal credit advice, do not make credit decisions, and any estimates are indicative only. A qualified Braid Finance representative assesses every credit application.

To operate these tools, limited information you provide may be processed by third-party AI service providers engaged under contract. We strip or mask direct identifiers (name, email, phone, address, account numbers) before content is sent to an AI provider where that content is retained for analysis. Full chat transcripts are purged at the end of each session, and only de-identified usage patterns are retained for quality, safety and compliance improvements for up to 12 months. We do not use your personal or credit information to train public or third-party AI models, and we do not send personal information to AI providers located outside Australia for retention except where the provider is contractually bound by Australian Privacy Principles-equivalent protections.

You may at any time request to speak with a human broker instead, and you may withdraw consent to AI processing by contacting us on 07 3733 3189 or info@braidfinance.com.au. Declining AI-assisted tools will not affect your ability to apply for credit.

7. Your Rights

Under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), you have the right to:

• Access the personal information and credit information we hold about you (APP 12)
• Request correction of inaccurate, out-of-date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading information (APP 13)
• Request deletion of your personal information (subject to legal obligations)
• Opt out of marketing communications at any time
• Withdraw consent to AI-assisted processing and request human-only handling
• Make a complaint about our handling of your personal or credit information

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details below. We will respond to your request within a reasonable timeframe, and no later than 30 days.

8. Cookies and Tracking

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to improve your experience on our platform. For detailed information about the cookies we use and how to manage them, please see our Cookie Policy.

9. Complaints

If you have a complaint about how we have handled your personal information or credit information, please contact us first so we can try to resolve it:

We will acknowledge your complaint promptly and aim to resolve it within 30 days.

External dispute resolution — AFCA: If you are not satisfied with our response, you may lodge a complaint with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA), a free and independent external dispute resolution scheme:

Privacy-specific complaints — OAIC: For complaints specifically about privacy or credit reporting, you may also contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC):

10. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, wish to access or correct your personal or credit information, or want to make a complaint, please contact our Privacy Officer: