Privacy Policy

This document outlines a Privacy Policy as part of Smart Online Staff’s commitment to excellence in service to all persons or businesses with respect to their personal data. We value your information as much as you do.

Smart Online Staff, a business name in online and other applicable settings, is owned and operated solely by SOHO Smart Outsourcing, Inc., duly registered under applicable laws with the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission. Both company names are interchangeable for referencing on this document, as well as terms like “we”, “us”, “the company”, “our” and other terms designating ownership, formal operations or dealings in business and policies.

The company is a virtual staffing solutions firm that does business in Australia and the Philippines and other countries that may apply.

The Privacy Policy rules all dealings between visitors to or users of the site and the company in terms of information gathering and sharing. (Further guidelines are provided in the section Terms and Conditions.) These dealings are specific to the site Smart Online Staff as well as generally applicable to business conducted by SOHO Smart Outsourcing, or applicable to the proprietary rights, discretion, and decision of the company management.

Visits to the site are made for convenience and free of charge, with exceptions. Information found in its accessible areas is available to all, except for personal data which a visitor shares with us or sensitive company information and fields that access its paid services.

Visits may go up to business levels when a visitor starts sharing his/her information through a number of available platforms and processes. This will mean that the company is beholden to ask for a fee or charge or negotiate a contract or deal formalized by a fee or charge.

Your personal information is something we seek to protect at all times.

Visitors may use, come across or automatically deal with the following facilities we use for collecting their personal data:

  1. Data collection fields on the company website;
  2. Phones or any kind of messaging/communications platform;
  3. Recording devices for audio, electronic documents and the like.
  4. Software;
  5. Landing pages;
  6. Cookies.

The following types of information may be shared by site visitors:

  1. Sensitive personal information – includes all contacts, vital statistics, affiliations or membership data of a visitor.
  2. Privileged information – all types of data generated through privileged communication in negotiations and business deals which are typically restricted to parties involved, up to and including personal and speculative opinions.

They will be sharing their information through processes that include:

  1. Contacting us;
  2. Visiting our websites;
  3. Responding to surveys or promotions;
  4. Sharing experiences with us through telecom and online messaging devices or platforms;
  5. Auto-generated notifications;
  6. Downloading;
  7. Lawfully mandated site processes;
  8. Negotiating for our services or contracting for the same services.

We collect two types of information from site visitors or company clients:

  1. Online information – which includes your location and website use, which are automatically generated by cookies and the like. It also includes site navigation and links to other sites. The data may be used automatically by things like analytics software.
  2. Personally shared information – which, though it may be ran through our websites and online platforms, are yours to relay at any time. This type of data is typically relayed person-to-person or person-to-platform-to-person.

Client or visitor data will be collected, processed, used, shared, disposed of or deleted as needed and preferred by the client. At any time, a visitor can ask us to delete all data he/she has shared except when dealings are ruled by an existing or active service contract. Opt-out rights, which can entitle clients/visitors automatic deletion or physical destruction of files with their personal information with no added fee or charge, include:

  1. Opt-out rights from items as subscriptions to newsletters and email notifications/campaigns, serial articles and blog posts, videos and other information-sharing platforms.
  2. Opt-out rights from business negotiations which may use phones, messaging devices and other communications platforms, and recording devices.
  3. Non-renewal of an expired service contract.
  4. Cookie opt-out add-ons or devices, or cookie deletion in your browser settings.

Through all iterations that any shared client data goes through, our company assures that it is protected through several channels, platforms and processes that apply, including:

  1. Protection through software, online tools and related devices;
  2. Protection through privacy laws such as the Philippine Data Privacy Act of 2012 and the Australian Privacy Act of 1988 (Cth), which outline or provide guiding principles in handling any consumer data and protecting any consumer;
  3. Protection in sales and business negotiations through such items as the Australian Consumer Law, which provides guidelines in the protection of any consumer for things like confidentiality in business.

The company will therefore strive to prevent any accidental or illegal loss, unauthorised disclosure or access, and destruction or alteration of shared client or visitor data, whether in transmittal, storage or records, and transmitted or processed in any way. The same goes for all data that the company uses on its website, whether openly accessible or requiring visitors to fill out items like contact or agreement forms.

Your personal information gives you the means to access needed information from us or do business with us.

We collect two types of information from site visitors or company clients:

  1. Online information – which includes your location and website use, which are automatically generated by cookies and the like. It also includes site navigation and links to other sites or the locations of email addresses in the physical and online sense. The data may be used automatically by things like analytics software our company uses.
  2. Personally shared information – which, though it may be ran through our websites, messaging devices and platforms, are yours to relay at any time. This type of data is typically relayed person to-platform-to-person. For instance, a call is relayed by the caller through a telecommunications device (a phone) to the one being called. Or you input your details on a field or fields (name, email address, etc.) handled by or connected to software, and these details may usually be turned over to any person in our company who monitors site traffic or who needs your details.

The information you share with us cannot be searched online, it belongs to our private database once shared. Here is where our protective facilities, hardware and software, maintain utmost privacy for you.

Data breaches and other kinds of adverse occurrences that might affect your information may, on certain occasions, take place (see section on this document: Adverse actions from outside or unlawful sources that can affect our data and yours.

The thing we can assure is how our site is maintained and protected when you use it, which means that adverse occasions will typically be done by outside sources.

Other than this important caveat, your typical visit or transaction on our site is worry-free. You are free to conduct business here, free to get accessible site information and use it for yourself or your purposes, except where illegal activities are concerned.

Sharing your personal information gives you certain rights and these include:

  1. The right to protected contact with the company or its representatives and facilities, which include human personnel and automated processes you find online or through telecom systems.
  2. The right to access protected company information which is part of our services program or business process.
  3. The right to certain promotional items which are usually free of charge, but with the understanding that your interest gives us a parallel right to use your personal information for conducting legal business online and in other settings. (In any case, you will be notified when we do so. Furthermore, we limit the details we ask from you on the site to contact information and business-related opinions, which are always used to advance or make the business relationship progress in an orderly manner.)

Third party services or products affect data that pass through our site.

Our online operations require us to use software applications, devices and platforms for things like measuring site performance and analysing data. These are important tools we use for business or marketing.

Whenever you access our site and use its platforms the said tools will perform their functions automatically. These may take down things like your location and the website URL you use, but only in a statistical sense, and this will not affect your privacy.

We will disclose any branded service or product we use in business or marketing when you make a formal request outlining the importance of such a request. Any product or service used by us is universally needed to run an online operation and makes your user experience that much easier, more engaging, enhanced, secure and worry-free.

Third party companies we use are reliable and safe, and are typically committed to protecting your information, too. These companies include ISPs, browsers, or those providing us with the means to help you conduct business with us.

Adverse actions from outside or unlawful sources that can affect our data and yours.

Above all else, we thrive on being a law-abiding company, with a values-based office culture that is self-policing and mindful in every way. However this might become the best kind of protection for anyone involved in company processes that involve the use of websites, no one can say when adverse happenings may affect data of any kind.

Adverse occurrences that can affect information shared on our site include:

  1. Illegal entry into company facilities, physical and online;
  2. Unauthorised use of company programs;
  3. Industrial sabotage;
  4. Network crashes;
  5. Computer crashes.

If illegal procedures are used, the company stands ready to find and prosecute wrongdoers. For accidental occurrences like a network crash, we practise a standard procedure for saving your information or using backup records and storing these in a safe location, when and if the accident occurs in our network.

Intervention/s that may rule out the right to privacy.

The company reserves the right to open its records to any government inquiry or investigation with or without proper and due deliberation with a legal representative. Although this might be far and away things or occurrences that are rare in company terms, reasons for any form of intervention may include:

  1. Matters of paramount importance like national or global security;
  2. Environmental or humanitarian crises;
  3. Criminal investigations for high-level felonies or serious crimes.

Changes to this Privacy Policy.

The company reserves the right to make changes in this policy when necessary. Clients or frequent visitors are advised to update themselves on changes from time to time.

Accessing your personal information.

You have a right to access your personal information, subject to exceptions allowed by law. If you would like to do so, please let us know. You may be required to put your request in writing for security reasons. SOHO Smart Outsourcing, Inc., reserves the right to charge a fee for searching for, and providing access to, your information on a per request basis.

Contacting us about the Privacy Policy.

Smart Online Staff welcomes your comments regarding this Privacy Policy. If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy and would like further information, please contact us.