1 Our commitment
We handle personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles.
We are a business-to-business trading company. Most information we hold relates to companies rather than individuals, but we do collect personal information about the people who represent those companies, and this policy explains how we treat it.
2 What we collect
| Category | Examples |
|---|---|
| Contact details | Name, position or job title, business email address, business telephone and WhatsApp number |
| Company information | Registered company name, trading name, country of incorporation, company registration number, registered address, website, year established, annual turnover band, years trading |
| Transaction requirements | Commodities of interest, specifications, quantities, shipment frequency, delivery terms, destination port, inspection preference |
| Commercial information | Payment instrument, name and country of issuing bank, trade references. We do not ask for and do not want account numbers, card details or banking credentials |
| Due diligence information | Declarations you make, and the results of checks we run against public registers and sanctions screening databases |
| Website usage | IP address, device and browser type, pages visited, referring site, and similar analytics data |
We do not seek sensitive information as defined in the Privacy Act, and ask that you do not send it to us.
3 How we collect it
- Directly from you — through our online application form, by email, by telephone or WhatsApp, or in meetings.
- From your organisation — where a colleague provides your details as a contact.
- From public and third-party sources — company registers such as the Australian Business Register and ASIC, sanctions and watch lists, credit reporting bodies, and trade references you nominate.
- Automatically — through analytics when you use our website, as described in section 6.
You can deal with us anonymously or under a pseudonym for general enquiries. That is not practical for a trading application, because verifying who we are dealing with is a legal and commercial requirement.
4 Why we collect it
We collect and use personal information to:
- respond to enquiries and prepare quotations;
- assess applications and conduct counterparty due diligence, including identity, credit and sanctions screening;
- negotiate, document, perform and administer transactions, including logistics, inspection and payment arrangements;
- meet obligations under sanctions, export control, anti-money-laundering, customs, tax and other laws;
- maintain business records and manage our relationship with you; and
- improve our website and understand how it is used.
If you do not provide the information we ask for, we may not be able to assess your application or proceed with a transaction.
5 Who we disclose it to
We may disclose personal information to:
- suppliers, producers, refineries and counterparties, where this is necessary to source or perform a transaction;
- inspection and certification agencies, freight forwarders, shipping lines, insurers and customs brokers;
- banks and financial institutions involved in the payment instrument for a transaction;
- professional advisers, including lawyers and accountants;
- service providers who host our website and systems, described in section 7;
- government agencies, regulators and law enforcement, where required or authorised by law.
We do not sell personal information, and we do not disclose it for third-party marketing.
6 Website analytics and cookies
We use Google Analytics 4 to understand how visitors use our website. It sets cookies and collects information such as your IP address, the pages you view and how you arrived at the site. This information is used in aggregate and we do not use it to identify individual visitors.
Google may process this data outside Australia. You can read Google's practices at policies.google.com/privacy, and you can opt out using Google's browser add-on at tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
Most browsers let you refuse or delete cookies. Our website will still function if you do.
7 Storage, security and overseas disclosure
Where your data is held. Applications submitted through our website are stored using Google Firebase, in a data centre located in Singapore. Notification emails are delivered through Google's mail infrastructure. By submitting an application, you consent to your information being disclosed to these overseas recipients.
We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss, and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. Those steps include encrypted connections to our website, access controls on the systems that store applications, and restricting access to those who need it.
No method of transmission or storage is completely secure. While we work to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security.
We keep personal information for as long as needed for the purposes described in this policy and to meet our legal and record-keeping obligations, after which we take reasonable steps to destroy or de-identify it.
8 Accessing and correcting your information
You may ask us for access to the personal information we hold about you, and ask us to correct it if it is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete or misleading.
Write to nick@meglobaltrading.com. We may ask you to verify your identity. We will respond within a reasonable period, ordinarily within 30 days. There is no charge for making a request, though we may charge a reasonable fee for the cost of giving access in some circumstances. If we refuse access or correction, we will tell you why in writing.
9 Direct marketing
We may occasionally send you information about products, market conditions or services we think are relevant to your business. You can opt out at any time by replying to any message or writing to the address in section 11, and we will action it promptly.
10 Complaints
If you believe we have breached the Australian Privacy Principles, contact us at nick@meglobaltrading.com with details of your concern. We will acknowledge your complaint, investigate it, and respond in writing, ordinarily within 30 days.
If you are not satisfied with our response, you can refer the matter to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at oaic.gov.au or by calling 1300 363 992.
11 Contact us
Privacy enquiries
M.E. Global Trading Pty. Ltd.
21 Firth Street, Arncliffe NSW 2205, Australia
nick@meglobaltrading.com
12 Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The current version is always published on this page, and the date at the top shows when it was last changed. Material changes will be brought to your attention where practicable.