This document sets out the terms and conditions under which you agree to participate as a member of the Synergy Connect website, which is owned and operated by Synergy. These terms and conditions also include information about Toluna Australia Pty. Ltd (or "Toluna"). Toluna owns and operates the software that is used to host the Synergy Connect website.

Membership

To become a member of the Synergy Connect website, you must be a Synergy customer, resident of WA, over 18 years of age and be accepted as a member by Synergy.  Membership numbers are limited and Synergy may accept or reject a membership at its absolute discretion at any time and without giving reasons. By becoming a member, you consent to receiving emails from Synergy and any of its partners, contractors or agents in connection with this website.

Website content

We hope you'll find our website easy to use and informative. We aim to provide the most up-to-date information, tools, products and services to make understanding, managing and using energy easier.

We've taken the necessary steps to ensure the information displayed is up to date and accurate when published. However, we apologise for any unforeseen errors that may arise from time to time and we'll try to correct them quickly where possible.

Synergy provides this website in good faith but doesn't make any representation, guarantee or warranty, express or implied, that this website or any advice, opinion, representation, information, data or other material (Material) produced or provided by this website, or any calculator or other tool on or accessed via this website (Tool), are or will be accurate, complete, achievable, free from errors or omissions or suitable for your intended use, or that reasonable care has been or will be taken by Synergy in compiling preparing or updating this website or any such Material or Tool.

This website and any such Material or Tool is or has been prepared without taking into account your individual objectives, situation or needs and may contain or produce errors, omissions and inaccurate, incomplete and outdated information, data and other material. Before you or any of your associates places any reliance on this website or any such Material or Tool, Synergy recommends you make your own independent enquiries, investigations and assessments to consider if it is appropriate for your circumstances and you should not otherwise rely on this website or any such Material or Tool.

To the extent permitted by law, Synergy accepts no responsibility or liability of any kind (whether in negligence, tort, contract, under statute or otherwise) for or in connection with this website or any such Material or Tool, or any actual or claimed reliance on them.

By accessing or using this website or any such Material or Tool, you agree to irrevocably release Synergy from all claims, actions, damages, judgements, losses, remedies or matters whether in tort, contract or under statute or otherwise arising from or in relation to such access or use.

Despite the above and anything else in these terms and conditions or this website to the contrary, nothing in these terms and conditions or this website is to be taken to exclude, restrict or modify any right, remedy, liability or obligation a party may have under any written law (including but not limited to, the Australian Consumer Law) if and to the extent that such exclusion, restriction or modification is prohibited by law.

What information do we collect?

We gather personal information when you access and use the Synergy Connect website. Your participation in any of our panels and surveys is voluntary. To become a member of the Synergy Connect website, we ask that you fill out a registration survey that gathers some personal and general consumer information about you. After registration, we ask you to provide further personal information in order to participate in surveys and panels conducted by Synergy and its third-party partners.

Personal information that is collected from you may include, but is not limited to, your name, address, email address, gender, date of birth, marital status, education, employment status, household income, number of household members, your interests, your consumer preferences, your product or service purchase history or information from your responses to discussions and surveys in the website.

If you do not provide us with some or all of your personal information, you may not be able to become a member of the website and you may not be able to access, or participate in, all or part of the website.

In some circumstances, we may ask you to inform us of your sensitive information. In general, sensitive information that may be collected by us may cover: your racial or ethnic origin; your political opinions; your physical or mental health or condition.

You should be aware that any personal information you choose to make public in the website (such as an opinion or topic in a message board or live chat or any other public area or forum) can be read, collected, or used by other users and could be used by others to send you unsolicited messages. We are not responsible for the personal information you choose to make public in this way. In addition, we are not responsible for the content you publicly post in the website that can be found via web-based search engines. To request removal of your personal information from the website, please contact us using the contact details specified under "Contact Information" at the end of this document. In some cases, we may not be able to remove your personal information, in which case, we will let you know that we are unable to do so and why.

How we use your personal information

Your personal information and your responses to the surveys, discussions and activities on this website may be disclosed to people within Synergy and any of Synergy's partners, contractors and agents in order to:

• Contact you about marketing research, such as inviting you to participate in surveys, activities and content that is relevant to you
•  Assist in improving Synergy's products and services, and
• Contact you in the future with information about Synergy including special offers or to provide you with marketing materials via any medium including telephone and commercial electronic messages.
• Provide you with news, information and material in relation to the website (including new features or contests);
• Provide you with incentives as part of your participation in the website (including announcement on the website of prize winners);
• Monitor who is accessing the website;
• Profile the type of people using the website;
• Perform administrative and operational tasks (including risk management, systems development and testing and staff training);
• Consider any concerns or complaints you may have raised.
• Your personal information may also be otherwise used as permitted by law.

Your data will be secure and never passed on to third parties without your permission.

If you do not wish to have your personal information used in this manner or for any other specific purpose, you can contact us using the details specified in the "Contact information" at the end of this document. However, you may not be able to access, or use, all or part of the website. In certain instances, you may not be eligible to become a member or may need to discontinue your membership with the website. We may still use or disclose that information if: (a) we subsequently notify you of the intended use or disclosure and you do not object to that use or disclosure; (b) we believe that the use or disclosure is reasonably necessary to assist a law enforcement agency or an agency responsible for government or public security in the performance of their functions; or (c) we are required by law to disclose the information.

Toluna may provide your personal information to: (a) their related bodies corporate (as that term is defined in the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth)); (b) parties to whom you authorise them to disclose your personal information; (c) parties and their advisors as part of a transfer of the whole or part of Toluna's business; (d) their suppliers, contractors and consultants, assisting them in the provision of services to you (subject to them being required to protect your personal information in the same manner that we commit to your privacy protection under this Privacy Policy) and, in respect of sensitive information, only with your express consent; (e) their professional advisors; or (f) other third parties as permitted by law. They may also disclose your personal information to third parties where they have your express permission to do so or, where it can reasonably be inferred from the circumstances that you consent to the disclosure to the third parties.

You specifically consent to disclosure of your personal information (other than sensitive information) by Toluna to third parties:

• for use with third-party software for email list management and email distribution, or use of third party list management providers to match the website members to members of other lists or panels, or to validate accuracy of personal information you provide; and
• Your personal information may be hosted by Toluna or their related bodies corporate (as that term is defined in the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth)) on servers located in the United States. Accordingly, your personal information may be disclosed to recipients located in other countries, including the United States. All such disclosures shall solely be made in accordance with applicable law.

Copyright

This website and its contents are owned or licensed by Synergy. We're happy for you to view the information available on this site for your own personal use. You must not use, repackage, sell or provide any of this information to others for any commercial or improper purpose. Synergy may provide you with or you may have access to confidential information as part of your membership of this website; you must not use any of the confidential information in any way other than as necessary to participate in this website. You must not copy, print, reproduce or distribute any confidential information.

Except as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 (Commonwealth of Australia), no part of this website or its contents may be reproduced, adapted, transmitted, broadcast, published or performed in public in any form, by any process (graphic, mechanical electronic or otherwise), without the specific written permission of Synergy.

Intellectual property

By participating in this website you assign to Synergy absolutely all rights, title and interest in the information that you provide upon creation and you consent to Synergy and its related parties modifying, changing, copying, publishing, adding to, taking from, adapting and/or translating in any manner or context the information notwithstanding that such conduct may otherwise infringe moral rights (or similar) laws in any territory or jurisdiction, and, to the extent lawfully possible in a jurisdiction you waive all moral rights.

Governing law

These terms and conditions and this website are governed by and to be construed in accordance with the laws applicable in Western Australia. This website and materials or information in it may not satisfy the laws of any other jurisdiction and accordingly are not directed at anyone outside Western Australia and should not be relied on by anyone outside Western Australia.

Links and 3rd party websites

Hypertext links (links) can be made from third-party websites to this website provided that alterations cannot be made to this website's contents and web pages from this website content cannot be contained within a frame within a non-Synergy website.

This website contains links to third-party websites and information, data and other material (including, but not limited to, Tools, submissions, advice and opinions) obtained from external sources (which may include, but is not limited to, you or third parties, which are not under the control of Synergy. Synergy is not responsible for the content of any linked sites or external content.

If you access or rely on a linked site or external content referenced or contained in this website, then you do so at your own risk and subject to and without limiting Synergy's Disclaimer (above) and any disclaimer or limitations made by that linked site or a third party source of the external content.

Synergy provides these links and external content only as a convenience or for interest and the inclusion of the linked sites or external content does not imply that Synergy endorses or accepts any responsibility for the existence or content of the linked sites or external content and, to the extent permitted by law, Synergy does not accept any responsibility or liability of any kind (whether in negligence, tort, contract, under statute or otherwise) for or in connection with the existence or content of the linked sites or external content.

Behaviour and member responsibilities

As a member, you agree to follow the house rules:

1. Be honest. We value your responses and ideas. The best improvements will come from honest feedback.

2. Be respectful. Please treat all Synergy Connect community members with courtesy and respect. A healthy debate of ideas can create brilliant ideas, and this is strongly encouraged; however, any personal attacks or putting others down will not be tolerated.

3.  Don't use offensive language. To maintain a positive discussion forum, we ask that all comments are kept free from offensive language or any other inappropriate content. All aggressive, defamatory, offensive, spam and political comments, content, imagery and video will be deleted and offenders may be removed.

4.  Be creative.  Don't be afraid to say what you think or tell us about something new. There are no right or wrong answers and we love hearing new ideas. You can share these in your chat space 'The Lounge.'

5.  Lastly, get involved!  Participate in as many surveys, polls, and discussions as possible, all of which will help us to provide you with a better Synergy experience. And more involvement means more rewards in the Piggy Bank!

Synergy's social media community guidelines also apply to Synergy Connect:

We want to hear from our customers as we respect your opinions, but there are some things no one wants to hear, so Synergy Connect is moderated and we will hit the delete button on anything that:

• Personally attacks or bullies someone

• Menaces, harasses or causes offence (including Trolling)

• Is racist, sexist or discriminates in another way

• Breaches copyright (uses material that's not yours)

• Is spam, selling or self-promoting (includes link-baiting)

• Is defamatory (says nasty or untrue things about other people)

• Is illegal, or encourages or promotes illegal activity

• Is obscene (please keep it clean, your mum could be visiting!)

• Is confidential or personal to someone else

• Is misleading or deceptive, or otherwise untrue

• Uses ALL CAPITALS (that's considered shouting) or cOnfUSiNG caPITalISATion

• Involves uploads or attached files that contain viruses, corrupted files or anything that might damage the operation of a computer or communications device

• Is otherwise inappropriate for publication.

If we remove your content from Synergy Connect, we will try to explain why we took it down but if you do it again and again, we may block you. Spammers will get flagged.

Whilst we encourage our customers to use Synergy Connect, posts on this community do not reflect the opinions of Synergy nor do we confirm their accuracy.

Competition policy

In some instance, Synergy Connect members may have the opportunity to enter prize draws. All winners are notified by email of their winnings. Separate terms and conditions may apply. Synergy shall post the usernames or first name and first initial of last name of winners on the home page or "Piggy Bank" or communicate them via newsletter to all members.

Deactivation and Termination

If you choose to end your membership with Synergy Connect or you require us to cease processing your personal information, you may automatically discontinue your membership by clicking "Unsubscribe" in the footer of the homepage of the website or by contacting us at info@synergyconnect.net.au. By following the appropriate directions, your record will be marked as "unsubscribed", and you will no longer receive communications from Synergy in relation to this website. In addition, you will forfeit any incentive balance that has not been requested as of the time you unsubscribe. In most cases, it will take two to three days to process this change, but please allow up to two full weeks for your status to be finalised. In the meantime, you may receive emails from us. After deletion or deactivation, any personal information you have provided to us through this website via sources such as surveys, discussions and polls can still be used by Synergy for the purposes of analysis.

We may at our absolute discretion, suspend or terminate with immediate effect this website or your membership of this website by immediately giving you notice for any reason (including if you breach the ongoing requirements on these Terms and Conditions)

Information logged on our website

One or more "cookies" will be placed on the hard disk of the computer(s) used by visitors, panellists and survey takers of the Synergy Connect website in order to allow Toluna to recognise the participant when they connect to the website, in order to facilitate the management of the website, for statistical purposes (pages consulted, date and time of consultations etc.), and to enable us to provide the participant with surveys specifically tailored to his / her interests. This will not affect the performance of your computer but simply provide you with additional opportunities to receive more surveys relevant to your interests. By using the website, you authorise cookies to be put in place and their use by us. Only information collected by cookies as specified in this section of the Terms and Conditions is automatically collected from users of the website. In the event that we do collect any personal information through the use of cookies, it is available only to Toluna and Toluna's clients.

The cookies will expire after one year.

Users may disable the installation of "cookies" or to delete cookies installed by Toluna. To do so you should modify your browser settings. Assistance can be found by clicking on the help section of your Internet browser and following the instructions.

Toluna may assign a unique identifier or "Machine-ID" to your computer to identify and track the computer. Toluna will not use such technology (the "technology") to collect personal information, or track the online activities, of the user of a computer or to disrupt or interfere with the use or control of a computer or alter, modify or change the settings or functionality of a computer. Toluna will use the technology to assist in ensuring the integrity of survey results. The technology will analyse publicly available information and data obtained from the computer's web browser and from other publicly available data points, including without limitation the technical settings of the computer, the characteristics of the computer, and the computer's IP Address, to create a unique identifier assigned to the computer.  In furtherance of Toluna's efforts to assist in protecting and ensuring the integrity of survey results, Toluna (a) may link or associate your unique identifier to you and any of your personal information; (b) may share your unique identifier with Toluna's clients and with other sample or panel providers; and (c) may receive or obtain a unique identifier linked to you from a third party, including without limitation a sample or panel provider or a client of Toluna. Any unique identifier(s) received or obtained by Toluna and linked to a specific individual will be protected in accordance with these Terms and Conditions.

Toluna shall use commercially reasonable efforts to ensure that the technology is safe, secure and is only used in a professional and ethical manner and in accordance with these Terms and Conditions, any statements and/or disclosures made by Toluna to you, and applicable laws.

In the event that Toluna discovers or learns of any unethical conduct in connection with the use of the technology, or that the technology is being used in a manner that is inconsistent with the statements and/or disclosures made by Toluna to you or in violation of applicable laws, Toluna will use commercially reasonable efforts to take prompt action to prohibit such unethical conduct and to ensure the proper administration of the technology.

Our systems

Our security measures are designed to follow industry practices in securing access to your account or personal information.

Toluna takes all reasonable commercial measures to ensure every aspect of your personal information is kept secure.  Toluna's security is reviewed periodically.

Toluna will never ask you for private information such as your credit card number or government related identifiers (such as passport or driver's licence number) as a part of research. Toluna may be required by law to ask for your government related identifier to comply with reporting laws and regulations if you are the recipient of survey incentives or prizes.

Toluna uses SSL encryption when collecting or transmitting sensitive information. 

However, while Toluna makes all reasonable efforts to keep personal information which they collect and hold secure, Toluna cannot, and does not, guarantee the security of transmission of all such information over the internet.

 

Contact information

Please contact our Customer Service Representatives by: 
phone 1800 208 987; 
fax 08 6212 1848; 
mail GPO Box K851, Perth WA, 6842.

We will investigate your queries and complaints within a reasonable period of time and will notify you of the outcome of our investigation.