HOWZD Privacy Policy
Last updated: August 2026
1. About This Policy
Howzd Pty Ltd (ABN 23 688 677 330) (“HOWZD”, “we”, “us” or “our”) is committed to protecting your privacy. This policy explains how we collect, hold, use and disclose Personal Information, in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (the Privacy Act).
HOWZD acts as the Lender of Record and loan servicer for the HOWZD Deposit Loan, operating under Australian Credit Licence. Because we provide credit, we also have obligations under Part IIIA of the Privacy Act and the Privacy (Credit Reporting) Code 2014, which are addressed in Section 5 below.
A copy of the Australian Privacy Principles is available from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at oaic.gov.au.
2. What Personal Information We Collect
The Personal Information we collect depends on how you interact with us — for example, whether you’re browsing our website, registering interest, or applying for a Deposit Loan. It may include:
- Contact details: name, address, email address and phone number.
- Identity information: date of birth and identification documents, where required to verify your identity.
- Financial information: income, assets, liabilities, expenses, employment details and bank account details, where you apply for or are assessed for a Deposit Loan.
- Credit-related information: credit history and credit eligibility information, where relevant to assessing a credit application (see Section 6).
- Property and transaction information: details of the property you’re purchasing and your loan arrangements with us and your senior lender.
- Website and device information: collected through cookies and similar technologies when you visit www.howzd.com.au.
We collect this information directly from you, and sometimes from third parties, including the developer who referred you, your senior (bank) lender, credit reporting bodies, publicly available sources, and cookies. Where we receive information about you from a third party, we’ll take reasonable steps to make sure you’re aware of that.
We collect Personal Information to assess and provide our services to you, to communicate with you, and for marketing (which you can opt out of at any time — see Section 5). Where appropriate and practicable, we’ll explain why we’re collecting specific information at the point we ask for it.
3. SMS Communications
If you provide us with your mobile phone number and consent to receive SMS communications from HOWZD, we may use your mobile number to send you information about HOWZD, including updates about your enquiry or registration, our products and services, property opportunities, offers, promotions and other marketing communications.
We may use third-party service providers to facilitate the delivery of SMS messages on our behalf. Your mobile phone number will only be shared with these providers where necessary to deliver our communications or otherwise in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
You can opt out of receiving marketing SMS messages at any time by replying STOP to any marketing SMS you receive from us, or by contacting us at zerodeposit@howzd.com.au.
Opting out of marketing SMS communications will not prevent us from sending you service-related or administrative messages where these are necessary in connection with an existing enquiry, application, transaction or service.
We will handle your mobile phone number and any information collected through our SMS communications in accordance with this Privacy Policy and applicable Australian privacy and spam laws.
4. Sensitive Information
Sensitive information is a category of Personal Information defined in the Privacy Act — for example, information about racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, union membership, criminal record or health information. We only collect, use or disclose sensitive information:
- for the primary purpose for which it was collected;
- for a directly related secondary purpose you’d reasonably expect;
- with your consent; or
- where required or authorised by law.
5. How We Use and Disclose Your Personal Information
We use your Personal Information to assess and process Deposit Loan applications, service existing loans, verify your identity, meet our legal and regulatory obligations (including anti-money laundering and credit reporting obligations), communicate with you, and — with your ongoing consent — for marketing.
You may unsubscribe from our marketing communications at any time by selecting ‘unsubscribe’ at the bottom of our emails, replying STOP to our marketing SMS messages, or by contacting us.
We may disclose your Personal Information to:
- the developer who referred you, limited to what’s needed to facilitate your application (developers don’t receive credit assessment details and aren’t authorised to give you credit advice);
- your senior (bank) lender and other parties involved in assessing or settling your loan;
- credit reporting bodies and other credit providers, as described in Section 6;
- our service providers (for example, IT, hosting and payment providers) who help us operate our business;
- our professional advisers and regulators; and
- anyone else where you’ve consented, or where we’re required or authorised by law.
6. Credit-Related Personal Information
Because HOWZD provides credit, Part IIIA of the Privacy Act and the Privacy (Credit Reporting) Code 2014 (CR Code) apply in addition to the APPs. This section explains how that affects your credit-related information.
To assess your application and manage your loan, we may collect credit eligibility information about you from, and disclose it to, credit reporting bodies (such as [name(s) of credit reporting body used — to be confirmed]) and other credit providers. This can include your credit history, repayment history and information about your other credit arrangements.
Under the CR Code, you have a number of specific rights regarding your credit-related information, including the right to:
- request access to the credit-related information we hold about you;
- ask us to correct that information if it’s wrong;
- request that a credit reporting body not use your information for pre-screening of direct marketing; and
- request that a credit reporting body not use or disclose your information if you reasonably believe you’ve been, or may be, a victim of fraud.
We retain and destroy credit-related information in line with the timeframes set out in Part IIIA and the CR Code.
7. Security of Your Personal Information
We take reasonable steps to protect your Personal Information from misuse, loss, and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure, including through physical, electronic and procedural safeguards. When your Personal Information is no longer needed for the purpose it was collected, we’ll take reasonable steps to destroy or de-identify it — except where we’re required to retain it for longer, for example client files, which we generally retain for a minimum of 7 years, and credit-related information, which is subject to the specific timeframes referred to in Section 5.
8. Accessing and Correcting Your Personal Information
You can ask us for access to the Personal Information we hold about you, and ask us to correct or update it, subject to some exceptions permitted by law. To do this, contact us using the details in Section 12. We won’t charge you for lodging a request, but we may charge a reasonable fee to cover the cost of giving you access, where the law allows. We may need to verify your identity before releasing any information.
It’s important to us that the Personal Information we hold is accurate, complete and up to date — if anything changes, or you notice an error, please let us know.
9. Complaints
If you have a question or complaint about how we’ve handled your Personal Information, contact us using the details in Section 12. We’ll acknowledge your complaint promptly and aim to respond within a reasonable timeframe.
If you’re not satisfied with our response, you can also complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC):
- Website: oaic.gov.au
- Phone: 1300 363 992
10. Changes to This Policy
We may update this policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or the law. The most current version will always be available on our website.
11. Contact Us
Howzd Pty Ltd (ABN 23 688 677 330)
PO Box 329, Prahran VIC 3181
Email: zerodeposit@howzd.com.au