Privacy Policy

About ChooseNext and this policy

This Privacy Policy applies to the ChooseNext website, online assessments, forms, communications, referral activities and related services.

In this policy, “ChooseNext”, “we”, “us” and “our” refer to M FAKIH & H.M NEL, ABN 70 809 795 857, trading as ChooseNext.

ChooseNext helps consumers organise information about their home-loan goals and, where requested and appropriate, facilitates an introduction to a participating mortgage broker, credit representative, Australian credit licensee or other authorised service provider.

We aim to handle personal information in accordance with applicable Australian privacy, spam, telecommunications and consumer protection requirements.

Personal information we may collect

The information we collect depends on how you interact with ChooseNext and the type of assistance you request.

Identity and contact information

• Full name.
• Email address.
• Telephone or mobile number.
• State, postcode, suburb or intended buying area.
• Preferred contact day, time or communication method.

First-home-buyer information

• Your intended purchase timeframe.
• Estimated property price or buying range.
• Available deposit or savings range.
• Whether you are buying alone or with another person.
• Household income range and general employment type.
• Whether you have previously owned property.
• General liabilities, credit commitments or financial barriers.
• Your interest in first-home-buyer programmes or pathways.

Refinance information

• Current lender.
• Approximate loan balance and current interest rate.
• Estimated property value.
• Whether the property is owner-occupied or an investment.
• Remaining term or fixed-rate expiry information.
• Your reason for reviewing or refinancing the loan.
• General income, employment, equity and repayment information.
• Whether you have experienced missed repayments or hardship.

Communication and referral information

• Your survey and form responses.
• SMS verification information and verification status.
• Your consent selections and the wording shown when consent was given.
• The date, time and source of your enquiry.
• Correspondence, support requests and complaint records.
• Call notes or recordings where notice has been provided.
• The identity of the partner to whom an enquiry was allocated.
• Referral, contact, appointment and outcome status information.

Technical and website information

• Internet Protocol address.
• Browser, device and operating-system information.
• Pages viewed, links selected and time spent on the website.
• Approximate location derived from technical data.
• Cookie identifiers and advertising attribution information.
• Form completion, campaign and referral-source information.
• Fraud-prevention, duplicate-detection and security data.

Sensitive information

We do not generally ask you to provide sensitive information such as health information, racial or ethnic origin, religious beliefs, political opinions or sexual orientation.

Please do not provide sensitive information unless it is relevant to your request and you understand why it is being collected. Where we are required to collect sensitive information, we will seek consent or rely on another lawful basis.

Credit reports and identification documents

ChooseNext does not ordinarily obtain your consumer credit report or require full bank statements, payslips, tax returns or identity documents as part of its initial referral assessment. A participating mortgage professional may request these documents directly under its own privacy policy and regulatory obligations.

How we collect personal information

We may collect personal information:

• Directly from you when you complete an assessment or form.
• When you contact us by telephone, SMS, email or another channel.
• When you verify your telephone number.
• When you book, change or attend an appointment.
• Through cookies, pixels, analytics and similar technologies.
• From advertising platforms that referred you to our website.
• From a participating partner where it reports a referral outcome.
• From service providers that help us verify, route or manage enquiries.
• From publicly available sources where lawful and appropriate.

Where practical, we collect personal information directly from you. If we receive information about you from another person, we may take reasonable steps to ensure that you are aware of the collection and the relevant circumstances.

Information about another person

If you provide personal information about a spouse, partner, co-borrower, family member or other person, you must have a lawful basis to provide it and should ensure that they understand how the information may be handled.

Why we collect and use personal information

We may collect, hold, use and disclose information to:

• Provide and operate the ChooseNext website and assessments.
• Understand the general nature and stage of your enquiry.
• Verify that your contact information is valid.
• Detect false, fraudulent, duplicate or automated submissions.
• Determine whether a participating partner accepts your type of enquiry.
• Match and refer your enquiry in accordance with your consent.
• Confirm the identity of the partner receiving your enquiry.
• Coordinate an expected call, message or appointment.
• Provide confirmations, reminders and service communications.
• Respond to questions, complaints and consent-withdrawal requests.
• Manage partner allocations, caps, service levels and replacements.
• Measure referral quality, contact rates and service outcomes.
• Improve our website, assessments, advertising and consumer experience.
• Maintain business, compliance, consent and audit records.
• Protect consumers, ChooseNext and participating partners from misuse.
• Meet legal, regulatory, insurance and dispute-resolution obligations.

We may also use de-identified or aggregated information for reporting, analysis, forecasting and service improvement where the information no longer reasonably identifies an individual.

If we wish to use personal information for a purpose materially different from the purpose for which it was collected, we will seek consent or ensure that another lawful basis applies.

Mortgage-broker referrals and participating partners

ChooseNext is a referral service. When you ask to be introduced to a mortgage professional, we may disclose relevant information from your enquiry to a participating third-party provider.

A participating provider may include:

• A licensed mortgage broker.
• A credit representative of an Australian credit licensee.
• An Australian credit licensee.
• A brokerage, aggregator-supported business or authorised employee.
• A specialist provider where your circumstances require specialist assistance.

Information shared with a partner

The information disclosed may include your name, contact details, preferred contact time, enquiry type and the factual information you supplied through the assessment.

We may also provide the partner with your consent record, referral source, verification status and relevant notes needed to understand why you requested contact.

One-partner introduction

Our intended model is to refer an accepted enquiry to one participating provider at a time. We do not intend to sell or distribute the same active enquiry to multiple competing mortgage brokers without clearly telling you and obtaining appropriate consent.

An enquiry may be reassigned where the original provider rejects it before meaningful contact, cannot service the request, has reached capacity or is unavailable. Where required, we will provide further notice or seek additional consent before reassignment.

Independent handling by the partner

Once your information has been disclosed to a participating provider, that provider will handle it under its own privacy policy, legal obligations and professional requirements.

The provider—not ChooseNext—is responsible for any personal credit assistance, credit assessment, lender comparison, recommendation, application, approval process or ongoing customer relationship.

Referral fees and commissions

ChooseNext may receive a fee or commission from a participating third party for making an introduction or supplying an accepted enquiry. This commercial arrangement does not guarantee that a loan will be available, suitable or approved.

Other parties to whom information may be disclosed

In addition to participating mortgage professionals, we may disclose personal information to service providers that assist us with:

• Website hosting and content delivery.
• Customer relationship management.
• Form and survey hosting.
• Telephone, SMS and email communications.
• Mobile-number verification.
• Appointment booking and reminders.
• Lead matching, routing and duplicate detection.
• Cloud storage and data processing.
• Analytics, attribution and advertising measurement.
• Fraud prevention and website security.
• Professional advice, accounting, insurance and legal services.

We may also disclose information:

• Where you have consented to the disclosure.
• Where required or authorised by Australian law.
• To courts, regulators, law-enforcement bodies or government agencies.
• To investigate fraud, security incidents, complaints or misconduct.
• To protect the rights, safety or property of a person or organisation.
• In connection with a proposed sale, restructure or transfer of our business.

We do not claim to compare every mortgage provider, lender, product or service available in the Australian market. In some cases, only one participating provider may be available for your enquiry.

Telephone calls, SMS, email and direct marketing

Service communications

Where you submit an enquiry, we or the participating provider may send communications reasonably necessary to manage that enquiry. These may include:

• Submission confirmations.
• Telephone-number verification codes.
• The name of the provider receiving your enquiry.
• Appointment details and reminders.
• Requests to confirm, correct or complete information.
• Updates relating to your requested introduction.

Marketing communications

We will send promotional email or SMS communications where we have the required consent or another lawful basis. Messages will identify the sender and include a way to unsubscribe where required.

We do not treat the mere submission of a general enquiry as permission for unrelated or indefinite marketing. Any separate marketing consent should be presented clearly at the point of collection.

Telephone contact

If you expressly request a telephone call or agree to be contacted about your enquiry, ChooseNext and the disclosed participating provider may rely on that consent to contact you, subject to applicable telemarketing rules.

A participating provider should identify itself and explain that the contact relates to your ChooseNext enquiry.

Withdrawing marketing consent

You may stop marketing communications by:

• Selecting the unsubscribe link in an email.
• Replying STOP to an SMS where that facility is provided.
• Asking the caller not to contact you again for marketing.
• Emailing [email protected] .
• Using our consent-withdrawal process.

Withdrawing marketing consent does not necessarily prevent communications required to complete an existing request, respond to a complaint or satisfy a legal obligation.

Cookies, pixels and analytics

Our website may use cookies, pixels, tags, local storage and similar technologies to operate the website, remember preferences, protect forms, measure performance and understand how visitors interact with our content.

These technologies may help us:

• Keep the website functioning correctly.
• Measure visits, form starts and completed enquiries.
• Identify the advertisement or campaign that led to a visit.
• Detect repeat, duplicate or suspicious submissions.
• Improve page layout, content and assessment completion.
• Measure advertising performance.
• Create or refine advertising audiences where permitted.

Third-party platforms such as Google and Meta may receive technical or event information through their tags or application programming interfaces. Their handling of information is governed by their own privacy policies.

You can usually manage cookies through your browser or device settings. Blocking necessary cookies may affect website or form functionality.

Overseas storage and processing

Some technology, communications, cloud, analytics and support providers used by ChooseNext may store or process information outside Australia.

Likely overseas locations may include the United States and other countries in which our service providers, their related entities or subcontractors operate.

The countries involved may change where a service provider changes its infrastructure or subcontractors. Where required, we will take reasonable steps in the circumstances before disclosing personal information to an overseas recipient.

How we protect personal information

We take reasonable administrative, technical and organisational measures designed to protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

Measures may include:

• Controlled staff and contractor access.
• Account passwords and multi-factor authentication.
• Encrypted transmission where supported.
• Secure cloud platforms and access logging.
• Telephone-number verification and form-protection measures.
• Duplicate, fraud and suspicious-submission monitoring.
• Confidentiality obligations for personnel and providers.
• Incident-response and data-breach procedures.

No internet transmission or storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. You should avoid sending highly sensitive documents through ordinary email unless an appropriate secure method has been arranged.

Data breaches

If we become aware of a suspected data breach, we will assess and respond to it. Where the legal criteria are met, we will notify affected individuals and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner in accordance with applicable requirements.

How long we retain information

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, or as needed for legal, compliance, insurance, audit, dispute-resolution and legitimate business requirements.

Retention periods may depend on:

• Whether an enquiry was referred or accepted.
• Whether the consumer became a customer of a participating provider.
• The need to retain evidence of consent.
• Replacement, payment or contractual disputes.
• Complaints or regulatory enquiries.
• Fraud-prevention and duplicate-detection requirements.
• Applicable statutory limitation periods.

When personal information is no longer required, we will take reasonable steps to delete, destroy or de-identify it, unless retention is required or authorised by law.

Accessing and correcting your information

You may ask us to provide access to personal information we hold about you or to correct information that is inaccurate, incomplete, out of date, irrelevant or misleading.

To make a request, email [email protected] with enough information for us to identify you and understand the request.

We may need to verify your identity before providing access or changing information. We will respond within a reasonable period.

In some circumstances, the law allows or requires us to refuse access or correction. Where appropriate, we will explain the reason and the available complaint options.

If information has already been disclosed to a participating provider, you may also need to contact that provider directly to access or correct the copy it holds.

Withdrawing consent and requesting deletion

You may withdraw a consent you previously gave by contacting us at [email protected] or using our consent-withdrawal page.

Withdraw your consent

We will take reasonable steps to action the withdrawal and notify relevant internal systems or participating providers where appropriate.

Withdrawal will generally operate prospectively. It may not reverse a disclosure already made with valid consent or prevent retention required for legal, consent-evidence, complaint, fraud-prevention or audit purposes.

You may request deletion of your information. Deletion is not an absolute right under all circumstances, and we may retain information where it remains reasonably necessary or legally required.

Privacy questions and complaints

If you believe we have mishandled your personal information, contact us first so we can investigate and attempt to resolve the matter.

Please include:

• Your name and contact details.
• A description of the privacy concern.
• Relevant dates, communications or partner details.
• The outcome you are seeking.

We will acknowledge and assess the complaint and aim to respond within a reasonable period. More complex matters may require additional time.

You may also use our complaints process .

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may be entitled to complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

Where the complaint relates to a participating mortgage broker’s credit assistance, conduct or handling of information after the referral, you may also need to use that provider’s complaints and dispute-resolution process.

Children and people under 18

ChooseNext’s mortgage-referral services are intended for adults. We do not knowingly seek to collect mortgage-enquiry information from children under 18.

If you believe a person under 18 has provided personal information without appropriate authority, contact us so we can assess the situation and take appropriate steps.

Third-party websites and services

Our website may contain links to participating providers, government resources, social-media platforms or other third-party websites.

ChooseNext does not control the privacy practices, security or content of those third parties. You should review the privacy policy of a third party before providing information directly to it.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy when our services, partners, technology or legal obligations change.

The latest version will be published on this page with an updated effective date. Where a change materially affects how we use information already collected, we will provide additional notice or seek consent where required.

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