Data Policy | Smartcent

Last Updated: 1 July 2024

If you have any security concerns, we can be contacted at Customer Care

At Smartcent, we recognise the critical importance of securely protecting your data. Our strong commitment to data security means we employ a multi-layered approach to safeguard your information against unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction.

1. Security Measures

Our data security practices are designed to protect your personal and financial information and to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of your data.

1.1 Encryption Technology

Strong encryption technologies are used to protect data during transmission over the Internet and while at rest.

1.2 Encryption Standards

This includes the use of SSL/TLS protocols for data in transit and advanced encryption standards (AES) for data at rest, ensuring that your information is accessible only to authorised personnel.

We encrypt all information that we store with AES-256, specific to the user. This means if our database were compromised, no decipherable information can be derived from it. We further encrypt the database as a whole with AES-256 also. We only use proven encryption algorithms that have never been broken for both information transfer and storage.

1.3 Access Controls

Access to personal and sensitive information is strictly limited to authorised employees and partners who need to access the information to provide services.

1.4 Further Protective Measures

We enforce role-based access controls (RBAC), employing the principle of least privilege to minimise the risk of unauthorised access.

1.5 Secure Infrastructure

Our platform operates on secure, resilient infrastructure designed to withstand various threats and vulnerabilities. Firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and regular security scanning are used to protect our network and data storage.

1.6 Data Integrity and Availability

Robust data backup and recovery procedures are deployed to ensure the integrity and availability of your information.

1.7 Backups and Storage

This includes regular backups and redundant storage solutions to protect against data loss and ensure that our services remain available even in the face of hardware failures or natural disasters.

2. Security Practices

We understand the sensitivity of the personal and financial data you entrust to us and are committed to protecting it with the highest standards of security and compliance.

2.1 Regular Security Audits

Smartcent conducts regular security audits and assessments to identify potential vulnerabilities within our system and processes. These audits help us to continuously improve our security posture and ensure compliance with industry standards and regulations.

2.2 Incident Response

We have an established incident response plan to quickly address any security breaches or incidents. We are required by law to report any breaches of data to both the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) as well as to the affected users. We adhere to guidelines laid out by the OAIC on necessary steps to respond to a data breach.

This plan includes procedures for investigation, notification, and remediation to minimise the impact on our users and prevent future occurrences.

3. User Responsibilities

While we take extensive measures to protect your data, security is a shared responsibility. We encourage our users to:

Use strong, unique passwords for their accounts and enable two-factor authentication (2FA) if available.
Be cautious of phishing attempts and suspicious links or emails claiming to be from Smartcent.
Keep their software and devices updated to protect against security vulnerabilities.

4. Reporting Security Concerns

We are committed to transparency and open communication regarding security. Please contact us immediately if you have any concerns about the security of your data or suspect a security vulnerability within our platform. We take all reports seriously and will promptly investigate and respond.

[End of Terms]