Does the Commonwealth of Australia Privacy Act 1998 apply to CV reference companies
<p>I asked a company that purported to be operating out of Perth called CV Check about which legislation applied them. This was their response:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>CVCheck will only obtain information from an international source if you order an International Check.</p>
  
  <p>On return of your result we handle all information consistently with our privacy policy available at <a href="https://cvcheck.com/privacy-policy" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://cvcheck.com/privacy-policy</a>; and deploy numerous security measures to keep your information safe.
     For further information in relation to how we handle information, please visit cvcheck.com. For further information on your rights and our responsibilities in relation to your privacy, you may care to look at the following website: <a href="https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy-law/privacy-act/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy-law/privacy-act/</a></p>
</blockquote>

<p>Does the above say that the Privacy Act applies them and if so why are they charging me to access information held on me? Isn't there supposed to be a free/at cost way of obtaining this information under that act (I cannot connect to austlli as I use tor at the client).</p>

<p>Furthermore, what does their response mean if the client requests this? If I ask this for me, and it is available then this should be given me, should it not?</p>

<p>If they turn over more than $3 million; yes.</p>

<p>As they are not a government agency, they are allowed to charge for access to your details. National Privacy Principle 12:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>12.8  If:</p>
  
  <p>(a)  the APP entity is an organisation; and</p>
  
  <p>(b)  the entity charges the individual for giving access to the personal information;
  the charge must not be excessive and must not apply to the making of the request.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>With respect to the request, they must allow you access that they <em>have</em>. They don’t have to go and <em>get</em> it for you - that appears to be the service you engage them to provide.</p>

<p>Presumably, if they have conducted a search on you in the past and still have the data, then they would have a lot of information about you that you are able to access for a nominal fee. If they have never heard of you, they would have very little but could, if you paid them, go and get more.</p>

privacy australia