Privacy

Introduction

KPMG is committed to maintaining the privacy and confidentiality of personal information we collect. This Privacy Notice sets out how KPMG Fiji handles personal information. KPMG may modify this Privacy Notice from time to time to reflect its current privacy practices.  

In this Privacy Notice, ‘KPMG Fiji’, ‘KPMG’, ‘we’, ‘us’ and ‘our’ refer to the Fiji partnership carrying on business as KPMG Fiji. KPMG Fiji is a member firm of the KPMG global organisation of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Limited, a private English company limited by guarantee. 

To the extent of any inconsistency between this Privacy Notice and the terms of a service-specific Privacy Statement or Privacy Consent provided to you (including but not limited to those applying to whistle blower services provided or surveys conducted by KPMG), the terms and stated limitations of those Privacy Statements or Privacy Consents override this Privacy Notice, in respect of how we handle your information collected in connection with those specific-services or surveys.

Collecting Personal Information

To run our business, KPMG collects different types of personal information depending on the nature of our engagement with you.  We obtain personal information about you if you choose to provide it — for example, to contact mailboxes or to register for certain services. In some cases, you will have previously provided your personal information to KPMG (if, for example, you are a former employee). If you choose to register or login to a KPMG website using a third party single sign-in service that authenticates your identity and connects your social media login information (e.g., LinkedIn, Google, or Twitter) with KPMG, we will collect any information or content needed for the registration or log-in that you have permitted the social media provider to share with us, such as your name and email address. Other information we collect will depend on the privacy settings you have set with your social media provider, so please review the privacy statement or policy of the applicable service.

When you register or submit personal information to KPMG, we will use this information in the manner outlined in this privacy statement. Your personal information is not used for other purposes, unless we obtain your permission, or unless otherwise required or permitted by law or professional standards. For example, if you register to a KPMG website and provide information about your preferences, we will use this information to personalize your user experience. When you register or login using a third-party single user sign-in we may also recognize you as the same user across any different devices you use and personalize your user experience across other KPMG sites you visit. If you send us a resume or curriculum vitae (CV) to apply online for a position with KPMG, we will use the information that you provide to match you with available KPMG job opportunities.

In some cases where you have registered for certain services, we will store your email address temporarily until we receive confirmation of the information you provided via an email (i.e. where we send an email to the email address provided as part of your registration to confirm a subscription request). 

It may be necessary in some circumstances for us to collect some forms of sensitive information about you in order to provide specific services for you. Sensitive information includes information about a person’s race, gender diversity, sexual orientation, disability, ethnic origin, political opinions, health, religious or philosophical beliefs and criminal history. We will collect and use sensitive information only where it is reasonably necessary for an authorized purpose and appropriate safeguards are in place. We will obtain consent where required.

Purpose for Collecting Personal Information

The reasons we may collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information include:     To provide our services to you or to our client in accordance with the terms of any engagement letter, service agreement or employment agreement;

• To provide our services to you or to our client in accordance with the terms of any engagement letter, service agreement or employment agreement;
• To maintain contact with our clients and other contacts (including alumni), and keep them informed of our services, industry developments, seminars and other events.
• For administrative purposes, including:
  • processing payment transactions,
  • charging and billing,
  • detecting or preventing fraud, and
  • identifying breaches of our terms and conditions of engagement.
• For purposes relating to the employment of our personnel (including Partners), or our Clients’ personnel, contractors and sub-contractors including:
  • recruitment purposes such as pre-employment screening, contacting referees, processing applications, administering psychometric testing, assessment for suitability for future positions, background checks and ongoing analytic purposes such as ensuring we are reaching a diverse range of candidates,
  • ongoing probity checks for existing personnel, including monitoring of the use of KPMG systems, and the use and location of KPMG managed devices, applications and networks,
  • personnel retention purposes such as workplace diversity, wellbeing and cultural safety checks and initiatives,
  • providing internal services or benefits to our Partners and staff, and
  • matters relating to the KPMG Partnership.
• For governance and compliance purposes including:
  • managing any quality, conduct or risk management issues including conflict of interest or independence (including auditor independence) obligations or situations,
  • meeting regulatory obligations, and
  • where we are required to or authorized by legislation or industry code, direction or standard to do so.

We may collect personal information directly from you, from your employer or authorized representative, from clients, other KPMG member firms, service providers, public sources, or through your use of our website.

Disclosure of personal information

KPMG may disclose personal information as described in this Notice, where authorized or required by applicable law, regulation, or professional obligations, with your consent where required, or in connection with an actual or proposed restructuring of its business operations.

The types of third parties to whom we may disclose your personal information include: 

• experts or other third parties contracted as part of an engagement;
• our professional advisers;
• our agents, third-party contractors and suppliers that assist us in providing our business processes, products and services. Approved service providers are subject to appropriate confidentiality, privacy and security obligations and may use personal information only for authorized purposes;
• other KPMG firms or KPMG International; or
• if you are an employee, a contractor or supplier of services to a client, then we may disclose your personal information as part of providing services to that client.

We do not disclose personal information to third parties so they can send you marketing materials. However, we may use or share information that has been aggregated or de-identified so that individuals are not reasonably identifiable, including for research, analytics or promotional purposes.

Automatic collection of personal information

We and our service providers use cookies, web beacons and similar technologies on some websites and in emails to collect certain information automatically. This helps us personalize your online experience, improve the performance and usability of KPMG’s online services, and measure the effectiveness of our marketing.

IP addresses

An IP address is a number assigned to your device when it accesses the internet, enabling devices and servers to recognize and communicate with one another. We record visitors’ apparent IP addresses for IT security and system diagnostics and may use them in aggregate to analyze website trends and performance.

Cookies

Cookies are generally placed on your computer or internet-enabled device when you visit our website. They allow the site to recognize your device and support various functions.

Some KPMG websites display a banner requesting consent to use cookies. If you do not consent, we will not track your device for marketing purposes, although essential “user-input” cookies may still be used to support necessary functions. Your choice is stored in a cookie for 90 days and can be withdrawn by clearing your browser’s cookies.

Most browsers accept cookies automatically, but you can change this in your browser settings and delete cookies at any time. If you decline cookies, some website features may not function fully. 

Further information about managing cookies can be found in your browser's help file or through sites such as www.allaboutcookies.org. 

Where reasonably practicable or required by law, we will inform you about the purposes for which your personal information has been collected and used for.   

Web beacons

A web beacon is a small image file on a web page that may collect information such as your IP address, browser type, the time content was viewed and whether cookies from the same server are present. KPMG uses web beacons only in accordance with applicable law.

KPMG or its service providers will use web beacons to track the effectiveness of third-party website that provide us with recruiting or marketing services or to gather aggregate visitor statistics and manage cookies.  

You have the option to render some web beacons unusable by rejecting their associated cookies. The web beacon may still record an anonymous visit from your IP address, but cookie information will not be recorded.  

In some of our newsletters and other communications, we will monitor recipient actions such as email open rates through embedded links within the messages. We collect this information to gauge user interest and to enhance future user experiences. 

Google Analytics

KPMG uses Google Analytics. More information about how Google Analytics is used by KPMG can be found at, www.google.com/analytics/learn/privacy.html.  

To provide website visitors with more choice on how their information is collected by Google Analytics, Google have developed the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on. The add-on communicates with Google Analytics JavaScript (ga.js) to indicate that information about the website visit should not be sent to Google Analytics. The Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on does not prevent information from being sent to the website itself or to other web analytics services. 

Social media widgets and applications

Some KPMG websites and services allow information to be shared through third-party social media applications, such as LinkedIn, X and Meta services. These applications may separately collect and use information about your use of our websites Personal information you provide through them is governed by the relevant provider’s privacy policy. KPMG does not control, and is not responsible for, those providers or their use of your information.

Any personal information that you provide on any KPMG social media feature may be shared with other users of that social media feature (unless otherwise stated at the point of collection), over whom we may have limited or no control. 

Children

Our website is intended for a general business and professional audience and is not directed to children. Where personal information about a child is provided to us in connection with an authorized professional engagement or other legitimate activity, it will be handled in accordance with this Privacy Notice and any additional applicable safeguards. 

Choices

You are generally not required to provide personal information to KPMG, although certain information may be needed for you to receive details about our services or events. We will seek your consent for specified uses, which you may accept or decline. If you subscribe to a service or communication, such as an e-newsletter, you may unsubscribe at any time using the instructions provided. We will endeavor to remove your information promptly but may need additional details to process your request. Where information is required, choosing not to provide it may prevent us from responding to your enquiry, completing a registration or application, or providing the relevant service 

As described in "Cookies" above, if you wish to prevent cookies from tracking you as you navigate our sites, you can refuse cookies at the point at which we present you with a choice to accept or reject cookies, and/or you can reset your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. Note, however, that some portions of our sites may not work properly if you elect to refuse cookies. 

Data security and integrity

KPMG maintains reasonable policies and procedures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, loss, misuse, alteration or destruction. However, no security measures can eliminate every threat. We limit access to those who need the information and require them to maintain its confidentiality.

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected and to meet applicable legal, regulatory, professional, contractual and legitimate business requirements. Retention periods vary according to the type of information and the context in which it was collected. Information may be retained for longer where required for a legal hold, investigation, dispute or other preservation obligation. When information is no longer required, we take reasonable steps to delete, destroy, anonymise or de-identify it, subject to applicable requirements. 

International transfers

KPMG Fiji may disclose or make personal information available to other KPMG member firms and approved service providers located outside Fiji where this is necessary for the relevant purpose. We use contractual, organizational and technical safeguards designed to protect personal information and restrict its use to authorized purposes. 

Access to Personal Information 

It’s important that you make sure the personal information we hold about you is accurate, up to date and complete. You may contact KPMG Fiji, by emailing us on fj-fmprivacy@kpmg.com.au, to request correction of personal information we hold about you, withdraw consent where our handling relies on consent, object to direct marketing, or raise a privacy concern. We will consider each request in accordance with applicable law, professional obligations, contractual restrictions and legitimate record-keeping requirements and may need to verify your identity. 

Complaints

You can notify us of any complaint you may have about our handling of your personal information by emailing fj-fmprivacy@kpmg.com.au  Following your initial contact, you will be asked to set out the details of your complaint in writing in a form provided. 

We will endeavor to reply to you within 30 days of receipt of the completed complaint form. If the matter is complex or requires further information, we will keep you informed of our progress. Where appropriate, will advise you of the general reasons for the outcome of the complaint. 

How to contact us

If you have any questions in relation to this Privacy Notice or our management of your personal i nformation, you can contact our Privacy Liaison by email at fj-fmprivacy@kpmg.com.au 

Changes to this Privacy Notice

We may need to update this Privacy Notice from time to time to reflect our current privacy practices or changes in the law, regulations and/or professional standards. When we make any changes to this Privacy Notice, we will post the updated Privacy Notice on our website.