Privacy policy.

Thorntek Pty Ltd (ABN 26 166 930 374, trading as Thorntek Electrical, “Thorntek”, “we”, “us”) respects your privacy. This policy explains, in plain English, what we collect through this website, how we use it, and who we share it with. We handle personal information in line with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) set out in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

1. Who we are

Thorntek Pty Ltd

• ABN 26 166 930 374
• NSW Electrical Contractor Licence 283038C
• Level 2 ASP Authorisation 4869
• Phone 1300 58 58 16
• Email connect@thorntek.com.au

2. What we collect

Information you give us through a form. When you use the contact form, the call back form or the free switchboard photo audit on this site, we collect what you type and any files you attach. Depending on the form, that can include:

• Your name, phone number and email address
• Your suburb, and for the audit your street address and postcode
• The type of enquiry, the details of what you need, including notes and the reason you are getting in touch, and for a call back the time that suits you
• Photos you upload (for example of your switchboard, meter box, point of attachment or a defect notice), and on the contact form, PDF documents too
• In the switchboard audit, your property profile: who you are in relation to the property (owner, landlord, manager, tradesperson, buying or selling), the type of supply (overhead or underground), single or 3 phase, and what you have or plan to add (for example off peak hot water, heat pump, pool or spa, air conditioning, solar, battery, EV charger, sub board or extra load)
• Whether you tick the optional box asking if you would like to receive occasional Thorntek updates by email. It is on the contact form and the switchboard audit, and it is never required to submit

Job applications. If you apply for a job by emailing us your resume from the careers page, it arrives in our Microsoft 365 mailbox and we use it only to consider your application.

Information collected automatically when you visit. Like most websites, when you browse this site some information is collected automatically, including your IP address, the pages you view, the site or link that sent you here, your approximate location (worked out from your IP address), and your device and browser type. This happens through our host and through the analytics and advertising tools described in section 3.

Information used by the network checker. Our network checker works out which electricity network an address is on. It runs in your browser and asks public map services directly, so nothing you enter into it is sent to Thorntek or stored by us. As you type an address, the text goes to NSW Spatial Services (NSW Government) to suggest matching addresses and suburbs. The point being checked, whether it is an address you pick, a spot you tap on the map or your location, goes to NSW Spatial Services, which also hosts Ausgrid’s network boundary, and to Endeavour Energy’s open data service. The map comes from Geoscience Australia, which can see the area of the map being shown. Each of these services also sees your IP address, as any website does. Your location is only used if you press Use my location and let your browser share it. The bill check reads your NMI inside your browser and does not send it anywhere. Google Analytics records that a check was done and the kind of answer given, such as Ausgrid or Endeavour Energy, but never the address, the location or the NMI.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 18.

3. Analytics and advertising tools we use

This website uses third party tools that run when you visit and send information about your visit to those third parties. They are:

• Google Analytics 4. This helps us understand how people use the site: which pages are viewed, where visitors came from, approximate location, and device and browser type. It sets cookies and sends this usage information to Google. It also records when a form is started and sent, but not what you type into it. Google Analytics may also receive the email address or phone number you enter in a form, scrambled (hashed) before it is sent, so Google can measure visits across devices.
• Meta Pixel (Facebook and Instagram). This is Meta’s tracking tool. It runs on every page and reports activity to Meta, including each page you view and each contact action: clicking a phone number or any email link on the site, and pressing Send on a form, even if the form does not go through. It sends event information along with Meta’s own cookies and your IP address and browser details, which are data that can identify you. When you fill in a form, the pixel also reads the contact details you enter, such as your email address, phone number and name, scrambles (hashes) them in your browser and sends the scrambled versions to Meta, which uses them to match your visit to a Facebook or Instagram account. Meta calls this automatic advanced matching.
• Meta Conversions API. Alongside the pixel, we use (or intend to use) Meta’s server to server tool. When active, our website sends the same contact and page events to Meta from our server, together with your IP address and browser details and Meta’s cookie identifiers. If we ever pass an email address or phone number through this tool, it is scrambled (hashed) before it is sent. The purpose is the same as the pixel: to measure activity and reach people who may need our services.
• Search Atlas. An SEO tool that helps this site be found in search engines. Its script loads from Search Atlas on every page, so Search Atlas receives your IP address and browser details and can see the page you are on. The script can also read and change the content of the page, and we cannot see from our side exactly what it collects.

Between them, these tools mean Meta, Google and Search Atlas receive information about your visit as a routine part of using this site, not only when we are running a specific ad campaign. Google and Meta are based in the United States, so this information is handled overseas, and Search Atlas may also handle it outside Australia. Cloudflare, Microsoft 365 and SimPro, described in section 6, may also store or process information outside Australia.

4. Cookies and similar technology

The tools above set cookies and use similar technology to recognise your browser and measure activity. Cookies are small files stored by your browser. You can block or clear cookies in your browser settings at any time, though some parts of the site may not work as well if you do.

5. Bot protection on forms

To stop spam and automated abuse, our forms use Cloudflare Turnstile, a bot check provided by Cloudflare. It starts as soon as the contact or switchboard audit page opens and checks signals from your browser and device. When you send a form, your IP address and a challenge token go to Cloudflare so it can confirm you are a real person. It does not receive the content of the form.

Our server also keeps a count of form submissions from each IP address, so one connection cannot flood our forms. Each count deletes itself after an hour.

6. Who we share it with

We do not sell personal information. The tools and services above mean information is shared with the following providers as part of running the site:

• Google receives site usage information through Google Analytics, and may receive scrambled contact details as described in section 3.
• Search Atlas receives information about your visit through its script on every page, as described in section 3.
• Meta receives page and contact event information through the Meta Pixel and, when active, the Meta Conversions API, including data that can identify you such as your IP address, cookie identifiers and the scrambled contact details described in section 3.
• Cloudflare is our website host and content delivery network, so it processes every request and can see visitor IP addresses and standard server logs. Cloudflare also provides the Turnstile bot check on our forms, and it holds a backup copy of what you send. When you send the contact form or the switchboard audit, your details and what you wrote are written to Cloudflare key value storage on our account, so an enquiry cannot be lost if email delivery fails. The photos and documents you attach are not kept there, only their file names and sizes, and the copy deletes itself after 180 days. Cloudflare may hold this information on servers outside Australia.
• Microsoft 365 (Microsoft Graph). Your submission is emailed to two of our Thorntek Microsoft 365 mailboxes, which is where we read it and work from, and a copy stays in the sent items of the mailbox that sends it.
• SimPro. Our job management system. When you send an enquiry we create a lead in SimPro holding your name, phone, email, the suburb or street address you gave us, what you wrote, and the choices you made on the form, such as the enquiry type, and for the audit your role, supply, phase and reason. If SimPro already has a customer with the same email address or mobile number, the lead is added to that customer. Otherwise we create a new customer record. The office uses it to quote the work and schedule it.

Separately from the website, in the normal course of running the business we may disclose your information where reasonably necessary to do the work you have asked for or where the law requires it. That can include your network distributor (Ausgrid or Endeavour Energy) when connection or metering work is required, NSW Fair Trading and other regulators for compliance and certification, subcontractors and suppliers engaged on your job under confidentiality, and our accountants, insurers and professional advisers.

7. How we use your information

We use your information to:

• Respond to your enquiry, prepare a quote, and schedule, perform and invoice electrical work
• Complete the free switchboard photo audit and get back to you about it
• Understand how the site is used so we can improve it
• Reach people who may need our services through advertising, using the analytics and advertising tools in section 3
• Send you occasional Thorntek updates by email, but only if you have opted in or you already have a relationship with us
• Meet our legal, regulatory and network obligations

The backup copy of a form on Cloudflare deletes itself after 180 days. A record of your marketing consent is kept until you unsubscribe, and after that we keep your email address and the date you unsubscribed so we do not email you again. Emails in our mailboxes and records in SimPro are kept for as long as we need them to provide our services and to meet our legal, tax and regulatory obligations.

8. Email marketing and the Spam Act 2003

The contact form and the switchboard audit include an optional tickbox to opt in to marketing emails. If you tick it, you give us express consent to email you occasional Thorntek updates. We comply with the Spam Act 2003 (Cth):

• We only email you if you have given express consent (you ticked the box) or where you have an existing relationship with Thorntek from which consent can be inferred
• Every marketing email identifies Thorntek as the sender with our ABN, phone, email and website
• Every marketing email contains a working unsubscribe link
• When you tick the box, we keep a record of your consent: the date and time, the form and page you used, the words next to the box, your IP address and your browser details. It is kept in our Cloudflare storage until you unsubscribe, so we can show you agreed
• Unsubscribe requests are honoured. When you unsubscribe we delete that consent record and keep only your email address and the date, so you are not added back by mistake
• We do not buy, sell or trade email lists
• We do not use your enquiry details for marketing unless you specifically opt in

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in any marketing email, or by emailing connect@thorntek.com.au.

9. Your choices

You have choices about how your information is used:

• Cookies. You can block or clear cookies, and use private or incognito browsing, in your browser settings.
• Google. You can opt out of Google Analytics using Google’s browser opt out tool, and manage ad personalisation in your Google account settings.
• Meta. You can manage or turn off ad personalisation in the settings of your Facebook and Instagram accounts.
• Access and correction. You can ask us for the personal information we hold about you and ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete it, by contacting us using the details below. We will respond within a reasonable time, normally within 30 days.

10. How we store and protect it

The details and files you send through a form are delivered to and kept in our Microsoft 365 business mailbox. A backup copy of the details, without the files, is kept on Cloudflare for 180 days, as set out in section 6. We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss, and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. Access to our systems is restricted to authorised people and protected by passwords and multifactor authentication.

11. How to contact us about privacy

If you have a question about this policy, want to access, correct or delete your information, or want to make a complaint, contact us:

Thorntek Pty Ltd, trading as Thorntek Electrical
36/37-47 Borec Rd, Penrith NSW 2750
Phone 1300 58 58 16
Email connect@thorntek.com.au

If you believe we have breached the Australian Privacy Principles, please raise it with us first so we can investigate and respond. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at oaic.gov.au or on 1300 363 992.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The version date above will change to reflect the most recent update.