Privacy
Privacy Policy
Last updated 26 October 2026
The short version. We collect what we need to quote and install your system, and nothing we don't. We never sell your information. We don't send your electricity bill, your usage data or your photos to anyone outside the people doing your job. You can ask us for a copy of what we hold, or ask us to delete it, and we'll do it.
Who we are
Heffernan Electrical Automation (HEA Group) is a licensed electrical contractor based in Bendigo, Victoria. REC 37307. We handle your personal information under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles.
What we collect
When you enquire, book a consultation or become a customer, we may collect:
- Your name, email address, phone number and the address of the property
- Details about your home — roof, switchboard, appliances, household size
- A copy of your electricity bill, if you choose to send one
- Your National Meter Identifier (NMI) and, with your written consent, your electricity interval data from your distributor
- Photographs of your property that you send us, or that we take on site
- Records of our conversations, including website chat and Messenger
- Basic technical information about your visit to this website — the page you arrived on, the site or advertisement that referred you, and your browser type
Why we collect it
To size and quote a system around your actual electricity usage rather than an average; to design and install it; to meet our obligations for grid connection, electrical safety and rebate applications; and to stay in touch with you about your job.
Your interval data is only ever obtained with the written consent you sign, and only for sizing your system.
Who we share it with
We share the minimum needed, with the providers that run parts of our business. Several are located overseas, which means your information may be disclosed outside Australia.
| Who | What they get | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Your electricity distributor and retailer | Your NMI and connection details, for grid connection | Australia |
| Solar design and quoting software | Your address, roof details and system design | Australia / overseas |
| Our email and job management systems | Your enquiry and job details | Australia / overseas |
| Google (Gmail, Drive, Sheets, Calendar) | Your job file and documents, including your power bill if you add one, and the certificates, rebate and payment paperwork for your installation | Overseas |
| Google Maps | If you use our solar designer: the address you type, so the map can find your roof, and where you drew on it, so we can keep a satellite picture of your roof with your job. Never your name or phone number. | Overseas |
| Our bill reader (hosted by Render) | If you add your power bill to a solar design: the bill, so our own software can read your usage, tariff and meter details for your quote. The reader passes it to no one else; the bill itself is kept with your job documents (see Google above). Never used for advertising, and never sent to our chat assistant or the map. | Overseas |
| Staff alerts (Telegram) | Your name, mobile, email if you gave one, your address or the spot on the map you picked, what you asked about (including any message you wrote) and amounts owed on your job. Sent to Jesse's and Alexis's phones so they can call you back quickly. | Overseas |
| Spam check (Cloudflare Turnstile) | When you send an enquiry form on our website: your IP address and technical details about your browser and device, so the “Verify you are human” box can tell a person from a robot. Never what you type into the form. | Overseas |
| Booking calendar (Calendly) | If you book a time with us: the name, email and phone you type into the booking page | Overseas |
| Website chat assistant (Google Gemini) | If you use the chat on our website: what you write about the electrical work, and your first name so it can greet you. Never your surname, phone, email, address or bill. | Overseas |
| Meta (Facebook, Instagram) | When you enquire: a scrambled (hashed) form of your name, email, phone, suburb, state and postcode, and which of our advertisements you came from, if any. If you go ahead, the contract value. Never your bill, usage data, photos or job details. | Overseas |
| Facebook Messenger | If you choose to continue a chat with us on Messenger: your first name, suburb, the job you described and any ballpark price, posted into your own conversation with us. Never your phone, email or street address. | Overseas |
| Call notes (Fathom) | If we record a video call with you — we always ask first: the recording and an automatic summary, saved to your record in our CRM | Overseas |
| Card payments (Stripe) | If you pay a deposit or invoice by card: your email, the amount and your job number. You type your card details into Stripe's own page; we never see them. | Overseas |
| Accounting (Xero) | Your name, contact details, what we invoiced and what you've paid | Overseas |
| Office admin assistant (Anthropic Claude) | Reads our job and invoice records to prepare internal reports and email drafts for our staff and accountant. It never contacts you. | Overseas |
| Equipment suppliers (Blue Sun Group, ebranch, OSW) | Your job number and surname as the order reference, and your installation address only if stock is delivered to your site. Never your phone, email, bill or price. | Australia |
| Our STC agent (Greenbank Environmental), or the STC agent of the trade partner who sold your system, and the Clean Energy Regulator | Your name, address, install date, equipment serial numbers, install photos (which carry the site location) and the electrical certificate, to create the STCs that discount your system | Australia |
| Trade partners (the business that sold you the system) | If one of our trade partners sold your system, they send us your name, phone, address and site photos so we can install it, and we send them your certificate and install photos | Australia |
| Our accountant (Kelly Partners) | Our accounting records | Australia |
| Design tool (Canva) | Install photos with nothing that identifies you or your house, only if you agreed to share them | Overseas |
| Rebate and accreditation bodies | What the scheme requires for your application | Australia |
We never sell your information, and we never pass it to another solar company or lead broker.
Our solar designer uses Google Maps. Using the map is subject to the Google Maps Additional Terms of Service and the Google Privacy Policy.
Advertising
We advertise on Facebook and Instagram. If you arrive here from one of our advertisements, we record which one, so we can tell what's worth paying for. When you enquire, we tell Meta an enquiry came in, and which advertisement it came from if there was one. If you book a visit or go ahead with the job, we tell Meta that too, with the contract value.
Your name, email address, phone number, suburb, state and postcode are hashed first — converted into a scrambled string that cannot be turned back into your details. Meta can only match it to an account it already knows. We do this so the advertising is measurable without handing over a readable customer list.
We do not send Meta your electricity bill, your usage data, your photos, your street address or anything about the work itself.
You can limit ad tracking in your Facebook and Instagram settings, and in your browser and phone settings, at any time. Doing so does not affect your enquiry or your job in any way.
How long we keep it
For as long as we need it to do your job and to meet our legal obligations — electrical and safety records have retention periods set by law. Enquiries that don't turn into jobs are kept while there's a reasonable chance of picking the conversation back up, then removed.
An electricity bill you attach to a website chat is a special case: it is forwarded to us by email and then deleted from the website's storage within seven days. The website is a courier for it, not a filing cabinet.
Keeping it safe
Access is limited to the people who need it — for most jobs, that's Jesse and Alexis. Our systems are password-protected and access is logged. No system is perfectly secure, but we don't collect what we don't need, which is the most effective protection there is.
Your rights
You can, at any time:
- Ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you
- Ask us to correct anything that's wrong
- Ask us to delete it, where we're not required by law to keep it
- Withdraw your consent for us to access your electricity interval data
- Ask us to stop contacting you
Email hello@hea-group.com.au or call 0435 980 364. We'll respond within 30 days.
If you’re not happy with our answer
Tell us first and we'll try to sort it out. If you're still not satisfied, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at oaic.gov.au.
Changes to this policy
If we change how we handle your information — including adding a new provider to the table above — we'll update this page and change the date at the top.