Square's Information Collection Policies
We go to great lengths to ensure your personal information, and that of your customers, is protected. Learn more about Square’s privacy and security policies.
Details Collected by Square
When you register for a Square account, or use our services, we collect the following details:
When you create a Square account: we collect your name, your business name and ABN or ACN, location, phone number, email address and other related details, including identity information for any owners of your business.
When you access your Square account to settle funds: we collect bank account and payment card numbers, and details about financial institutions where you conduct business.
When we verify your identity and underwrite your application for an account: we will request additional personal details to confirm your identity and manage our risk. We may ask you for your driver’s licence number, passport number, Medicare card information, birth date or other personal information. We will use information about you to conduct identity verification with third party verification services and, if you choose, credit bureaus.
When you use our service: we record your account transactions, transaction location and we may collect information about your computer or access device.
Additional details from or about you may also be collected in other ways, including responses to customer surveys or your communications with our customer service team. We collect account and transaction information through technologies such as cookies and log files.
It is important for us to track how our website is used, and we (or our service providers) may place ‘cookies’ on your computer or device. Cookies are small data files that identify you when you use our services. You have the option to decline our cookies by using your browsers settings tools, but this may interfere with your use of our website and services.
Log file information is automatically reported by your browser each time you access a web page. When you register with or view our site, our servers automatically record certain information that your web browser sends whenever you visit any website. These server logs may include information such as your web request, Internet Protocol (‘IP’) address, browser type, referring / exit pages and URLs, number of clicks, domain names, landing pages, pages viewed and other such information.
As per our Terms of Service, Security Policy and Privacy Policy, we don’t sell information to third party vendors.
Protecting your Personal Information
Any information that can be used to identify a person is ‘Personal Information.’ This does not include information that has been aggregated or made anonymous. All Personal Information is securely stored on our servers. Our safeguards and procedures have been implemented in accordance with applicable law and regulations to maintain the physical and electronic security of our software, services and your Personal Information. Our measures include system-wide data encryption, physical and electronic access controls, firewalls and strict rules regarding the access and use of data on our system.
You can also take steps to keep your Personal Information secure by using strong, distinct passwords for all your online services. Password management software used on your computer or mobile device can help you generate and keep track of your passwords.
Using Personal Information
We use your Personal Information to provide you the features and functionality of our services, and may share it with our trusted third parties, to ensure that you have a safe, high-performance experience when using the Service. When you use the services, including accepting or making a payment, requesting funds, contacting customer service or requesting technical support, in addition to many other interactions with Square, we will apply the information that we have collected. Knowing this information allows us to verify your identity, communicate with you and enforce our agreements with you, as well as secure the best possible experience for all Square members by ensuring compliance with Australian and other applicable laws and our own policies. We may also use this information to measure how our members use the services, and improve and enhance our offerings to you.
Square may use certain information about you without identifying you as an individual to third parties. We do this for purposes such as analysing how the services are used, diagnosing service or technical problems, maintaining security and personalising content.
We use cookies and log file information to: (a) remember information so that you will not have to re-enter it during your visit or the next time you visit the site; (b) provide custom, personalised content and information; (c) monitor the effectiveness of our services; (d) monitor aggregate metrics such as total number of visitors and traffic; (e) diagnose or fix technology problems reported by our customers or engineers that are associated with certain IP addresses; and (f) help you efficiently access your information after you sign in.
Sharing Personal Information
Square will not rent or sell your Personal Information to others. Square may share your Personal Information with third parties for the purpose of providing services to you (such as those described below). If we do this, such third parties’ use of your Personal Information will be bound by terms at least as restrictive as our Privacy Notice. We may store personal information in locations outside the direct control of Square (for instance, on servers or databases co-located with hosting providers).
Processing payments requires that we share your personal information with third parties, including but not limited to:
Service providers who provide us a range of essential operational services including fraud prevention, transaction processing, collections, direct marketing and managed technology services. Our contracts dictate that these service providers only use your information in connection with the services they perform for us and not for their own benefit.
Verification services and with your consent, credit bureaus to underwrite your application for Square accounts and to comply with our legal reporting rights and obligations.
Financial institutions that allow us to offer your payment processing services, and partner with us to develop new offerings for you and other Square members.
Fellow Square members who may accept payments from you or provide services to you, through using Square.
Law enforcement authorities or government representatives who may require us to share information in order to comply with court order and other legal mandates, or when we believe that disclosure is necessary to report suspicious activities, prevent physical harm, financial loss or violations of our agreements and policies.
Other third parties, subject to your prior consent or direction.
As we develop our business, we may buy or sell assets or business offerings. Customer, merchant, transaction, email and visitor information is generally one of the transferred business assets in these types of transactions. We may also transfer such information in the course of corporate divestitures, mergers or dissolution.
From time to time, we may run contests, special offers or other events or activities (‘Events’) on the services together with third-party partners. If you provide information to such third parties, you give them permission to use it for the purpose of that Event and any other use that you approve. We can't control third parties’ use of your information. If you do not want your information to be collected by or shared with a third party, you can choose not to participate in these Events.
Except as otherwise described in this article or our Privacy Notice, Square will not disclose Personal Information to any third party unless required to do so by law or subpoena or if we believe that such action is necessary to (a) conform to the law, comply with legal process served on us or our affiliates, or investigate, prevent or take action regarding suspected or actual illegal activities; (b) to enforce our Terms of Service, take precautions against liability, to investigate and defend ourselves against any third-party claims or allegations, to assist government enforcement agencies or to protect the security or integrity of our site; or (c) to exercise or protect the rights, property or personal safety of Square, our account holders or others.
Compromise of Personal Information
In the event that personal information is compromised as a result of a breach of security, Square will promptly notify those persons whose personal information has been compromised, in accordance with the notification procedures set forth in this article or our Privacy Notice, by email or as otherwise required by applicable law.
Your choices about your Information
You may, of course, decline to submit personally identifiable information through the services, in which case Square may not be able to provide certain services to you. You may update or correct your account information at any time by logging in to your account. You can review and correct the information about you that Square keeps on file by contacting us.
Buyer Information
Information to help you and your customers recall transactions is available from the Transactions tab of your online Square Dashboard.