Privacy Policy

MobileMuster Privacy Policy

Who are we?

‘We’, ‘us’ and ‘our’ refer to Australian Telecommunications Alliance Ltd (ABN 56 078 026 507), trading as Australian Telecommunications Alliance, of 10.01/50 Berry Street, North Sydney, NSW, 2060 (ATA) and our related businesses. ATA operates the MobileMuster program, which is the mobile phone industry’s product stewardship program accredited by the Australian federal government.

About this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, manage and disclose Personal Information in connection with the MobileMuster program (available at www.mobilemuster.com.au). The MobileMuster program is the mobile phone industry’s product stewardship program accredited by the Australian federal government, and encompasses our mobile phone and e-waste recycling and collection services, education programs, school’s competitions, social impact partnerships, market research activities, and related advocacy and community engagement activities.

This Privacy Policy applies only to the MobileMuster program and its associated activities. For information about how we handle Personal Information in connection with our other activities and programs, please refer to our separate Privacy Policy available at Privacy Policy – Australian Telecommunications Alliance. If you have queries about our management of your Personal Information, please refer to the contact details in this Privacy Policy.

This Privacy Policy applies to all Personal Information submitted to or collected by us in connection with the MobileMuster program.

This Privacy Policy applies whether Personal Information is submitted through our website (www.mobilemuster.com.au), social media sites, or through any other form of communication or interaction with us in connection with the MobileMuster program.

We are committed to protecting your Personal Information across all of our MobileMuster activities. This includes managing the risk that mobile phones and other devices submitted for recycling through the MobileMuster program may contain Personal Information, as well as protecting any Personal Information you provide to us when using our website, social media sites or engaging with us in connection with our services. Our commitment is to abide by the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) and the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) and any other relevant law. This Privacy Policy describes how we manage and protect your Personal Information in accordance with those obligations.

By submitting Personal Information to us (including via our website or social media sites or using our services), you accept the terms of this Privacy Policy, and consent to our use, collection, disclosure and retention of Personal Information as described in this Privacy Policy.

If you do not agree to any provisions in this Privacy Policy, you should not disclose any Personal Information to us.

You are welcome to print or download this Privacy Policy at any time at https://www.mobilemuster.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/MobileMuster-Privacy-Policy-09092027.pdf

Key terms

In this Privacy Policy, Personal Information has the same meaning as in the Privacy Act, that is, information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable, whether or not the information or opinion is true and whether or not it is recorded in a material form.

Sensitive Information has the same meaning as in the Privacy Act and includes health information, information about racial or ethnic origin, religious or philosophical beliefs, political opinions, sexual orientation, criminal record, and tax file numbers.

Personal Information we may collect

In connection with the MobileMuster program, we collect Personal Information from anyone who interacts with us, including individuals submitting devices for recycling, organisations and their staff participating as collection sites, and anyone who otherwise contacts or engages with us through the program. The Personal Information we collect may include:

    • your first and last names;
    • your phone number (including mobile numbers);
    • your mailing address, residential address and email address;
    • any further information, instructions or comments given by you;
    • details of queries or services considered or enquired about;
    • Personal Information that may be stored on mobile phones, accessories and other Expanded Program products (including home modems, landline phones, streaming devices, smart speakers, smartwatches and tracking tags) submitted to us for recycling – such information is not accessed or retained by us or our recycling partners and is destroyed along with the device as described in the Mobile Phone Recycling – Security of Information section below;
    • any additional information relating to you that you provide to us directly or indirectly through our representatives or our website or social media sites, including via customer surveys or user feedback;
    • details provided when entering our competitions or participating in other promotional or educational activities, including contact details and school or organisation name; and
    • business details and preferences on how our business interacts with yours, including where you are registered as an authorised MobileMuster collection point (such as business name, site address, contact name, email address and phone number).

Sensitive information

We do not generally collect Sensitive Information (as defined in this Privacy Policy and the Privacy Act) from you. If you voluntarily provide Sensitive Information to us, you consent to our collection, use and storage of that information, and we will only collect, use or disclose such Sensitive Information for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy or as otherwise required or authorised by law.

Why we collect your Personal Information

We collect and use your Personal Information for the purposes for which it was initially collected, or for purposes related to such initial purpose (if such related purpose would be within your reasonable expectations). The purposes for which we collect Personal Information vary depending on how you interact with us, for example, individuals submitting devices for recycling, organisations participating as collection sites, and visitors to our website may each provide Personal Information for different but related purposes. These purposes include:

    • to provide the MobileMuster recycling program and related services, including receiving, processing, recycling and destroying submitted devices and managing any Personal Information that may be stored on those devices;
    • to register, onboard and manage collection sites participating in the MobileMuster program, including managing the network of drop-off locations;
    • to coordinate with accredited recycling partners and collection sites regarding the receipt, logistics and destruction of submitted devices;
    • to process requests for recycling satchels, collection kits or other recycling materials;
    • to respond to queries and requests;
    • to deliver our education programs and competitions, including providing curriculum materials to schools, running schools competitions and conducting public awareness and marketing campaigns about mobile phone recycling and responsible e-waste management;
    • to support our social impact partnerships, including promoting authorised social impact partner organisations involved in mobile phone refurbishment and redistribution;
    • to commission and support market research about mobile phone ownership, recycling behaviours and community attitudes through third-party research agencies acting on our behalf, where results are provided to us only in aggregate or de-identified form;
    • to respond to complaints; and
    • to keep records of dealings and to contact you if necessary.

We may also use your Personal Information for purposes authorised by laws or regulations, such as to prevent or investigate alleged crime or fraud.

How we collect your Personal Information

We may collect Personal Information via a variety of avenues, including when you:

    • complete enquiry or other forms on our website (noting that we retain the information contained in any completed or saved form; if you save or suspend a form before submitting it, the information you have entered will be retained in our systems so you may resume it later, and saved or suspended forms may be viewed by us);
    • email or communicate online with our representatives;
    • subscribe to our mailing lists;
    • register as an authorised MobileMuster collection point through our Site ID system (through which we collect business and contact details of the registered site operator, including first name, surname, business name, site address, email address and phone number, in order to manage the network of MobileMuster drop-off locations);
    • request a recycling satchel, collection kit or other recycling materials from us;
    • submit a mobile phone or other device through a MobileMuster drop-off point, collection service or recycling partner for recycling and physical destruction; we do not collect Personal Information from you through this process, and any Personal Information that may be stored on the device is not accessed by us or our recycling partners and is destroyed along with the device (see Mobile Phone Recycling – Security of Information below);
    • use our post-back service to send us a device for recycling, including by downloading a prepaid label from our website, or using a MobileMuster post-back satchel available from Australia Post offices or ordered through our website; or
    • participate in surveys, competitions or other research or promotional activities conducted by or on behalf of us.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tools

We do not use artificial intelligence (AI) tools or automated decision-making systems in the collection, processing, or management of Personal Information. Should our practices change in the future, we will update this Privacy Policy accordingly.

Children

We are committed to protecting the privacy of children. While we do not generally seek to collect Personal Information from children in the course of our recycling and collection services, we also do not collect Personal Information directly from children through our schools education program or schools competition. Our schools competition is a classroom-based activity managed by teachers, and any information collected in connection with our education programs (for example, teacher and classroom information) is collected from teachers or other adult participants rather than from students directly. We encourage parents and guardians to take an active role in their children’s online activities and interests.

Where information is collected in connection with our education programs or schools competition, such collection is limited to teacher and classroom information rather than Personal Information from students. Any such information collected by third-party program partners on our behalf is shared with us only in aggregate form. We do not receive individually identifiable Personal Information about students from these partners.

If we discover that we have inadvertently collected Personal Information from a child under the age of 15, we will delete that Personal Information as soon as possible. A parent or legal guardian can notify us of any such inadvertent collection and request that we remove the information by contacting our Privacy Officer using the details set out in the Contact us section of this Privacy Policy. Any such request must contain the child’s name and email address so we can locate the child’s Personal Information.

Information from third parties and links to other sites

Our website and social media sites may contain links to third party websites (Third Party Websites). These linked sites are not under our control and we do not accept responsibility for the conduct of, or the privacy practices of, any company whose website is linked to our website or social media sites. Before disclosing your Personal Information on any Third Party Website, we advise you to examine the terms and conditions and privacy policy of that site.

Where you access a Third Party Website from our website or social media sites, information such as cookie data, your preferences, or other Personal Information you have provided may be shared between us and that third party. If those third parties collect Personal Information about you, we may also collect or have access to that information as part of our arrangements with them.

We may also engage third parties to assist in collecting your Personal Information. In particular, we use Gravity Forms, a third-party plugin operated by Rocketgenius Inc., within our website to collect Personal Information submitted through online forms. Personal Information collected via Gravity Forms is subject to Gravity Forms’ own privacy practices. We encourage you to review the Gravity Forms privacy policy before submitting your Personal Information through our website.

We also engage third-party market research agenciesto conduct surveys and research on our behalf about mobile phone ownership and recycling behaviours in the Australian community, and to conduct retail site visits to review staff awareness and engagement with the MobileMuster program. These agencies may collect Personal Information from survey and research participants in the course of conducting those activities on our behalf. Results are provided to us only in aggregate or de-identified form and do not include Personal Information.

When you browse our website

When you only browse our website, we do not collect your Personal Information unless you choose to submit it to us (for example, by completing a contact or enquiry form). Our internet service provider or we may make a record of your visit and record other non-Personal Information such as your server address; your internet protocol (IP) address; the pages you accessed and documents downloaded; the previous site you visited; and the type of browser being used. This non-Personal Information assists us to analyse web traffic and improve your site navigation experience.

We do not identify you or your browsing activities except, in the event of an investigation, where a law enforcement agency may exercise a warrant or other lawful power to inspect the internet service provider’s logs.

Cookies

We may also obtain anonymous information from our website or social media sites using a technology called ‘cookies’. Cookies are small text files which are transferred to the hard drive of your computer to provide additional functionality to our website and to help us analyse usage of our website or social media sites.

Cookies can identify your web browser but not you personally. You can choose if and how a cookie will be accepted by configuring your preferences and options in your internet browser. If you disable cookies, you will still be able to access our website and social media sites but may not be able to access all of our services. We use cookies for different purposes such as:

    • to allocate a unique number to your internet browsers;
    • to customise our website for you;
    • for statistical purposes;
    • to recognise returning visitors and tailor your browsing experience accordingly; and
    • for security purposes.

To the extent that information collected through cookies constitutes or is linked to Personal Information, we will handle that information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. We take reasonable steps to preserve the security of cookie data and Personal Information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Security of information

The security of your Personal Information is important to us. We regularly review developments in security and encryption technologies. We take all reasonable steps to protect Personal Information in our systems from misuse, interference, loss, and any unauthorised access, modification or disclosure, in accordance with our obligations under APP 11 of the Privacy Act. Our security measures include:

    • implementing technical and organisational measures to protect against unauthorised access, including access controls, password protection, two-factor authentication and secure storage systems;
    • instructing staff and advisers who handle Personal Information to respect the confidentiality of that information and the privacy of individuals;
    • continually reviewing our privacy procedures and security arrangements; and
    • taking reasonable steps to notify affected individuals and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) in the event of an eligible data breach, in accordance with the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme under Part IIIC of the Privacy Act.

Retention of Personal Information

We will only retain your Personal Information for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, or as required or permitted by applicable law. When we no longer require your Personal Information, we will take reasonable steps to destroy or permanently de-identify it in a secure manner consistent with our obligations under APP 11 of the Privacy Act.

Mobile Phone Recycling – Security of Information

When a mobile phone, accessory or Expanded Program product is submitted to the MobileMuster program through any of our collection points or services, it will be directed to an accredited recycling facility for physical destruction and processing in accordance with our product stewardship obligations. Any device submitted through a MobileMuster collection unit is recycled regardless of its condition and is not redirected for any other purpose.

Devices submitted for recycling are not accessed, examined, powered on, or interrogated by us or our recycling partners prior to destruction, and we do not permit any party to access, retrieve, or copy any Personal Information stored on such a device.

While we take these steps to protect any Personal Information that may remain on submitted devices, we strongly recommend that, before submitting your device, you take steps to factory reset or wipe your device in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions, and follow the guidance published by the Australian Cyber Security Centre on how to dispose of your device securely (available at www.cyber.gov.au). Taking these steps before submission provides you with the greatest assurance that your Personal Information cannot be accessed through your device.

Direct marketing

 To the extent permitted by law, where we have collected your Personal Information directly from you and you would reasonably expect us to use it for marketing purposes, or where you have otherwise consented, we may use your Personal Information to contact you about products, services or program matters that may be of interest to you. This includes direct marketing communications with organisations participating in the MobileMuster program as collection sites, such as updates about the program, collection volumes, recycling outcomes and other matters relevant to their participation. This may include contacting you by post, email, telephone, SMS, or through social media, events, competitions and public relations activities. We may also, with your consent, share your Personal Information with other businesses operated by or related to us so that they may contact you about their products and services.

You may opt out of receiving direct marketing communications from us at any time, free of charge, by: (a) using the ‘unsubscribe’ facility included in any direct marketing communication we send to you; (b) contacting us using the contact information set out in this Privacy Policy; or (c) otherwise notifying us of your preference in writing. Once we receive your opt-out request, we will give effect to it within a reasonable period. We will not charge you for processing your opt-out request. You may also request that we provide you with the source of any Personal Information we have used for direct marketing purposes and we will respond to your request as soon as practicable.

Do we disclose your Personal Information?

We do not sell, rent, lease or provide your Personal Information to other entities unless outlined in this Privacy Policy. We may only disclose your Personal Information where you have consented, where disclosure is necessary to achieve the purpose for which it was collected, or as otherwise permitted by law. Where we disclose Personal Information, we only do so to the extent necessary for the relevant purpose. We may disclose your Personal Information to:

    • registered MobileMuster collection sites, where disclosure of Personal Information (such as contact details of a site operator) is necessary to facilitate the submission or receipt of devices at that site;
    • individuals participating in the MobileMuster program (such as individuals submitting devices), where disclosure of Personal Information is necessary for the purposes of the program, for example, sharing collection site contact details with an individual seeking a drop-off location, or confirming program information relevant to a submitted device;
    • associated businesses, where you have consented to such disclosure, that may want to market products or services to you;
    • technology service providers, such as internet service providers, database management services, data storage providers, website hosting companies, website developers and digital mail providers who send communications on our behalf;
    • accredited recycling partners engaged to receive, process and destroy devices submitted through the MobileMuster program, to the extent necessary to carry out those functions;
    • our agents, contractors and other external service providers engaged to carry out functions or services on our behalf (other than those listed above);
    • financial services providers, such as our banks or third party suppliers engaged for securing payment of the products or services we provide to you, and, where applicable, debt collectors;
    • our professional advisers, accountants, lawyers, auditors, insurers and re-insurers;
    • claims-related providers, such as assessors and investigators who assist us with claims;
    • sponsors or organisations that partner with us;
    • third-party market research agencies engaged by us to conduct surveys, research or retail site visits on our behalf about mobile phone ownership, recycling behaviours and community attitudes, noting that results from such surveys are provided to us in aggregate or de-identified form only; and
    • educational program partners who assist us in delivering our schools education programs, where any information collected by those partners on our behalf relating to teachers and classrooms is shared with us only in aggregate or de-identified form.

Third parties that receive Personal Information from us may use and disclose it subject to their own privacy policies. We endeavour to take reasonable steps to enter into agreements with third parties that collect, store, disclose and retain Personal Information in accordance with the APPs, except as otherwise required by law.

Permitted disclosures by law

We may also release your Personal Information in the following circumstances:

    • when required to do so by a court or under applicable laws or regulations (for example, a subpoena), or where requested by a government agency or law enforcement;
    • where we consider a company or individual may be engaged in fraudulent activity or other deceptive practices that a governmental agency should be made aware of; or
    • to appropriate persons where your communication suggests possible harm to others.

Statistical data

From time to time, we may provide third parties with de-identified or anonymised information in the form of statistical representations about our users collectively and for the purpose of statistical analysis. Any such information will be de-identified or anonymised prior to disclosure so that your identity cannot be obtained from it.

Disclosure to overseas entities

We store and process Personal Information in Australia using cloud storage and business platforms with Australian data centres, including Microsoft SharePoint (operated by Microsoft Corporation) and Claris FileMaker. We do not currently transfer Personal Information outside of Australia in connection with the MobileMuster program. If our practices change in the future, we will update this Privacy Policy accordingly.

As Personal Information is currently stored and processed within Australia, the international transfer provisions of the Privacy Act do not presently apply to our handling of your Personal Information in connection with the MobileMuster program. Should we engage any overseas recipients in the future, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that any such recipient handles your Personal Information in a manner substantially similar to the APPs.

Updating your Personal Information
It is important to us that the Personal Information we hold about you is accurate and up to date. During the course of our relationship with you we may ask you to inform us if any of your Personal Information has changed.

If you wish to make any changes to your Personal Information, you may contact us. We will generally rely on you to ensure the information we hold about you is accurate and complete.

Access to and correction of your Personal Information

We strive to keep your Personal Information accurate, up to date, complete, relevant and not misleading. This Privacy Policy enables you to find out what information we hold about you and correct that information if it is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading.

We will provide you with access to the Personal Information we hold about you at any time upon request. In order to protect your privacy and security, we will take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting access or enabling corrections to your Personal Information. We may charge a reasonable fee to recover costs involved in providing access, for example where information is held in archives.

Our objective is to respond to any request to access Personal Information within a reasonable timeframe and no later than 30 days. We will endeavour to inform you if this timeframe is not achievable.

There may be circumstances where we are not in a position to grant access to your Personal Information. Such circumstances include where:

    • providing access is likely to pose a serious threat to the safety of an individual or the public;
    • providing access is likely to unreasonably impact on the privacy of others;
    • the request for access is frivolous or vexatious;
    • providing access would reveal information relating to existing or anticipated legal proceedings or otherwise impact on any negotiations;
    • providing access is unlawful (including as directed by a court or tribunal order) or is likely to impact on actions being taken in relation to alleged unlawful activities relating to our functions and activities; or
    • granting access would impact on a commercially sensitive decision-making process.

Where we refuse access, we will provide you with written notice setting out our reasons for the refusal (to the extent it is reasonable to do so) and the mechanisms available to you to make a complaint about the refusal.

Correction of your Personal Information

If any of the Personal Information we hold about you is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading, you may request that we correct the information by contacting our Privacy Officer using the details set out in the Contact us section of this Privacy Policy.

If appropriate, we will correct the Personal Information at the time of the request. Otherwise, we will provide an initial response to you within seven days of receiving your request and, where reasonable and after our investigation, provide you with details about whether we have corrected the Personal Information within 30 days. If we refuse to correct Personal Information, we will provide you with our reasons for not correcting the information, notify you of the complaint mechanisms available to you, and take reasonable steps to associate with the record a statement that you claim the information is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading.

Business without identifying you

In most circumstances it will be necessary for us to identify you in order to successfully do business with you, however, where it is lawful and practicable to do so, we will offer you the opportunity of doing business with us without providing us with Personal Information, for example, if you make general enquiries about MobileMuster drop-off locations or our recycling services.

Complaints

If you are dissatisfied with how we have dealt with your Personal Information, or you have a complaint about our compliance with the Privacy Act, you may contact our Privacy Officer using the details set out in the Contact us section of this Privacy Policy.
We will acknowledge your complaint within seven days and aim to resolve the complaint as quickly as possible. We will provide you with a decision on your complaint within 30 days.

If you are dissatisfied with the response of our Privacy Officer you may make a complaint to the Privacy Commissioner which can be contacted at www.oaic.gov.au or 1300 363 992.

Further information

You may request further information about the way we manage your Personal Information by contacting us. We are constantly reviewing all of our policies and attempt to keep up to date with market expectations. Technology is constantly changing, as is the law and marketplace practices. As a consequence, we may change this Privacy Policy from time to time or as the need arises. We will post any changes to this Privacy Policy on our website. Therefore, you should review our Privacy Policy regularly to ensure you are familiar with any changes.

If you do not agree with the changes to our Privacy Policy, please notify us immediately in writing. Unless we hear from you, or if you continue to use our services, website or social media sites, you are taken to have accepted the changes to our Privacy Policy.

You may request this policy in an alternative form by contacting our Privacy Officer using the details set out in the Contact us section of this Privacy Policy.

Contact us

If you have any questions, concerns or complaints about this Privacy Policy or the way we handle your Personal Information, or if you wish to access or correct your Personal Information, please contact our Privacy Officer using the details below:

Privacy Officer

Email: mobilemuster@amta.org.au

Phone: (02) 8920 3555

Mail: Privacy Officer, Australian Telecommunications Alliance Ltd, 10.01/50 Berry Street, North Sydney, NSW 2060

Last update

This MobileMuster Privacy Policy was last updated on 09/09/2026.

Educational Use Policy

The resources contained on the education section of this website (www.mobilemuster.com.au/education) may be used for educational purposes only.

You may save, copy, print, distribute or download for your own personal use or for non-commercial educational purposes only. Commercial exploitation of materials on this website is prohibited. Please contact us if you require special permission to use or reproduce our resources.