Privacy statement
The secureNSW website is an initiative of the NSW Government’s Department of Premier and Cabinet and the NSW Police Force, and it is maintained by both agencies. This privacy policy applies to all the publicly accessible pages on the secureNSW website located at www.secure.nsw.gov.au
The Department of Premier and Cabinet and the NSW Police Force do not have any responsibility for the privacy policies or practices of third party sites linked to the secureNSW site.
If you have any questions about the secureNSW site, the application of this privacy policy, or have a request for access to information held, please contact us online or by mail to:
Attn: secureNSW
GPO Box 5341
Sydney
NSW 2001
Users of the secureNSW website are entitled to expect that any personal information collected as a result of that use will be treated within the terms of the NSW Government’s privacy responsibilities and obligations.
The privacy practices of the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet are regulated by the NSW Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998. The NSW Police Force has broad exemptions under this Act, except in connection with the exercise of its administrative and educative functions.
What information does the NSW Police Force hold?
NSW Police Force holds site visit data collected from you when you look at the pages on the secureNSW website. Statistical web software automatically record information that identifies, for each page accessed:
- the IP (Internet Protocol) address of the machine which has accessed it
- your top-level domain name (for example .com, .gov, .au, .uk etc.)
- the address of your server
- the date and time of your visit to the site
- the pages accessed and documents downloaded
- the previous site visited, and
- the type of browser and operating system you have used
NSW Police Force also holds personal information provided through forms and tools on the secureNSW website and through feedback.
NSW Police Force may hold other personal information about which no notification is required under the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998.
What information does the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet hold?
The NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet holds personal information in any feedback you provide. The secureNSW website has a feedback facility to allow you to provide input into the future development of the site and to comment on the provision of this service. The provision of personal details on feedback is optional. Users may provide personal details for the purpose of receiving a reply to their feedback.
How does the NSW Police Force use the information collected?
Site visit information collected during each visit is aggregated with similar logged information and published in reports in order for NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet and the NSW Police Force to identify patterns of usage of the site. This will assist with improvements to the secureNSW site and the services offered on it.
NSW Police Force will not disclose or publish site visit information, in connection with its administrative or educative functions, that identifies individual machines, or potentially identifies sub-groupings of addresses, without consent or otherwise in accordance with the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998.
Where NSW Police Force holds any personal information collected through forms and tools on the secureNSW website, in connection with its administrative or educative functions, NSW Police Force will only retain and use this information for the purpose for which you have provided it or a directly related purpose. This information will not be used for a different purpose or disclosed, in connection with NSW Police Force’s administrative or educative functions, unless we obtain your consent.
How does the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet use the information collected?
The NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet will only use feedback for the purpose for which it was provided. It will not add your email address or name to any mailing list. It may publish aggregated information about feedback on the site, to the extent that it does not identify or cannot be used to identify individual users.
What exceptions are there?
NSW Police Force has broad exemptions from the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act, except in connection with its administrative or educative functions.
NSW Police Force, in connection with the exercise of its administrative and educative functions, and the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet may collect, use and disclose more site visit information than stated above in the following circumstances:
- unauthorised attempts to access files which are not published secureNSW pages
- unauthorised tampering or interference with files published on the secureNSW site
- unauthorised attempts to index the contents of the secureNSW site by other sites
- attempts to intercept messages of other users of the secureNSW site
- communications which are defamatory, abusive, vilify individuals or groups or which give rise to a suspicion that an offence is being committed
- attempts to otherwise compromise the security of the web server, breach the laws of the State of New South Wales or Commonwealth of Australia, or interfere with the enjoyment of the secureNSW site by other users
The NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet and NSW Police Force reserve the right to make disclosures to relevant authorities, including the NSW Police Force, where the use of the secureNSW site raises a suspicion that an offence is being, or has been, committed. In the event of an investigation by a law enforcement agency other than the NSW Police Force, access to data will only be provided on the exercise of a warrant.
Is the information stored securely?
Information collected is stored in an appropriately secure format. When the information is no longer required for the purposes for which it was collected it is deleted.
Will this policy be updated over time?
Due to the developing nature of privacy principles for online communication, this policy may be modified or expanded in light of new developments or issues that may arise from time to time. The amended policy will be posted to this site and will operate from the time it is posted.