Privacy Policy Statement
securityONLINE's ("SECURITYONLINE") Privacy Policy Statement provides information on the securityONLINE privacy and information handling practices
securityONLINE Online Privacy Statement
This statement applies to your use of the web sites of www.securityONLINE.net.au (referred to as 'the SECURITYONLINE'). This includes utilising any of the securityONLINE facilities via the web sites.
Information technology continues to present new and exciting opportunities. However, many people are concerned about how their personal information will be used. We recognise that our users may have concerns about their privacy and confidentiality whilst online. We are committed to ensuring the privacy and security of our users whilst using our web sites.
In addition to the provisions of securityONLINE Privacy Policy Statement, there may also be specific and additional privacy provisions that apply to certain sections of SECURITYONLINE members' web sites. Because those specific and additional provisions also relate to your privacy protection, you should review them wherever they are accessible by you on the web sites.
The information outlined below is extracted from securityONLINE Privacy Policy Statement and relates specifically to online use.
Collection of information via web site activity
For statistical purposes we collect information on web site activity (such as the number of users who visit the web site, the date and time of visits, the number of pages viewed, navigation patterns, what country and systems users have used to access the site and, when entering our web site from another web site, the address of that web site) through the use of 'cookies'. This information on its own does not identify an individual but it does provide us with statistics that we can use to analyse and improve our web sites.
Online Security
We are committed to keeping secure the personal information you provide to us. We take all reasonable precautions to protect the personal information we hold about you from misuse and loss and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.
We have a range of physical and technology policies in place to provide a robust security environment. We ensure the on-going adequacy of these measures by regularly reviewing them.
Our online security measures include, but are not limited to:
· encrypting data sent from your computer to our systems during Internet transactions and customer access codes transmitted across networks;
· employing firewalls, intrusion detection systems and virus scanning tools to prevent unauthorised persons and viruses from entering our systems; and using dedicated secure networks or encryption when we transmit electronic data for purposes of outsourcing.
Cookies
A 'cookie' is a packet of information that allows the server (the computer that houses the web site) to identify and interact more effectively with your computer.
When you use one of our web sites, we send you a temporary cookie that gives you a unique identification number. A different identification number is sent each time you use our web sites. Cookies do not identify individual users, although they do identify a user's browser type and your Internet Service Provider (ISP).
You can configure your browser to accept all cookies, reject all cookies, or notify you when a cookie is sent. Please refer to your browser instructions or help screens to learn more about these functions. If you reject all cookies, you may not be able to use our web sites.
To evaluate the effectiveness of our web site advertising, we may use third parties to collect statistical data. No personal data will be collected on these occasions.
Links to other web sites
Our web sites may contain links to non- securityONLINE web sites. Whilst such links are provided for your convenience, you should be aware that the information handling practices of the linked web sites might not be the same as ours.
Contact us about privacy
If you have any questions or would like further information about our privacy and information handling practices, please contact us by:
· e-mail at info@securityONLINE.net.au
· telephone +61 3 9620 3207, or
· writing to the address below:
Privacy Officer
securityONLINE
Lower Level 51,
Queen Street , Melbourne Victoria Australia 3000
Privacy and the Information Handling Practices of SECURITYONLINE
How We Handle Your Personal Information
Personal information is information or opinion that allows others to identify you. It includes your name, age, gender, contact details, as well as your banking and financial information. We will act to protect your personal information in accordance with the National Privacy Principles or an industry privacy code.
securityONLINE is a collection of related business units that provide security employment services, online shopping, security industry directory, research and development data, consultancy and advice.
We value your trust, and aim to satisfy all your needs and requirements. The protection of your personal information is a vital part of this relationship. It is supported by our long experience of keeping personal information confidential.
We collect personal information to provide you with the products and services you request as well as information on other products and services offered by us. The law may also require us to collect personal information. We will tell you who collects the personal information; advise you of their contact details, your right of access to that information and what will happen if you choose not to provide the information.
Personal information may be used and disclosed within securityONLINE to administer our products and services, as well as for prudential and risk management purposes and, unless you tell us otherwise, to provide you with related marketing information. We also use the information we hold to help detect and prevent illegal activity. We co-operate with police and other enforcement bodies as required or allowed by law.
We disclose relevant personal information to external organisations that help us provide services. These organisations are bound by confidentiality arrangements. They may include overseas organisations.
You can seek access to the personal information we hold about you. If the information we hold about you is inaccurate, incomplete, or outdated, please inform us so that we can correct it. If we deny access to your personal information, we will let you know why. For example, we may give an explanation of a commercially-sensitive decision, rather than direct access to evaluative information connected with it.
What You Need To Know and Where to Find It
Background
Privacy Act 1988
The Commonwealth Government has enacted privacy legislation to protect information held by all private providers about their customers and clients.
Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2000
In December 2000, the Commonwealth Government enacted further privacy legislation, to commence 21 December 2001, amending the Privacy Act (implementing the National Privacy Principles) to include provisions that regulate the way private sector organisations collect, use, disclose, keep secure and provide access to personal information.
securityONLINE acts to protect your personal information in accordance with the National Privacy Principles or an industry privacy code.
This document
The information in this document details how we comply with the requirements of the Privacy Act in protecting the personal information we hold about you.
Collection of Personal Information
What is "personal information"?
Personal information is information or an opinion, whether true or not, and whether recorded in a material form or not, about an individual whose identity is apparent, or can reasonably be ascertained, from the information or opinion.
Why we collect information
Personal information is collected so that we may:
· administer our customer relationships;
provide customers with the products and services they request and, unless they tell us otherwise, to provide information on products offered by the collecting member and other members of securityONLINE.
Personal information may also be used for:
· monitoring and evaluating products and services;
· gathering and aggregating information for statistical, prudential, actuarial and research purposes;
· assisting customers with queries; and
· taking measures to detect and prevent frauds and loss.
What we collect
Personal information collected by securityONLINE generally comprises name, address, date of birth, gender, occupation, account details, contact details (including phone, fax and e-mail) and other related information. Sometimes we collect a few personal details unlikely to be known to other people to help us identify you over the telephone.
If you are applying for credit we may also collect your employer's name and contact details, the length of your employment, proof of earnings and, if you have changed employer in the last few years, details of your previous employment. We use this information to assist in making responsible credit decisions. In addition, as required by Part IIIA of the Privacy Act 1988, we will obtain your consent to collect, use and disclose credit information about you.
If you are applying to join an affinity (professional associations and organisations) scheme, we will collect information regarding your membership of the relevant body so that we may confirm your eligibility to participate.
We are required by law to identify you if you engage in or in any indicate that you engage in the business of any category of Security operative / Private Agent. We may require to sight and record details of certain documents (for example, birth certificate, passport, insurance policies, drivers license, Private Agents License etc) in order to achieve acceptable identification.
Where it is necessary to do so, we also collect information on individuals such as company directors and officers (where the company is our customer) as well as customers' agents and persons dealing with us on a 'one-off' basis.
We do not collect information about your political or religious beliefs, or ethnic background.
What if you provide incomplete or inaccurate information?
We may not be able to provide you with the products or services you are seeking.
Obtaining your consent
In most cases, before or at the time of utilizing our services, (or, if that is not practicable, as soon as practicable thereafter) the collecting member obtains your consent to the purposes for which it intends to use and disclose your personal information. If you do not give us consent, we may not be able to provide you with the products or services you want.
Withdrawing consent
Having provided consent, you are able to withdraw it at any time. To withdraw consent, please contact the member of securityONLINE from whom consent is to be withdrawn. Please note that withdrawing your consent may lead to the securityONLINE member no longer being able to provide you with the product or service you enjoy.
Information collected from someone else
In some cases, your personal information may be provided to us by agents, or by family members or friends. We will take reasonable steps to let you know that we have your personal information, unless it is obvious from the circumstances that you know or would expect us to have the information, such as where an employer or case manager is acting on your behalf. Reasonable steps may include asking the person who gave us your information to let you know that we have that information.
Collection from minors
A direct request from a young person to acquire our products or services from securityONLINE in his/her own name is considered on its merits.
Normally, requests from minors for personal information are limited to their information; however a parent or guardian's personal information may also need to be collected. The parent or guardian is then an authorised signatory for the acquisition of our products or services, and who provides the consent to the use and disclosure of personal information.
Other Members of SECURITYONLINE
Members of securityONLINE that have collected personal information are permitted by the Privacy Act to disclose personal information to other members of securityONLINE. This enables securityONLINE to have an integrated view of its customers and clients. Any such disclosure is controlled by the Privacy Act. Without your consent, other members of securityONLINE may not use or disclose your personal information for purposes other than for which your information was originally collected. All members of securityONLINE observe the same standard of privacy and information handling practices.
Other Disclosures
Who we may communicate with
Depending on the product or service you have, we may exchange personal information with:
· brokers, case managers and agents who refer business to us;
· external product providers for whom we act as agent;
· auditors;
· credit reporting agencies;
· insurers, including proposed insurers and insurance reference agencies;
· claims assessors and investigators, claims managers, and reinsurers;
· medical practitioners;
· other financial institutions and organisations at their request if you seek credit from them;
· suppliers from whom we order goods on your behalf;
· investors, advisors, trustees and ratings agencies where credit facilities are utilised;
· other organisations who in conjunction with us provide products and services;
· employers;
· government departments, law enforcement and other regulatory organizations; and
· professional associations or organisations with whom we conduct an affinity relationship.
Outsourcing
We disclose personal information when we outsource certain functions, including bulk mailing, training, equipment supplies, employment services, consultancy, market research, debt recovery and information technology support. We also seek expert help from time to time to help us improve our systems, products and services.
In all circumstances where personal information may become known to employees, contractors or agents, there are confidentiality arrangements in place. Employees, contractors and agents are not able to use or disclose personal information for any purposes other than our own. The exception is when a joint initiative or venture is engaged in, where information is shared with and used by other organisations with the consent of the customer or client.
securityONLINE takes its obligations to protect customer information very seriously and we make every effort to deal only with parties who share and demonstrate the same attitude.
Sending personal information overseas
We send personal information overseas if we outsource functions using overseas agents or contractors.
Exchanging information with a credit reporting agency
Where the Privacy Act applies we can only give information about you to a credit reporting agency if we first have told you that we will do so, and we can only obtain information about you from a credit reporting agency if we have your consent.
You may obtain a copy of credit reports about you.
Disclosure required by law
We may be required by law to disclose information, for example, when we are served with a court order. We may also be required by a Government Agency to produce information and records, for example, pursuant to taxation, employment or social security laws.
Disclosure as a result of your actions
There may be circumstances in which we consider you, by your actions, to have released us from our duty of confidentiality or to have consented to the disclosure of information about you without actually saying so (for example, if you discuss your utilizing of our services or products publicly to the media, in such a way as to leave us with little alternative but to respond publicly).
Personal Information Quality
Our goal is to ensure that the personal information we hold is accurate, complete and up-to-date. Please contact us if any of the details you have provided change. Please also contact us if you believe that the information we have about you is not accurate, complete or up-to-date.
Personal Information Security
We are committed to keeping secure the personal information you provide to us. We take all reasonable precautions to protect the personal information we hold about you from misuse and loss and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.
We have a range of physical and technology policies in place to provide a robust security environment. We ensure the on-going adequacy of these measures by regularly reviewing them.
Our security measures include, but are not limited to:
· restricting access to our computer systems and physical records to authorised persons and preventing users from accessing information they have no need to access;
· requiring employees, contractors and agents to use unique passwords to gain access to systems. These passwords are changed regularly and their use is independently monitored;
· encrypting data sent from your computer to our systems during Internet activities and transactions and customer access codes transmitted across networks;
· employing firewalls, intrusion detection systems and virus scanning tools to prevent unauthorised persons and viruses from entering our systems;
· using dedicated secure networks or encryption when we transmit electronic data for purposes of outsourcing;
· practising a clean desk policy in all of securityONLINE premises and providing secure storage for physical records; and
· detecting and preventing unauthorised access to buildings by employing physical and electronic means such as alarms, cameras and guards as required.
Where information we hold is identified as no longer needed for any purpose we ensure it is effectively and securely destroyed, for example, by shredding or pulping in the case of paper records or by degaussing (demagnetise of the medium using alternating electric currents) and other means in the case of electronic records and equipment.
Telephone
We may monitor and record telephone calls for training and security purposes.
One of the reasons we collect personal information is so that we may provide you with information on products and services offered by or through the collecting member and other members of securityONLINE. However, you may, if you wish, indicate that you do not want to receive information on products or services offered by or through the collecting member by:
· 'ticking the box' on the form you sign when you take out a product or service; or
· contacting the collecting member at any time to indicate that you wish to 'opt out' of receiving such information.
Please note that if you provide your information to more than one member of securityONLINE you will need to tell each member if you wish to 'opt out' of receiving information from them.
Changes to our Privacy and Information Handling Practices
securityONLINE may make changes to its privacy and information handling practices from time to time for any reason. We will publish those changes on our web sites and, if there are important changes or a lot of minor changes, by updating this document. This document is dated 10 August 2004.
Access to personal information
You can request us to provide you with access to the personal information we hold about you.
Requests may be denied or limited
If particular circumstances apply, we are permitted by the Privacy Act to deny your request for access, or limit the access we provide. We will let you know why your request is denied or limited. For example, we may give an explanation of a commercially-sensitive decision, rather than direct access to evaluative information connected with it.
Jointly held information
Where we hold your personal information in conjunction with that of another individual or individuals, we will allow each individual access to their own personal information and to the joint information (eg. account balances and transaction details) but not to the personal information of the other individual(s).
Responding to an access request
We will respond to your access request as soon as possible. We will endeavour to comply with your request within 14 days of its receipt but, if that deadline cannot be met owing to exceptional circumstances, your request will be dealt with within 30 days. It will help us provide access if you can tell us what you are looking for. Your identity will be confirmed (including by verifying your signature and production of appropriate identification) before access is provided.
An access charge may apply
An access charge may apply, but not to the request itself. The charge is for the time we spend on locating, collating and explaining the information you request (generally based on a rate of $100 per hour or part thereof) plus any photocopying costs and out of pocket expenses (such as freight and travelling costs).
How to gain access
Please complete and sign a Request Form indicating you wish to access your personal information under the National Privacy Principles, and either mail it to us, or hand it in at our Head Office. Following receipt of your request, our Customer Relations area will provide you with an estimate of the access charge and confirm that you want to proceed. Unless you have authorised us to debit your account, access will not be provided until payment is received.
Access to a credit report about you
You have the right to ask for a copy of any credit report we have obtained about you from a credit reporting agency. However, as we may not have retained a copy after we have used it, the best means of obtaining an up-to-date copy is to get in touch with the credit reporting agency direct. You have a right to have any inaccuracies corrected or, if there is any dispute as to accuracy, to have a note added to your credit reporting agency file explaining your position.
If we decline your credit application wholly or partly because of adverse information on your credit report, the Privacy Act requires us to tell you of that fact and how you can go about getting a copy of your credit report. Credit reporting agencies have an established specific public access division to handle these matters.
Making a privacy complaint
We recognise that even in the best run organisations things can go wrong. Should you have a privacy complaint, please tell us because it gives us the opportunity to fix the problem. We will investigate the complaint, answer your questions and do all we can to regain your confidence.
To assist us in helping you, we ask you to follow a simple three-step process:
© 2004 securityONLINE; This Privacy Policy Statement is copyright material and protected under copyright laws of Australia and may not be reproduced without the permission of securityONLINE.