Privacy

Privacy statement

The Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy has a firm commitment to privacy in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 and the Guidelines for Federal and ACT Government World Wide Websites issued by the Australian Privacy Commissioner. This statement discloses our information gathering and dissemination practices for this website.

If you are submitting personal details or other personal information over the internet which you wish to remain private, please note that, while all attempts are made to secure information transmitted to this website, there is a possibility that information you submit could be observed by a third party while in transit.

Information logged

When you visit this website, our server logs the following information which is provided by your browser for statistical purposes only:

  • the type of browser and operating system you are using
  • your top level domain name (for example .com, .gov, .au, .uk etc.)
  • the address of the referring site (for example, the previous site that you visited), and
  • your server's IP address (a number which is unique to the machine through which you are connected to the internetusually one of your service provider's machines).

In addition, our server logs the following information:

  • the date and time of your visit, and
  • the address of the pages accessed and the documents downloaded.

All of this information we use only for the purposes of statistical analysis, systems administration, monitoring of site security, customisation of the website to user needs, and evaluation, research and development. No attempt will be made to identify users or their browsing activities, except in the unlikely event of an investigation, such as where a law enforcement agency may exercise a warrant or subpoena. Information of this nature will only be disclosed to third parties if required or authorised by law. All data described in the preceding section is stored securely, and archived for a period of at least 12 months and possibly up to seven years.

Electronic mail addresses

We will only record your email address if you send us a message. It will only be used for the purpose for which you provide it, and will not be added to a mailing list unless you request that this be done. We will not disclose it without your consent, unless required by law.

Subscriptions/logins

Some pages of this website provide the facility for users to subscribe to email mailing lists or log in to restricted access areas. To subscribe/logon to these services users must provide either a valid email address or a specific user name and password. These details will only be used for the purpose for which you have provided it and you will not be added to any other mailing lists unless you specifically request that this be done. Email mailing list addresses are stored on a separate server and can only be accessed by authorisedDepartment staff. Your email address will not be disclosed without your consent, unless required by law.

Cookies

A cookie is an electronic token that is passed to your browser and your browser passes it back to the server whenever a page is sent to you.

Our server generates one cookie which is used to keep track of the pages you have accessed while using our server. The cookie allows you to page back and forwards through the website and return to pages you have already visited. The cookie exists only for the time you are accessing our server.

Please note that some browsers can be configured to allow cookies to be accessed by servers other than the originating server. Most browsers can also be configured to notify the user when a cookie is received, allowing you to either accept or reject it. You do not need to have configured your browser to enable the accepting or sending of cookies in order to use this website.

Cookies are not used for any other purpose at this website. We do not use cookies to collect personal information.

Searches

Search terms that you enter when using our search engine/database are collected, but are not associated with any other information that we collect. We use these search terms to ascertain what people are looking for at our website, and to improve the services that we provide.

Links to other sites

This website contains links to other sites.The Departmentis not responsible for the privacy practices of these websites.

Online forms

By submitting any personal information through this websites online forms you are consenting, for the purposes of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), to your personal information being disclosed to the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy and potentially other appropriate third parties, Commonwealth government entities and statutory agencies for the purposes of responding to your request and also, program administration, regulation and evaluation.

The Department of Broadband, Communication and the Digital Economy is subject to the Privacy Act 1988 which requires that it complies with the Information Privacy Principles (IPPs) set out in the Act. The IPPs set out how Australian Government agencies should collect, use, store and disclose personal information and how individuals can access records containing their personal information. General information about the Privacy Act and IPPs can be found on the This link will take you off the Stay Smart Online websiteOffice of the Privacy Commissioners website.