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Privacy Statement
The Act regulates how public sector agencies must deal with personal information. The Act defines personal information as “information or an opinion…. about an individual whose identity is apparent or can reasonably be ascertained from the information or opinion”. This may include addresses, telephone numbers etc. Sydney Metro has developed a privacy policy to ensure compliance with the statutory requirements relating to the collection, storage, use and disclosure of personal information.
This Privacy Policy applies to all the publicly accessible pages on the Sydney Metro website located at http://www.sydneymetro.nsw.gov.au. Sydney Metro does not have any responsibility for the privacy policies or practices of third party sites linked to the Sydney Metro website. If you have any questions about the Sydney Metro website, the application of this Privacy Policy or a request for access to, or correction of, personal information held by Sydney Metro, please contact:
The Privacy Officer
Sydney Metro
Level 19, 321 Kent Street
Sydney 2000
ph: 8238 2700
Users of the Sydney Metro website are entitled to expect that any information collected by Sydney Metro as a result of that use will be treated within the terms of the New South Wales government's privacy responsibilities and obligations.
Information protection principles
The twelve Information Protection Principles detailed in Part 2 of the Privacy Act set the privacy standards with which Sydney Metro and all other public sector agencies must comply with when dealing with personal information. The principles also allow individuals to exercise a reasonable degree of control over what happens to their own personal information.
What information do we collect?
When an individual opens any page on the Sydney Metro website, the following is automatically recorded for each page accessed:
- the IP (Internet Protocol) address of the machine which has accessed the webpage;
- 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 time you spend browsing the site;
- the previous site or page visited; and
- the type of browser and operating system you have used.
“Cookies” are not generally used on the Sydney Metro site to track information. Nor does Sydney Metro generally link information automatically gathered through its website with personal data about specific individuals.
How do we use the information collected?
The information collected during each visit is aggregated with similar logged information and published in reports in order for Sydney Metro to identify patterns of usage of the site. This will assist us in improving the Sydney Metro website and the services offered on it.
Sydney Metro will not disclose or publish information that identifies individual machines, or potentially identifies sub-groupings of addresses, without consent or otherwise in accordance with the New South Wales Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1988.
What exceptions are there to this rule?
Sydney Metro will collect, use and disclose more extensive information than stated above in the following circumstances:
- unauthorised attempts to access files which are not published Sydney Metro website pages;
- unauthorised tampering or interference with files published on the Sydney Metro website;
- unauthorised attempts to index the contents of the Sydney Metro website by other sites;
- attempts to intercept messages of other users of the Sydney Metro website;
- communications which are defamatory, abusive, vilify individuals or groups or which give rise to a suspicion that an offence is being committed; and
- 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 Sydney Metro website by other users.
Sydney Metro reserves the right to make disclosures to relevant authorities where the use of the Sydney Metro website raises a suspicion that an offence is being, or has been, committed.
In the event of an investigation, Sydney Metro will provide access to data to any law enforcement agency that may exercise a warrant to inspect our logs.
Is the information stored securely?
Yes. Information collected is stored in an appropriately secure format and held by Sydney Metro for archival purposes. When the information is no longer required for the purposes for which it was collected it is deleted.
What will we do with information provided in Feedback?
Sydney Metro provides feedback facilities on the website to allow users to provide input into the future development of the site and to comment on the Sydney Metro projects.
The provision of personal details on feedback is optional.
Users may provide personal details for the purpose of receiving a reply to their feedback. This information will only be used for the purpose for which it was provided. We will not add your email address or name to any mailing list unless you request to be added to our mailing list.
Sydney Metro 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.
Who else has access to information within Sydney Metro?
The information is captured on the computers on which the site is hosted. Access to the raw data is restricted to a limited number of officers in Sydney Metro for the purpose of analysis and to report on the success of the Sydney Metro website in meeting Sydney Metro’s communication and access objectives.
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.