This site is owned and operated by the City of Whittlesea using software licensed from Social Pinpoint. The Privacy statement below refers to the City of Whittlesea only, for details of how Social Pinpoint may access personal information, please refer separately to Social Pinpoint’s Privacy Policy.

Privacy statement

We are committed to the responsible collection and handling of personal information, consistent with the principles in the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 and the Health Records Act 2001.

What is personal information

Personal information is recorded information or opinion, whether true or not, about an identifiable individual.

Personal information typically includes, but is not limited to the following:

• name
• address (postal and email)
• telephone (home, work and mobile)
• date of birth
• Medicare number
• credit card and bank account numbers
• motor vehicle registration

Under the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014, Council is required to set out clearly expressed policies on its management of personal information: you can access Council’s Privacy and Data Protection Policy here.

Member registration

To become a registered user on this Council community engagement site, you will be asked to provide the following personal information:

• Full name, gender, post code, email address and age bracket
• Username and password for Engage City of Whittlesea
• Subscription by you to other (optional) electronic communications from us
• Topics about which you have indicated an interest in being consulted or informed

User feedback

We will also collect information that you provide via the Engage City of Whittlesea feedback tools. This includes:

• comments and votes in forums
• stories
• surveys
• interactive maps
• quick polls

How we will handle your personal information (general)

We will only use the personal information you provide for the purposes for which it was collected and any other reasonable secondary purpose. The information we collect may also be used for our own planning and research purposes to improve our services to the community. We will not disclose your personal information to third parties unless disclosure is required by law.

We will also protect the quality and integrity of your personal information and will use appropriate technologies and security methods to securely store the information collected to prevent unauthorised access and improper use of the information.

We will only collect personal information from you with your prior knowledge and consent. You can access and browse our website without disclosing personal information.

When you visit this website, our Internet Service Provider makes a record of your visit and logs the following information for statistical purposes:

• the user's server address
• the user's top-level domain name (for example .com, .gov, .au, .uk)
• the date and time of the visit
• the pages accessed and documents downloaded

We will make no attempts to identify users or their browsing activities except, in the unlikely event of an investigation, where a law enforcement agency may exercise a warrant to inspect our Internet Service Provider's logs.

We will only record your email address if you send us a message. It will only be used for Council purposes and will not be disclosed to any third parties without your consent.

How we will handle your personal information (members)

When you sign up for a user account you provide two types of information:

1. publicly available information
2. information available to both City of Whittlesea and Social Pinpoint.

Publicly available information

Publicly available information is limited to your username and any comments you leave under that name in the forums or other feedback tools on Engage City of Whittlesea.

Content that you post on the site publicly, will be able to be viewed by everyone who uses the site. Each post will contain your username and any publicly available reports from consultations, and may include quotes from participants in forums, surveys and other consultation tools

Please note that the City of Whittlesea is subject to the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic) legislation. The Freedom of Information Act 1982 gives individuals and corporations a general right of access to documents held by Council. This includes documents created by Council, documents held by Council from contracted service providers and documents supplied to Council by external organisations or individuals.

Information available to both City of Whittlesea and Social Pinpoint includes:

• all information from the sign-up form
• comments, questions, stories, guestbook posts
• survey responses, quick poll responses, map pins
• general site activity such as document downloads, videos viewed, images viewed etc.
• information on the technology used to access the site.

Policy updates

We may update the content of this Privacy Policy from time to time for any reason. The updated version of the Privacy Policy will apply to you as soon as it is posted on the website, so we suggest that each time you return to the consultation website you should review the Privacy Policy (and the Terms of Use).

You can request to access your personal information

You can request to access your personal information Council will provide access to information held by Council about an individual to that individual on request, except in specific circumstances as outlined within the PDP Act. Requests for access to and correction of documents containing personal information are generally managed under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 1982. FOI requests must be made in writing and are accompanied by an application fee. Please see Council’s website for more information regarding how to make an application or contact a Freedom of Information Officer on 9217 2294. Some requests for personal information may be dealt with informally (outside of the FOI Act). Please contact Council’s Privacy Officer on 9217 2223 to discuss your requirements. Where Council holds personal information about an individual and the individual believes that information is incorrect, Council will take reasonable steps to correct the information as soon as practicable and within 30 days of the request. If Council denies access or correction, Council will provide reasons. If Council and an individual disagree about the accuracy of personal information held by Council, Council will take reasonable steps to record a statement relating to the disputed information if requested by the individual. If you are not satisfied with Council’s resolution of an information privacy matter you may make a complaint to the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner (OVIC) Post: PO Box 24274, Melbourne Vic 3001 or Email: enquiries@ovic.vic.gov.au.

Privacy complaints

If you believe we have handled your personal information inappropriately, please contact the Information Privacy Officer on 03 9217 2223 or email privacy@whittlesea.vic.gov.au.

Cookies and third-party products

Cookies are sent by a website and stored in a user's computer and can contain data such as the parts of a website the user has visited. This website uses a cookie that may contain data about your current online session, but it is deleted once you close your browser window.

We record website visitor’s activities for statistical purposes using a third-party product, Google Analytics.

Links to other websites

These privacy statements only apply to our website and do not apply to any websites we link to.

We provide links to other relevant websites in good faith, as a community service. When you click through to one of the linked websites, we recommend that you read the privacy statement of that website to familiarise yourself with its privacy policy and practices.

The following Terms and Conditions govern the use of Engage City of Whittlesea (“the site”). The software platform is owned by Social Pinpoint Pty Ltd and operated by the City of Whittlesea.

By accessing and using this site, you are choosing to accept and comply with the Terms presented throughout this agreement as well as the Privacy Policy and Moderation Policy. These Terms apply to all visitors and users of this site. Linked sites, affiliated services or third party content or software have their own Terms that you must comply with. If you disagree with any of the Terms presented in this agreement, you may discontinue using the site immediately.

If you are under 18 years old, please ensure that your parent or guardian understands and accepts these Terms and Conditions (including the Privacy Policy and Moderation Policy).

What are the conditions with a user’s account?

While using the site, you must not violate any applicable laws and regulations. It is our duty to protect the confidentiality of content you provide on our site in accordance with our Privacy Policy. When you create an account with us, you must always provide us with accurate information. Failure to provide accurate information violates the Terms, which may result in immediate termination of your account on our service. You are responsible for protecting your own password you use for this site and for any activities done under that password. Unauthorised use of your password or account must be immediately reported to us. In some cases, we or our agents may require access to your user accounts to respond to technical issues.

We are not responsible for the content on the site that has been provided by the users of the site. Any content posted by you is subject to the rules of our Moderation Policy. Your contribution to the site may be edited, removed or not published if we consider it inappropriate (refer to Moderation Policy). Contributors should also be aware that their posts may remain online indefinitely. Where practical, you may choose not to identify yourself, deal with us on an anonymous basis or use a pseudonym.

What do we require from our users?

You must understand and agree that, without limitation:

• all information, data, images and other materials are the sole responsibility of the person from whom the content originated;
• you are prohibited from advertising or offering to sell or buy any goods and services
• you cannot transmit Content that contains software viruses or programs designed to change or destroy the functionality of any computer software or hardware; or
• you cannot collect or store personal data about other users of the site
• you cannot impersonate any person or entity
• you cannot interrupt or interfere with the site or servers or networks connected to the site
• you cannot attempt to gain unauthorised access to the site or other use accounts

Can your account be suspended or terminated?

We may terminate or suspend access to your site and/or account immediately, without prior notice, including without limitation if you breach the Terms. We may immediately deactivate or delete your account and all the related files and information in your account. After your account has been terminated, the content you have posted may also remain indefinitely on the site.

If you want to terminate your own account, please send an email to engagement@whittlesea.vic.gov.au

Governing Law

These Terms shall be governed in accordance with the laws of Victoria, Australia, without regards to its conflict of law provisions.

Indemnification

The City of Whittlesea, its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, agents, licensors and other partners are not responsible for any loss, liability, claim, or demand, including legal fees, made by any third party due to or arising from a breach of this agreement and/or any breach of your representations and warranties set forth above.

What content do we own?

This website contains the copyrighted material, trademarks, patents, trade secrets and other proprietary information (“Intellectual Property”) of the City of Whittlesea and its suppliers and licensors. The City of Whittlesea owns and retains all proprietary rights in the intellectual property. All intellectual property in the content of this site including without limitation to text, software, source code, pages, documents and online graphics, photographs, sounds, audio, video and other interactive features are owned by or licensed to us.

Any original content that you submit or post on our site may be made available to the public and allows users to share your content (with the end user acknowledging your contribution) under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Australian License.

Except for Intellectual Property which is in the public domain or for which you have been given written permission, you may not copy, alter, transmit, sell, distribute any of the Intellectual Property on this site.

We are not responsible for your communications or dealings, including payment and delivery of goods or services, with a third party found via our website. Any loss or damage incurred from those communications or dealings are solely between the user and the third party.

Disclaimer and Warranties

Users must agree that you use of the site is at your own risk. We make no warranty that the site will meet your requirements or be uninterrupted or error-free. Any material that the user downloads through the site is done at their own risk and are responsible for any damages to their computer system or loss of data.

What happens if these Terms change?

We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to modify or replace these Terms at any time without notice. The most recent version of the Terms can be seen on this page. By continuing to access or use our site after those revisions become effective, you agree and will comply to the revised terms. If you do not agree to the revised terms, please discontinue using our site.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about these Terms, please contact us at engagement@whittlesea.vic.gov.au