Web Based Privacy Policy

Introduction

Hobart City Council considers that an individual’s personal information and privacy is a foundational expectation in our interactions with you as a customer. This web based privacy policy sets out how we collect, deal with and manage the personal information obtained from your interactions with our web based IT solutions in accordance with the Personal Information Protection Act 2004 (TAS) (“Act”).

Why have a Web Based Privacy Policy?

The Policy ensures that Council discloses the purpose and use of information it collects about a person or their identity, where that information is stored and/or used as part of its role as a public authority. The Council is defined in the Act as a public authority and as a personal information custodian.

Personal Information Protection Principles

Section 16 of the Act contains ten Personal Information Protection Principles. Council uses these principles to guide its decision making processes to ensure that it complies with the Act and other legislation that impact upon our use, storage and disclosure of personal information.

The Personal Information Protection Principles are summarised as follows:

1. Collection

2. Use and disclosure

3. Data quality

4. Data security

5. Openness

6. Access and correction

7. Unique identifiers

8. Anonymity

9. Disclosure of information outside Tasmania

10. Sensitive information

What does the Web Based Privacy Policy Cover?

This Policy applies to all personal information about an individual that is collected, stored, used or disclosed by Council through our web based IT services or our website.

What personal information is ordinarily collected through web based engagement?

When you use our web based services you are freely able to browse our site without providing information about yourself, your demographic or your views. However, if you wish to engage further with our content, there are some distinct personal information attributes that we identify and collect about you. These include profile information, engagement information and usage information.

Profile Information

This is information we collect about you when you register to use our web site and engagement tools and services. This includes your email address and additional demographic information provided by you which may appear on the online registration form.

Engagement Information

This relates to the content you create as part of your interactions with the website or web based services. These can include responses to surveys, comments on discussion forums, providing submissions, answering surveys or any of the other engagement opportunities we may promote on the site.

By using the website and any other of our web based services you licence the Council to use the Engagement Information you create for our own purposes. If we do use your information in a broader context we will de-identify you wherever possible. Please see our Moderation Terms and our Terms and Conditions tabs for more information.

Usage Information

Relates to the information we collect about your specific usage of the website or our engagement processes and may include information such as pages visited, documents downloaded, surveys undertaken, forms completed, links selected or could be metadata or cookies. We do this principally to enhance the user experience and understand what information we publish is of most use to our customer base.

Storage

Council will take all necessary steps to ensure that personal information is stored safely and securely to protect it from misuse, loss, and unauthorised modification and disclosure. This applies regardless of the format in which the information is held.

Council stores information about its customers on our own IT systems and servers, as well as in the Council document management system that we licence from another provider. We may store information in other locations based on our need or in compliance with other software provider’s requirements. We use external contractors to undertake other engagement processes for us including the Hobart Your Say site.

From time to time, we may use survey or other information engagement sources from third party organisations or on an adhoc basis. This may mean the data collected online may be stored on servers located in another country which the Council does not control. If you are clicking on a link that is to another service provider, we encourage you to read their privacy policy disclosure documents before proceeding. If you do not feel comfortable providing your comments online or interacting with these providers, please reach out to our staff and discuss your concerns with them and to find out if there are any other options available for you to obtain the information you are seeking or engage in the process or activity you wish to participate in.

How we use the information we collect

We collect this information in order to:

• analyse and interpret it to help meet our objectives and obligations;
• communicate information to you about engagement opportunities, events and other initiatives according to the topics and subjects you selected in the registration process;
• to evaluate proposals that the council is considering;
• to manage complaints and information that help us with our regulatory roles and responsibilities and our customer expectations; and
• to respond to enquiries and effectively engage with our customers and stakeholders.

Anonymity

Where it is lawful and practicable, Council will offer you the option of remaining anonymous as part of a transaction, engagement or interaction with our services. Generally though, the use of our online engagement tools requires you to complete the registration process which will provide us with essential personal information to enable your account.

If anonymity is afforded to you, this may limit Council’s ability to process a complaint or other matter. Council reserves the right to take no action on any matter where you choose not to supply relevant personal information so that it can perform its functions in accordance with legislation or the aims and objectives of its engagement function.

Confidentiality

The City of Hobart will treat your personal information in accordance with the Personal Information Protection Act 2004 (Tas) and any other law that it is required to comply with, including ones that require the maintaining and keeping of registers, or the disclosure of information in the public interest. The Council is governed by the Right to Information Act 2009 (Tas) (“RTI”). That RTI legislation contains a number of tests to assess whether and in what circumstances personal information should be disclosed. Prior to personal information being disclosed, there are mechanisms that enable consultation with you and appeal rights. The Council can however elect in accordance with that RTI legislation to remove your personal information from any submission, complaint or engagement and publish the remainder of the information that you supply, without having to consult with you.

How we protect your personal information

Council operates secure information technology networks and in doing so, we take all reasonable measures using our best endeavours to prevent unauthorised access to, or disclosure of, your personal information. While no online service can be guaranteed as secure, the Council operates information technology platforms and firewalls and conducts staff training and development to maximise our attempts to keep our systems safe from phishing and other attempts to compromise or hack our systems. Council uses a number of system security measures, virus protection software systems and data storage systems within Australia, to protect your personal and other identity information.

We do use your contact details in a centralised system to enable the Council staff to interact with you and respond to your requests, without the need for each inquiry requiring you to register for a separate service.

For instance, you may request Council to liaise with you about a matter that we are consulting about. Separately you may have a complaint about a Council footpath, or a neighbour’s dog. We create a centralised customer record, so that the staff can access your contact details to respond to those matters. This also allows us a centralised point to update your contact information without the need for you to write to each relevant department of Council. However there are some instances governed by law where you need to make a specific written request to change specific details, for instance requesting a change to property or companion animal ownership details. This means that there is less duplication and more robust protections of your personal information.

Access to and correction of, your personal information

Council will endeavour to maintain the personal information it holds about you as accurate, complete and up to date.

Wherever possible, Council will append and/or update any new personal information you provide to your existing customer record to assist in keeping your customer record complete and up to date.

There are some circumstances where you must request in writing for this to occur, such as amending details about your property and rates ownership, permit details, leases, licences and tenancy information, companion animal ownership, debtor account details or other specific matters that Council interacts with you about, where we have a regulatory obligation to know who we are dealing with.

You may request that Council amend any personal information you have supplied to it, including:

• to access your personal data to rectify any inaccuracies within that personal data; or
• to request for the erasure of your personal data residing with us, subject to the Archives Act 1983 (Tas) and the Right to Information Act 2009 (Tas);

There may be other circumstances where you can request that we amend, alter, withhold or erase your personal information which can be obtained through our Privacy Policy or by contacting the Council on coh@hobartcity.com.au

If you wish to contact us to with a request relating to personal information we hold about you, please email us at coh@hobartcity.com.au including your name and contact details. We may need to verify your identity before providing you with your personal information.

In some cases, we may be unable to provide you with access to all of your personal information and where this occurs, we will explain why.

What information is disclosed

Hobart City Council will not use or disclose your personal information other than for the primary purpose for which it was collected unless one of the following apply:

(a) we have your consent to disclose all or some of the information;

(b) we have a related secondary purpose that you have been made aware of or you would reasonably expect would occur;

(c) as required or permitted by the Act or any other legislation;

(d) to other departments within the Council to respond to your inquiries or deal with you personally;

(e) in accordance with the Right to Information Act 2009 (TAS) which overrides the Act and other protections afforded to you through another assessment process contained within that law;

(f) by adding your name and contact details to our centralised customer record system so that we can respond to other matters or dealings with you including waste inquiries, parking permits, pet registrations, community services such as library, pool, gym, sports and recreational programs, tourist information and kunanyi/Mt Wellington mountain information, community based support programs, youth engagement, festivals and events, etc.

Written submissions to Council and Committee meetings

Personal information provided by you as part of a public submission (name, email address, property address, etc.) to a Council or committee meeting may be included with the published agenda papers and minutes of the meeting, which are displayed online and are available in hardcopy format for an indefinite period. If we collect responses to an engagement or survey, those responses may be published without further notice to you.

If you are uncertain about how your information will be dealt with, you should contact the Council at coh@hobartcity.com.au.

Council will not request sensitive personal information about you including requesting you to provide your identity information or health information in order to participate in a submission or engagement process. We may require this information if you want us to amend, delete or withhold information about you that may otherwise be publicly available.

Contracted service providers

Council outsources some of its functions to third parties (“Contractors”) who perform various services for and on behalf of the Council. Council may disclose personal information it has collected about an individual to the Contractor, where it is necessary for the Contractor to carry out a specific job or task. For example, personal information is passed on to a Contractor by Council for the purposes of a waste kerbside collection service. Information provided to these Contractors is limited to the information required by them to provide the services to you on behalf of Council (including responding to any complaint you have made).

Council has an expectation of our Contractors (including consultants and service providers) to apply the same level or personal information protection to customer information as the Council implements. To assist with compliance the Contractor is alerted to our expectations and our privacy policy.

Our staff are afforded specific training relating to their dealings with personal information and there is an expectation of confidentiality from our volunteers and work experience persons.

Elected Members are subject to an Elected Members Code of Conduct which also regulates what they do with Council held information.

When dealing with web based services, particularly those that we use to survey or glean your comments on programs and proposals, the Council sometimes engages Contractors to assemble, assess, research, compile, collate, de-identify, document trends or other targeted uses for the information gathered. By using our web based services, you are taken to licence Council to deal with your personal information and commentary through these means in order to conduct our business.

External links

From time to time the City of Hobart website and our other web based solutions may contain links to other third party websites. This may be because those linked services are providing specific services to the Council in relation to the matter you are engaging with, or because they have more specific detail about a proposal or are conducting engagement work on our behalf. There are also times where we have other reasons why we want to share links with you. We do not hold out an endorsement for any third party website, simply because we provide a link to it.

The links provided are for convenience and may not remain current or be maintained. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of linked websites and we suggest you review the privacy policies of those websites before using them.

The Council is also not endorsing any linked provider and if you prefer to engage with Council in a different way, please email us on coh@hobartcity.com.au

Contact Us

For further information about our web based privacy policy, to obtain further information about our Council wide privacy policy and related information practices, or to access or correct your personal information, or to make a complaint, please contact us on coh@hobartcity.com.au

The following Terms and Conditions govern the use of Your Say Hobart (“Your Say Hobart”). The software platform is owned by Social Pinpoint Pty Ltd and operated by us, the City of Hobart.

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, including without limitation to a <client> representative
• 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 coh@hobartcity.com.au.

Governing Law

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

Indemnification

City of Hobart, 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 City of Hobart and its suppliers and licensors. City of Hobart 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 coh@hobartcity.com.au