Privacy
This Privacy Notice outlines how the New South Wales Government (Agency) manages Personal Information in its administration of the SEED Hubs (Site).
The Site is a user-driven platform which users can choose to engage with at different levels. This means that once you register a user profile, the amount and type of Personal Information you provide to the Agency through the Site will depend on what you decide to make available.
Information collected when you register a User Profile
You are not required to register as a user on the Site. However, you must register in order to use certain functions on the Site. If you choose to register in order to make use of these Site functions, the Agency will collect your Personal Information.
Some of this information must be provided in order to successfully login. Required information is marked with an asterisk in the registration form and includes, without limitation:
- For the Water Hub: your name, email address and profession.
Any additional information you provide is entirely voluntary and how much you choose to disclose is up to you.
All information you provide must be updated, accurate and correct, consistent with the Terms and Conditions of Use, including the code of conduct within that document.
If a person is under 16 years, a parent or guardian must approve the disclosure of the information to the Agency. The Agency may request proof of approval at any time.
Information collected when you participate in the Site
As a registered user, you may decide to participate in the Site which gives you the option to post on forums, use the messaging function and provide additional Personal Information to the Agency. Any additional Personal Information that you do provide is entirely voluntary not solicited by the Agency.
Any optional, or voluntary and additional Personal Information contained within the content you provide using the messaging functionality, on the Site’s online forum or otherwise, is not covered by this privacy notice. This includes, without limitation, data, content and Personal Information you create or provide through posts or comments regarding your occupation, fitness condition, work experience, resume, qualifications, education, post tasks, skillset, interests and other information.
Why is the Agency collecting my Personal Information? How will the information be used?
We collect your Personal Information because it is relevant to the services you wish to obtain from us , or the communication you want to carry on with us.
Personal Information collected through registration will only be used by the Agency for the purpose for which the information is collected being:
- administering the Site, which has been created to facilitate and support the growth of the hub community;
- building a community though the site and enhancing linkages with other sites;
- research to monitor and report on the success and usability of the Site. We will use reasonable endeavours to de-identify the information before it is used for this purpose.
You may be contacted by us or other persons with user profiles through notifications or emails as part of the functions of the Site.
How the information is used will also depend on other users, and how they interact with the information that is made publicly available on the Site. The amount of information available will depend on how you choose to engage with the Site and how much you choose to disclose.
Disclosure of information collected
Some information you provide will be publicly available on the Site
Some of the information you provide on the Site will be publicly available. You acknowledge that Personal Information may appear publicly on the Site when you use some of the functions, such as using the messenger or forum functionality. In this case, your name, profession and provided picture will appear on the profile or forum pages you have engaged in. You can adjust your privacy options if you do not want to be contactable in notification settings.
We will not disclose the information we collect that is otherwise not publicly available on the Site, unless with your consent or in other circumstances where such use or disclosure is permitted under the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW) or any other law.
The amount of information that is made available on the Site will depend on you and what you choose to disclose or make available on your user profile and your privacy setting selections.
We may disclose your Personal Information for:
- Minister: in the course of reporting to any government Minister who has oversight over the Agency’s functions.
- By Consent: to another person or organisation with your consent.
- Where otherwise permitted by law: including for law enforcement purposes, or in response to a subpoena, court order, warrant or statutory demand under another law.
- When identifying and fixing issues with the site where the use and disclosure of personal account information is unavoidable.
Information Shared with Third-Party Sites
User profiles and personal Unique Identifying Information (UII) may be shared or linked to and from third-party sites now or in future, consistently with the Terms and Conditions of Use, for the purpose of facilitating hub communities.
Your Personal Information (including your email address) will not be automatically added to a third party mailing list, sold or otherwise transferred to a third party for commercial purposes.
Storage of Personal Information
Access and amendments of Personal Information
Under the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW) you have the right to access and change the Personal Information which the Agency holds about you.
The Agency is committed to ensuring that the information we hold is accurate, complete and up to date, so we encourage you to advise us if the information you have given us has changed.
If you believe our information is inaccurate or would like us to remove information you have provided, please contact us and we will amend or remove the information.
Retention
We will retain the information you have provided for a period that is appropriate for the purpose for which it was provided. Your information will be archived and disposed of in accordance with our policies, legislative requirements and guidelines based on the NSW State Records Act 1998 (NSW).
We take reasonable steps to protect information, which includes the use of data encryption and firewalls, to minimise unauthorised access.
The relevant agency collecting and holding your information is:
NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW)
4 Parramatta Square
12 Darcy Street
Parramatta NSW 2150
Contact Us
Please contact the Agency on [email protected] f you have any questions regarding these terms.
You may ask for an internal review if you are dissatisfied with the management of your Personal Information. In the interests of better customer service, we will attempt to resolve privacy issues informally wherever this is appropriate, and the parties agree.
However, if you wish to lodge a privacy complaint, a complaint can be made to either:
- our Privacy Team: [email protected], or
- the NSW Privacy Commissioner: https://www.ipc.nsw.gov.au/privacy/citizens/make-complaint
Definitions
Agency means The New South Wales Government
Personal Information has the same meaning given to it under section 4 of Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW).
Site means the Sharing and Enabling Environmental Data (SEED) Hubs administered by the Agency, which is accessible and available at https://seed.nsw.gov.au/seed-hubs, as amended from time to time.
Terms and Conditions of Use means the terms of use disclosure document on the Site, which is accessible and available at https://water-hub.seed.nsw.gov.au/terms-and-conditions, as amended from time to time.
Unique Identifying Information means any data or information that could potentially identify a specific individual.