Privacy

"Protecting the privacy of health information is an integral
part of providing quality health care" (WHO)

General

This website is maintained by members of the Sexually Transmitted Infections in Gay Men Action Group (STIGMA). This Privacy Statement applies to all the publicly accessible pages on the site based at (insert website address link).
Users of this site are entitled to expect that any information as a result of that use will be treated within the terms of the New South Wales government’s privacy responsibilities and obligations. (The Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2000, Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW) and the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002(NSW)).
STIGMA does not have any responsibility for the privacy policies or practices of third party sites linked to the STIGMA site.
If you have any questions about this site, or the application of this Privacy Statement or a request for access to information held please contact:
(Insert contact details)

What information do we collect?

When you look at the pages on the STIGMA site, our site? / computers may automatically record information that identifies, for each page accessed:

- the IP (Internet Protocol) address of the machine which has accessed it;
- 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 previous site visited, including search terms used to navigate to this site; and
- the type of browser and operating system you have used.

Only first party cookies (i.e. issued and retrieved by STIGMA’s own site? / systems) will be used at this site to collect information about visitor behaviour.
STIGMA provides feedback, contact, and online complaint and enquiry facilities on the site to allow users who choose to:

- provide valuable input into the future development of the site
- comment on the provision of service by STIGMA
- lodge inquiries and requests
- lodge complaints.

How do we use the information collected?

Site usage information collected during each visit is aggregated with similar logged information and published in reports in order for STIGMA to identify patterns of usage of the site. This will assist us in improving the site and the services and information offered on it.
Information submitted as feedback is also used to assist in understanding the performance of the site and potential improvements.
Information submitted as part of inquiries and complaints is used to respond, investigate or take compliance action as deemed appropriate. Where issues are within the jurisdiction of another agency STIGMA may refer details to the other agency.
Inquiry, transaction and complaint information is also aggregated and used in reporting and analysis of patterns of activity associated with STIGMA’s remit.
STIGMA will not disclose outside the agency or publish information that identifies individual machines, or potentially identifies sub-groupings of machine- or server addresses, without consent or otherwise in accordance with The Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2000, Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW) and Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (NSW).

What exceptions are there to this rule?

STIGMA may collect, use and disclose more extensive information than stated above in the following circumstances:

- unauthorised attempts to access files which are not publicly available STIGMA pages;
- unauthorised tampering or interference with files published on the STIGMA site;
- unauthorised attempts to index the contents of the STIGMA site by other sites;
- attempts to intercept messages of other users of the STIGMA site;
- 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 STIGMA site by other users.

STIGMA reserves the right to make disclosures to relevant authorities where the use of the site raises a suspicion that an offence is being, might be or has been, committed.
In the event of an investigation, STIGMA will provide access to data to any law enforcement agency that may exercise a warrant to inspect our logs or other information.
Visitors to the site should be aware it is in the nature of the Internet that information passing between websites and their visitors may pass via third party computer systems, networks and devices. Some or all of this information may be monitored, collected, stored and/or disclosed beyond the control of STIGMA.

Is the information stored securely?

Yes. Information collected is stored in an appropriately secure format and held by STIGMA 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 personal details?

The provision of personal details via this website is optional. This information will only be used for the purpose for which it was provided:

- It is the policy of STIGMA to not disclose the personal details of complainants to organisations about which they may complain, without their express consent except as required by law.
- STIGMA may disclose personal details associated with an inquiry, transaction or complaint to an agency with appropriate jurisdiction where STIGMA believes the issue can be properly dealt with by that agency. Examples include (but are not limited to): ???

STIGMA may publish aggregated information about communications via the site or usage of the site, to the extent that it does not identify or cannot be used to identify individual users.
Anonymity
Wherever practicable and lawful, and if you want to, we will provide you the option of interacting with STIGMA anonymously.

Who else within the Authority has access to information sourced from the website?

STIGMA captures this information on its own computers and those of its contracted service providers. Access to the raw data is restricted to a limited number of officers in STIGMA and its contracted service providers for the purpose of site analysis and to report on the success of STIGMA in meeting its communication and access objectives.
If you would like to access information held about you by STIGMA please contact:
(Insert address and contact details)

Will this policy be updated over time?

Due to the developing nature of privacy principles and technologies 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.

The Privacy Commissioner's web-site contains detailed information on privacy obligations including a copy of the Privacy Act http://www.privacy.gov.au and the Guidelines On Privacy In The Private Health Sector http://www.privacy.gov.au/health/guidelines/index.html#1 set out the standards for collecting, storing, using and disclosing personal information.