Privacy
Introduction
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's (ACCC) objective in maintaining an active and expanding internet website is to improve communication with the community at large, specifically to:
- make it possible to quickly provide information about its activities
- encourage feedback from you.
Because privacy is an important issue for many users of the internet the ACCC has formulated the following statement to reassure visitors to its websites that it understands those concerns.
Relevant legislation
Most Commonwealth government agencies and their personnel are governed by legislation of the Australian Parliament such as the Privacy Act 1988 and the Crimes Act 1914. Personnel who are mainly Australian Government public servants work at the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. In addition, some private sector consultants work at the ACCC on contracts with terms and conditions by which they agree to comply with the Information Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act in carrying out their work.
Scope
This statement applies to all users who access the GROCERYchoice website.
Accountability
The Privacy Act 1988 and the Crimes Act 1914 may provide redress mechanisms and sanctions if users of the GROCERYchoice website suffer loss or damage as a result of a breach of those Acts by the ACCC.
Users inquiring about their rights and remedies for breaches of privacy can access detailed information at the
Australian Privacy Commission website (new window).
Information collected - Clickstream data
This site is operated by the ACCC using both Australian Government and commercial web hosting facilities. When visiting this site, a record of your visit is logged. The following clickstream data is recorded and is used by the ACCC for statistical purposes:
- your server address
- your top level domain name (for example .com, .gov, .au, .uk etc)
- the type of browser you are using
- your operating system (for example Windows, Mac etc)
- the date and time of the visit to the site
- the pages accessed and the documents downloaded
- the internet address of the website from which you linked directly to our site.
When you email us
- We will record your email address.
- We will only use your email address for the purpose for which you provided it.
- Your email address will not be added to a mailing list unless you have specifically requested this.
- We will not use your email address for any other purpose.
- We will not disclose it without your consent.
When you subscribe to email alerts:
When you subscribe to email alerts you must provide an email address to which the system can send your alerts. We will not use your email address to send you unsolicited information or for any other purpose and we will not disclose it without your consent.
Other personal information collected by us, for example through the use of an online form or email, will only:
- be collected by lawful and fair means
- be used for a lawful purpose and
- be collected with your consent.
Where you choose to send us a completed electronic form that includes your personal details, we do collect personally identifiable information, such as name, address and email address.
The information collected by email or electronic forms will be used only for the purpose for which you provided it, and we will not disclose it without your consent, except where authorised or required by law.
The purpose for collection of information will be clear and explicit.
Access to information collected
You may choose to subscribe to email alerts on the GROCERYchoice site. We need your email address to send you alerts. This information is accessible by the web team that administers the GROCERYchoice website.
No attempt will be made to identify users or their browsing activities except in the unlikely event of an investigation, a law enforcement agency or other government agency may exercise its legal authority to inspect our internet web server logs.
Secure transmissions
This website does not provide facilities for the secure transmission of information across the internet. Users should be aware that there are inherent risks transmitting information across the internet.
Cookies
A cookie is a piece of data that a website can send to your browser, which may then be stored on your computer as an anonymous tag that identifies your computer but not you. The GROCERYchoice website does not use cookies.
Data storage, security, use and disclosure
Under the Privacy Act 1988, Information Privacy Principle (IPP) 4 regulates storage and security of personal information. IPPs 9, 10 and 11 regulate the use and disclosure of personal information.
The ACCC generally does not use information it collects from its website for any other purpose than to improve its website services or to respond to complaints, inquiries or feedback.
No data collected from the site will be disclosed to a third party except where it is legally required, such as in the investigation of a criminal offence, and in compliance with a search warrant or subpoena.