What’s the purpose of this policy?
Development Victoria (Development Victoria, we, our or us) is committed to the protection of your privacy. This policy tells you how we deal with your “Personal Information” – that is, any information or opinion (in any form) about you, whether true or not, from which you may be identified. It outlines the information we collect about you, how we collect, use and protect it, to whom we disclose it and how you can access and rectify it.
Our Privacy Policy is based on recognised principles and laws of information privacy protection (Privacy Laws), including those set out in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic) and the Telecommunications Act 1997 (Cth).
Please do not use our website unless you are happy with this policy. If you use it, you’ll be taken to accept the terms of this policy. We may also change this policy to reflect changes in our business or the law - so you should check it whenever you visit our site. When you use this site, you agree to any revised policy set out on it. If you wish to make any inquiries regarding this policy, you should contact our Privacy Officer on (03) 8317 3400.
What types of Personal Information do we collect?
We collect and store information you give us via forms and functionality on our site or in person, including:
1. Your name, date of birth, gender, contact / identification details, photo and answers to security questions
2. Your past and present employment role and details, in certain circumstances
3. Your preferences and needs in relation to property transactions
4. Your opinions about Development Victoria and its projects
5. Payment information (like credit card number and expiry date) used in purchasing our products and services.
Certain information may also be collected and stored when you interact with us - like your internet protocol (IP) address used to connect to the internet, connection information like browser type and version, your operating system and platform, a unique reference number linked to the data you enter on our system, login details, and your activity on our website, including pages you visit, searches / downloads you make and the date and time at which you do so. In particular, we may use cookies, web beacons and other mechanisms to monitor usage of the website to improve its content and usability.
(A cookie is a packet of information sent by a server to an Internet browser and then sent back by the browser each time it accesses the server. Cookies are used on the website to remember visitors within a session and to facilitate transaction functions. You can deactivate cookies through your browser, although doing so may interfere with the performance of the website as some of its features are only available through the use of cookies.)
Web beacons (also known as web bugs, pixel tags or clear GIFs) are transparent graphic images on a web site or email. They are typically used by a third party to monitor the activity of a site. Information collected by web beacons may include the Internet Protocol address of the computer that retrieved the image or the time the web beacon was viewed and for how long.)
How do we collect your Personal Information?
We collect Personal Information directly from you when you provide it to us via our contact and registration forms, contests, surveys or other means, either in person or via this website or for the purposes of applying for employment with us. Where it is lawful and practicable, you can also deal with us anonymously.
We may also collect information about you from third parties – including builders and developers, regulatory authorities, local bodies (like councils), financial services providers and our other service providers (such as those involved in administration of our promotions, call centre operations, provision of marketing leads or community engagement / consultation activities).
How do we store your Personal Information?
We store your Personal Information in electronic and hard-copy form. We may combine it with other information about you – including information we receive from our service providers. To ensure (to the extent possible) your security where personal data is transmitted online, this website uses SSL (Secure Socket Layer) technology.
What do we use your information for – and what if you don’t provide it to us?
We use the information that we collect about you:
1. To research the needs of our customers and potential customers;
2. To process and respond to your enquiries and requests for information about our products, services and promotions – and to resolve any problem you may have with those products, services and promotions;
3. To assist in the development of new projects and the ongoing development of communities;
4. To run and improve our website and other operations – including staff training, system maintenance and testing and management of (and facilitation of supplies to us by) our third party suppliers;
5. To facilitate your participation in applicable promotions and competitions in which you have expressed interest;
6. In connection with our provision of Fibre To The Home (FTTH) technology as a carrier – see later in this policy;
7. For our internal management and reporting purposes;
8. To assess any application you make for employment with us (and Personal Information you provide to us for this purpose will only be used for this purpose); and
9. Unless you’ve asked us not to – to contact you with other information about products, services and promotions which may be of interest to you, and conduct other marketing activities and research.
If your Personal Information is not provided, we may be unable to provide the service, product, promotion or information requested.
To whom do we disclose your information?
We may disclose your personal information to:
1. Our service providers and project partners, including development partners and consultants who assist us in relation to advertising, marketing, community engagement / consultation and technology services - but only on terms requiring them to comply with this Privacy Policy;
2. Other persons in order to give effect to legally binding agreements between you and us or if such disclosures are permitted under Part 13 of the Telecommunications Act 1997 (Cth) - for example, if you have agreed to pay for a particular item, we may give your details to the provider so that they can bill you;
3. Where we have obtained your consent, to builders included on the website.
Otherwise, we will not disclose your Personal Information, without your consent, to any other third party unless (i) necessary to prevent a serious threat to health and safety of an individual or the public, (ii) required by government, enforcement agencies, or regulatory authorities, or (iii) permitted or authorised by law. Provision of Personal Information to the parties identified in this section may involve some personal information being transferred to and held by parties outside of Australia who are not subject to the Privacy Laws (so that your information may not be protected by those laws). If that is the case, we will make sure that equivalent legal protections (enforceable by you) apply in the relevant country - or will otherwise bind those offshore parties contractually to comply with the Privacy Laws and take reasonable steps to ensure that they do so.
Our business as a FTTH provider
We will protect the confidentiality of information and documents that come into our knowledge or possession in connection with our business as a FTTH provider that relate to:
1. The contents or substance of communications carried, or intended to be carried, on our FTTH network;
2. The FTTH network supplied, or intended to be supplied, by us; and
3. The affairs or personal particulars of another person.
However, we may disclose or use the information and documents described in paragraphs 1 to 3 above where such disclosures and uses are permitted under this Privacy Policy or otherwise under Part 13 of the Telecommunications Act 1997 (Cth).
How can you access/update information Development Victoria holds about you – or opt out of direct marketing?
By emailing your request to our Privacy Officer or phoning on (03) 8317 3400, you can:
1. Opt out of receiving any direct marketing from us - and we’ll remove your name from our marketing lists, or
2. Request access to, or correction of, Personal Information that we hold about you – and we’ll comply with your request within a reasonable time, unless an exception applies under the Privacy Laws – eg, if doing so would unreasonably impact the privacy of others, would provide access to information generated through a commercially sensitive decision-making process, would prejudice negotiations involving us, would pose a threat to individual or public health and safety, or would otherwise be unlawful. If such an exception applies, we’ll notify you of our reasons for withholding your information and advise how you can complain about that.
We may charge you reasonable costs of providing you with access to your Personal Information we hold – but will not charge you for making the request or to correct/update your Personal Information. If we no longer need to hold that information, we’ll remove it from our system and take reasonable steps to destroy all record of it.
Your right to register a privacy complaint
If you feel that your privacy has not been respected or that we have conducted ourselves inconsistently with this Privacy Policy, you may complain to us via email by contacting us. We will investigate your complaint within 21 days and respond to your complaint within 30 days.
Disclaimer
This Privacy Policy is subject to the Privacy Laws. To the extent it provides greater privacy protection than required by law, we will use our reasonable efforts to deliver that greater protection but will not be liable for any failure to do so. Our website also contains links to other websites that we don’t own or operate. This policy applies only to data collected by us or through our website. We’re not responsible for privacy practices of any other website operators.
Further privacy information
For more information about privacy issues in Victoria / federally and protecting your privacy, visit the Office of the Victorian Privacy Commissioner website and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
Updated April 2017