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Application of this Privacy Statement

This privacy statement applies only to the Victoria Online website and not to any websites to which Victoria Online provides a link.

Use and Disclosure of Personal Information

Victoria Online only requests you to provide personal information for the purposes of responding to your feedback. The purpose for collecting personal information is to provide feedback and answer queries that you have in respect of a particular site or the information you are trying to obtain and Victoria Online will only use and/or disclose the information for these purposes. It is possible to provide feedback without providing your personal information although if you do this, we are unable to respond to you about your feedback or your query.

Personal information that is collected by Victoria Online will be used by and disclosed to Victorian Government employees or contractors whose duties require them to use it. Such employees and contractors are required to protect and handle your personal information in accordance with the Information Privacy Act 2000 (Vic).

Access to and Correction of Personal Information

You may request access to any personal information that Victoria Online may have collected about you. Also, you may request correction of your personal information if you can establish that it is not accurate, complete or up-to-date.

The Manager, eServices may be contacted about access to, and correction of, personal information collected by Victoria Online or for any questions or concerns you may have arising out of this privacy statement,

by email at:

infovic@dbi.vic.gov.au

by post at:

Manager Online Strategy
Information Victoria
Department of Business and Innovation
GPO Box 4509
Melbourne Vic 3001

The Privacy Officer for the Department of Business and Innovation may also be contacted about access to, and correction of, personal information collected by Victoria Online or for any questions or concerns you may have arising out of this privacy statement:

by email at:

privacy@diird.vic.gov.au

by telephone on:

03 9651 9749 (between 9.00 am and 5.00 pm on weekdays except public holidays in Melbourne)

by post at:

The DBI Privacy Officer
Department of Business and Innovation
Level 31, 121 Exhibition Street
Melbourne Vic 3001

Collection of Personal Information

It is intended that Victoria Online can be used anonymously.

However, for some functions of Victoria Online the collection of personal information is necessary or unavoidable.

You will know if Victoria Online is collecting personal information from you because you will be requested to provide it. There are two exceptions to this.

The first exception is where someone else provides Victoria Online with your personal information. Victoria Online cannot prevent this. However, you are entitled to access and correct any personal information about you collected by Victoria Online.

The second exception is where Victoria Online collects statistics using software techniques such as web server log file analysis, clickstream data, cookies and web beacons. For an explanation of these techniques, and how they are used on Victoria Online, see Web measurement services used by Victoria Online below. Such statistics may qualify as personal information under the Information Privacy Act 2000 (Vic). However, these statistics are not used to identify individual users of Victoria Online.

Internet Use Risk

You should be aware that there are risks in transmitting information across the Internet. However, Victoria Online takes reasonable steps to protect any personal information from unauthorised access once that personal information comes into its possession.

Linking

This website contains hyperlinks to pages contained on external government and non-government websites (third party websites). Unless otherwise indicated, Victoria Online:

• does not endorse or authorise the content of any third party website;
• is not affiliated or associated with the owner or operator of any third party website; and
• assumes no responsibility or liability for the condition or content of any third party website or for the operation or function of any service or facility offered on any third party website.

Website personalisation features of Victoria Online

Use of Cookies

A cookie is a block of data that is shared between a web server and a user's browser.

Victoria Online uses first party cookies to enable users to personalise their use of the website's weather information. A first party cookie is that which is created by the website you are currently visiting - in this case Victoria Online. If you do not allow cookies to be used within your browser, then you will not be able to take advantage of the weather personalisation features offered by this website.

In using these cookies Victoria Online does not retrieve or record any personal information. For example, we do not use cookies to collect names or email addresses.

Web Server Log Files

Victoria Online uses standard web analytics software packages to analyse its web server log files to track web site usage. This analysis provides general data including number of visits, unique visits, pages viewed, browser type, how the site is navigated, search terms used, the sections of the website visited and other website usage information without identifying individual users.

Web measurement services used by Victoria Online

Victoria Online currently uses two web measurement service providers. They are Google Analytics and Omniture SiteCatalyst.

Google Analytics - Use of Cookies

Google Analytics uses a first-party cookie and JavaScript code to collect information about visitors to Victoria Online. Google Analytics anonymously tracks how our visitors interact with this website, including where they came from, what they did on the site, and whether they completed any transactions on the site such as newsletter registration.

Omniture SiteCatalyst - Use of Cookies

Omniture SiteCatalyst uses first party cookies both to differentiate requests from different web browsers and to store helpful information that can be used by the application at a later time. In particular SiteCatalyst uses cookies to anonymously define new visitors, help analyze clickstream data within the website, and track historical activity on the web site for responses to particular campaigns such as the site's RSS news feed usage.

SiteCatalyst cookies contain no personally identifiable information. All cookie data is completely anonymous and is used to distinguish one web browser from another.

The SiteCatalyst cookies belong to the Victoria Online web site.

Effective Measure

Victoria Online is currently testing the Effective Measure demographic profiling tool. Effective Measure is an independent measurement and research company which gathers data regarding visitors to our website using browser cookies and code which is embedded on our web pages.

We use this type of information to help improve the services we provide to our visitors and gather anonymous feedback via a website survey. If you would like more information about the cookies used by Effective Measure and how to Opt Out of this process, please visit Effective Measure's privacy policy.

Data Collection

While the anonymous statistical data Victoria Online collects may be aggregated and used in broader statistical analysis by the State of Victoria, at no time can we personally identify you as the source of that data.

Contacts & Services Directory

The Contacts & Services Directory aims to assist citizens to find relevant services, websites or contacts within the Victorian Government.

To ensure privacy is being managed effectively and to report any possible breaches there are several feedback loops in place. On the Contacts & Services directory website there is a link to a feedback form for the general public to alert Victoria Online to errors or omissions in data for resolution or referral. The Information Victoria Call Centre phone number is displayed to allow for verbal feedback.