Privacy

Greater Shepparton City Council is committed to the protection of privacy while carrying out its duties and functions.

Privacy Statement

Greater Shepparton City Council believes that the responsible handling of personal information is a key aspect of democratic governance, and is strongly committed to protecting an individual's right to privacy.

Accordingly, the Council is committed to full compliance with its obligations under the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic) ("Act"). In particular, the Council will comply with the Information Privacy Principles contained in the Act.

This Privacy Statement explains some of these principles and how they may apply to you.

Note that the website privacy statement does not apply to linked web sites, however we do not link knowingly to sites that are privacy-invasive. When you follow a link to another site, we recommend you read the privacy statement of that site to familiarise yourself with its privacy policy.

Anonymous access to our site

You can browse Greater Shepparton City Council websites anonymously, without disclosing your personal information. By registering your membership for our websites you may choose not to provide personal information and this will not affect your access to the majority of the web site. However, areas or services provided through this site that require registration may not be accessible.

Collection and use of personal data

Greater Shepparton City Council-owned websites do not collect or record personal information, other than information you choose to provide through our online forms. Any information submitted will only be retained for such time as necessary to carry out the purposes for which the information is collected or as required by law.

E-mail addresses and any other contact details you provide will not be added to a mailing list without your consent.

Services from third-party websites

Council may use the services of third-party software such as email newsletter distribution software (eg. Campaign Monitor, MailChimp), online survey software (eg. SurveyMonkey) for the collection, aggregation and analysis of some survey data, and/or appointment booking software (eg. TryBooking, Eventbrite). The information you provide is transferred to these third-party providers via a secure URL which has 128-bit/256-bit encryption and is stored in their secure data warehouse. The information collected by these systems may be transmitted and stored securely in the United States and is accessed by Council in accordance with each party's relevant Privacy Policy. By completing such an online transaction (subscribing to an eNewsletter or completing an online survey), you agree to this transfer.

You may decline to provide your personal information. If you do provide personally identifiable information, you consent to the possible storage of this information offshore (outside of Australia). This means that once you have chosen to participate in the online transaction, Council will not have an obligation to take reasonable steps to ensure that the third-party (eg. SurveyMonkey) does not breach the Greater Shepparton City Council's Privacy Statement or Victorian Privacy Laws in relation to personal information that is given to them.

Council interacts with the community via social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. Your usage of these platforms to interact with Council is also subject to this Privacy Statement, as well as the Privacy Policy of the respective platforms.

Due to the public (and potentially viral) nature of social media, you are warned not to share any personal information (such as email addresses, phone numbers, photos) that you do not wish to be publicly displayed. To protect everyone's privacy this warning applies to personal information about yourself, your friends and family as well as individual Council staff members.

Your interactions may also be removed or hidden from our social media pages at Council's discretion if they are found to be in breach of this Privacy Statement or the Terms and Conditions of the respective pages.

View Council's Social Media Guidelines

Any questions, comments, messages, discussions, images/video or other interactions with Council on social media may be captured for the purpose of record-keeping, and will be available to Council staff members with a current role requiring them to have such access. Access to this information is removed from staff who are on extended leave or no longer employed by Council.

Collection and use of site visit data

A cookie is a block of data that is shared between a web server and a user's browser. If you decide to use any services of our website that require you to create an account, our website may place a cookie on your computer. This cookie is only used to remember your login information if you check the "Remember me" box on the login form. Although this cookie may identify you as a registered use of our website, your identity will not be used for any other purpose than for which it was provided. You can find more information about cookies on sites such as Cookie Central.

The following non-personal information is automatically recorded by this site's web server for statistical and system administration purposes only:

your IP address;
the date and the time of your visit to the site;
the pages you accessed and downloaded;
your operating system;
the type of browser you are using.

To the extent that this data could make you identifiable, Greater Shepparton City Council will not attempt to identify individuals from the records the server automatically generates unless that is necessary to investigate a breach of law or regulation.

Disclosure

We will not disclose your personal information to a third party without your consent, unless we are required or authorised to do so by law or other regulation. In the event of an investigation into suspected unlawful or improper activity, a law enforcement agency or government agency may exercise its legal authority to inspect the web server's records (eg. in relation to hacking or abusive messages).

Security of your personal data

Although every effort is made with regard to security, this web site does not guarantee secure transmission of information over the Internet. You should be aware that there are risks in transmitting information across the Internet. If you are concerned about conveying sensitive material to Greater Shepparton City Council over the Internet, you might prefer to contact us by telephone or mail.

More information

Privacy Policy
Our Privacy Policy provides guidance and advice on the way in which we collect, hold, use and disclose personal and health information of individuals. The policy also details how individuals can request access to their information in addition to outlining the complaint process for any potential breaches of privacy.
Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner
The OVIC website contains information about the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic) and the standards for the way Council and government organisations must handle your personal information.