Australian Museum Web Privacy Statement
- Collection of information
- Cookies
- Disclosure
- External links
- Interacting with amonline
- Access and correction
- E-commerce
- Security
- Privacy concerns
The Australian Museum is strongly committed to protecting your privacy while interacting with our websites.
The Australian Museum is subject to the NSW Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act (1998). The Museum's Privacy Policy and Management Plan outline how the Museum complies with the Act and the standards outlined in the Act's Information Protection Principles.
The following Web Privacy Statement sets out how the Australian Museum will deal with personal information related to the content and use of its websites.
Collection of information
1) Automatic logging of information
IP addresses are used to administer the website and to diagnose problems. An IP (Internet Protocol address) is the address of a computer. We use it to track your session, with the information used for statistical purposes eg. numbers and frequency of visitors to the website.
When you visit our website to read pages or download information, the following information is automatically collected - the user's server address, the user's top level domain name (eg .com, .gov, .au etc), the date and time of the visit to the site, the pages accessed and documents downloaded, the previous referring site visited and the type of browser used. No attempt will be made to identify users or their browsing activities except in the unlikely event of an investigation, where a law enforcement agency may exercise a warrant to inspect the Internet Service Provider's logs.
This site visit data is anonymous information, aggregated for analysis, with identifiable characteristics removed: this aggregate data may be provided to other people. Recording usage patterns helps us to identify popular areas of our site, and helps us work to improve and develop the site.
For security reasons, we use software programs to monitor network traffic and identify unauthorised attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. It is a criminal offence to interfere with computers or data.
2) Collection of personal information
The Australian Museum collects personal information (name, email address or postal address) when you provide it to receive specific Museum services. This information is stored in secure Museum databases. The information will be used only for its intended purpose, or directly related purpose, as stated on the pages or forms where you submit it, and will not be added to a mailing list, unless this is the purpose for which you have provided the information. The information you provide will not be used for any other purpose without your consent.
Certain personal information may be required eg name, email address, billing address, credit card number, to provide a service or product to you. This information may also be used to inform you of additional related products and services which may interest you. You can choose not to receive such information. We may ask about your interests but it is your choice as to whether you respond or not.
If you tag 'please add my name' to say you would like to receive information on the Museum or ones of its programs or activities, your personal information will be added to the appropriate mailing list.
Cookies
Cookies are small files that a website can store on a user's computer and are used for keeping the "state of a user session" i.e. remembering who you are from a page requesting information to supplying it. The cookies that are used by the Australian Museum websites do not collect any personal information and we do not combine information collected through cookies with other personal information to tell us who you are.
We use cookies to measure certain visitor patterns, including areas of the website you have visited. This research is used to help us understand user habits, so the website can be improved.
If you prefer not to receive cookies, you can adjust your Internet browser to refuse cookies or to warn you when cookies are being used. Refusal will make some parts of our websites inaccessible, unusable, or behave strangely.
Disclosure
The Museum may be required on occasion to disclose your personal information to third parties eg if required by law or to provide the service you requested. For example, in purchasing products online, the Museum will need to disclose personal information to third parties in order to bill and deliver your products. Other than these occasions, we will not disclose your personal information for any other purpose unless you have authorised us to do so.
Under no circumstances will the Australian Museum sell or receive payment for licensing or disclosing your personal information.
Names and email addresses of Museum staff appearing on this website are provided with their knowledge and assent.
External links
This site contains links to other sites. The Australian Museum is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such web sites.
Interacting with amonline - Public Forums, Listservs etc
There are interactive features on some of the Museum's websites eg forums, mailing lists, emails. Online forms and forums record information on clearly labelled fields. The information you provide will be solely used for the purposes stated on the page/form.
This information becomes available to anyone with access to the Internet. Any information that is disclosed in these areas becomes public information and you should exercise caution when deciding to disclose your personal information. Online information is accessible to millions of users all over the world, may be indexed by search engines and copied and used. Once published on our websites, the Museum has no control over its subsequent use and disclosure. If you post personal information online, you may receive unsolicited messages from other parties in return. Please do not post any information that you do not want seen in these public areas.
The Australian Museum monitors content regularly but if you encounter any message which you consider offensive or in breach of our conditions, please alert us immediately.
Access and correction
The personal information you provide is accessed only by authorised persons.
The Australian Museum will take reasonable steps to ensure your personal information is accurate, complete and up to date. Should you wish to access or amend this information, please contact the Privacy Contact Officer - contact details below. Link to the Museum's Privacy Management Plan for details on how access to personal information is provided.
If you wish to opt out of receiving any communications or be removed from any databases, please contact the contact person identified on the relevant feature page, or the Privacy Contact Officer.
E-commerce
The Australian Museum uses 128 bit encryption in areas where payment is required (e.g. purchasing from the Australian Museum Shop, Scientific Publications and The Australian Museum Society).
If you do not wish to place your order on the Internet, the option of faxing or mailing your order is offered.
Your details and order information will only be used to fulfil your order and to advise on the status of your order.
Security
This site has security measures in place to protect against loss, misuse and alteration of information under our control. However no data or email transmission over the Internet is 100% secure. We do our best to ensure the security of our site.
Credit card information is among the most sensitive data collected. The Museum uses 40 bit encryption to minimise the risk of unauthorised use of such information (a 128 bit browser may indicate a 128 bit certificate instead of 40 bit). Credit card information is never recorded on the web server or elsewhere in the Museum. All online credit card transactions are conducted in real time through eMatters and St George Bank. The only information recorded by us include the first and last 4 digits of your credit card number and a transaction confirmation number, which you see in the confirmation screen and email.
If you do not wish to use the Internet, the Australian Museum can be contacted by telephone, fax or mail - 6 College Street, SYDNEY NSW 2010 - tel: 02- 9320 6000 fax: 02 - 9320 6050
Privacy concerns
If you have any questions about this privacy statement, please contact the Web Manager: or the Museum's Privacy Officer or tel: 02 9320 6185. Further information on NSW privacy law can be found at Privacy NSW's website at www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/pc