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ABC Privacy Policy

Policy Statement

The ABC (“we”, “us”, “our”) is committed to protecting your privacy when you interact with us, our content, products, or services.  We are bound by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

Purpose of this Policy

This policy explains our personal information handling practices. It describes how we may collect, use, and disclose information about you or your use of our content, products, or services.  This policy is for the benefit of members of the Australian community who use our products, services or ABC Shop Online.

ABC Program Material is not subject to the Privacy Act; it is governed by the ABC Code of Practice and ABC Editorial Policies.

If we make changes to this policy, we will post those changes on the privacy page of the ABC’s website.  You can find the date of the most recent review at the end of this document.

1. Collection of Personal Information

1.1 How we collect personal information

The main circumstances in which the ABC collects personal information about you are:

(a) when you provide it to us

If you register as a user of ABC digital services, you will provide information to us as part of your registration.  You may also give us information when you buy from ABC Shop Online, enter competitions or otherwise participate in ABC functions or activities. For information about our collection and retention of payment information see below.

(b) when someone else provides it to us on your behalf

Sometimes someone else such as a carer (including a parent) or friend might provide us with information about you so that we can provide you with products or services.  Other times we may collect personal information about you from publicly available sources.

For more information about our practices in relation to children, see below.

(c) when we collect it in relation to your use of digital services

We also collect information about your use of our digital services including our websites and apps. This is mainly to improve your experience and our digital services. The ABC uses technologies like cookies, web beacons and local storage as part of its digital services.  When you use our websites, mobile sites, mobile applications, or applications on any other devices such as Apple TV, Chromecast or PlayStation, these technologies may be used to make our digital services easier to use and more relevant including by customising your user experience. For further information about these technologies and our practices, see here.

If you are a registered ABC online user, we may link the information collected about you to your account.    

If you are not a registered ABC online user, then we will track this information by reference to digital information such as an IP address and will not seek to identify you.

If we do not collect information about you or your use of our digital services, we may not be able to provide you with certain digital services, or we may not be able to tailor or enhance your viewing or listening experience of our digital services.

1.2 Purposes for which we collect, use, and disclose personal information

ABC Audiences and Customers

The purposes for which we collect, use and disclose personal information include:

  • to provide our products and services to you (including physical delivery);
  • to improve our products and services, including conducting surveys;
  • to tailor and enhance your viewing or listening experience;
  • to manage our relationship with you, including:

(a) communicating with you about our products or services, including providing information about products or services which we consider may be of interest to you;

(b) billing you for any products or services that we charge for such as ABC Shops;

(c) investigating any complaints made by or about you;

(d) managing any request by you to return or exchange a product at a later date; and

(e) to otherwise offer you assistance, including, by providing technical support;

  • to conduct competitions or promotions on behalf of the ABC or industry third parties we have entered into agreements with;
  • for statistical and research purposes;
  • to obtain professional services as required including legal, accounting or insurance services;
  • if permitted or required by law;
  • otherwise with your consent; or
  • for purposes directly related to any one or more of the above.

We will not send you unsolicited direct marketing emails, without your prior consent, unless we are permitted to do so by law. We will always give you the option to opt out of further communications.  We may send you electronic communications for account administration purposes for so long as you are a registered user or customer of the ABC.

1.3 Disclosure of personal information

We may disclose your personal information that we collect to our:

  • technology service providers, including, internet service providers, app service providers, cloud hosting service providers, software suppliers, and maintenance and support service providers and security services on a confidential basis so that they can provide services to us;
  • ABC Shop Online fulfilment partners such as Australia Post, product distributors, third party suppliers, third party vendors, gift card suppliers and loyalty program suppliers;
  • marketing, promotions and ratings service providers;
  • analytics service providers including Facebook and Google Analytics (for more information, you can read the Google Analytics Terms of Service here); and
  • subscription service providers and their mailing houses.

These third parties may be located in Australia or outside Australia, including but not limited to New Zealand, Singapore, the UK, the Netherlands, Ireland, Israel, India, and the USA.

The ABC has a statutory obligation to take contractual measures to ensure that its contracted service providers do not do an act or engage in a practice that would breach an Australian Privacy Principle if done or engaged in by the ABC.

The ABC will not sell or receive payment for licensing or disclosing your personal information.

The ABC may include links to third party content on its website and in other electronic communications.  The ABC does not have any control over the privacy practices of those third parties.  Please check the website of each relevant third party for details of their privacy policies.  The ABC does not control who links to the ABC’s site.

1.4 Options to enter into additional privacy terms

We will sometimes give you an option to use products or services which are provided in conjunction with other entities such as social media networks.  If we do this, you will be given privacy information before being asked to consent to the terms and conditions of that service.  You should read the privacy policy and terms and conditions of each service very carefully before deciding whether to accept them.  You should also be careful to ensure that you only post information online if you are happy for it to be and to remain publicly available.

2. Seeking access to, and updating, information we hold about you

You have the right to request access to personal information that is held by the ABC about you. Requests for access will be dealt with by the ABC in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) or Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

You also have the right to request the correction of any of your personal information that the ABC holds. The ABC will take reasonable steps to make appropriate corrections to personal information so that it is accurate, complete and up-to-date. To seek access to, or correction of, your personal information please contact the ABC Privacy Officer, whose details are below.

Personal information that you have provided to ABC Shop Online (such as your name, invoice and delivery addresses, phone number, or email address) is accessible by you by registering with ABC Shop Online. If you register with ABC Shop Online you will need to retain a username and password. The ABC recommends that you update your personal information if your details change so that our records are accurate, complete and up-to-date.

3. Making a complaint

The ABC welcomes feedback about privacy issues and will attend to all questions and complaints promptly. Please contact our Privacy Officer using the details below if you would like to make a complaint.  If the ABC takes more than 30 days to respond to your privacy complaint, or if you are dissatisfied with the outcome, you can make a complaint to the Privacy Commissioner at the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. The OAIC can be contacted on 1300 363 992 or at www.oaic.gov.au

4. Privacy contact officer contact details

If you wish to contact our privacy officer, please use the following contact details:

By email:      privacy.abc@abc.net.au

By mail:        ABC Privacy Officer

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

GPO Box 9994

Your State or Territory

Related documents

This policy should be read in conjunction with the following related documents:

Questions?

If you have any questions about this policy, please contact the ABC Privacy Officer, privacy.abc@abc.net.au

September 2018

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