The Department of Environment and Climate Change NSW (DECC) Privacy Policy also applies to this website. For more information, visit the Department of Environment and Climate Change NSW website.
Your rights to privacy
DECC must comply with the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW), which regulates the collection, storage, quality, use and disclosure of personal information. For details see DECC and your privacy. Information that in some way identifies you may be gathered when you use our website or send us an email.
Collection of information
Information collected from web browsing
When you view the DECC website, we collect the following information:
- your IP (internet protocol) address or host name eg. 123.123.123.12 or xxx.yyy.com.au
- the date and time you visited the website
- the pages or documents you attempted to view or download, and whether those pages or documents were displayed
- the web browser and operating system you are using
- the previous site you visited, if you reached our website by clicking on a link
- whether you have previously visited our website (only if you accept cookies).
Information collected from online forms
When you submit a form on the DECC website (see Feedback) we collect information from it. This information may include personal and organisational details such as your full name, phone number, business name and ACN details, email address and street address.
Clicking on the 'submit' button on the form acts as your consent for DECC to collect the information you have provided. Before you submit this information we will take reasonable steps to inform you of:
- where applicable, any law that requires the particular information to be collected
- which fields are mandatory and which are optional.
Information collected from email
If you send us an email, we will record your email address for the purpose of responding to you.
Use and disclosure of information collected
Information collected from web browsing is used to identify patterns of usage of the DECC website. This will assist DECC to improve its website and the electronic services offered on it.
Information collected from forms and email will only be used for the purpose for which you have provided it. We will not use it for any other purpose, nor will we disclose it, unless with your consent or in other circumstances where such use or disclosure is permitted under the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998. For example, we may provide the information you have submitted to another public authority in the course of administering environment protection legislation.
Your personal information (including your email address) will not be automatically added to a mailing list, or sold or otherwise transferred to a third party for commercial purposes.
Freedom of information
The Freedom of Information Act 1989 confers on the public a right to obtain access to documents held by a government agency. Documents covered by the Act include electronic documents like transactions through the web. Where information that affects your business or personal information is sought by a third party under the Freedom of Information Act, we will seek your views before making any decision about releasing the document. See also Obtaining information from DECC.
Storage of personal information
- Access - under the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 you have the right to access personal information the DECC holds about you, such as your address and phone number(s).
- Accuracy - we are committed to ensuring that the information we hold is accurate, complete and up to date, so we encourage you to advise us if the information you have given us has changed. If you believe our information is inaccurate, please contact us and we will correct the information.
- Retention - we will retain the information you have provided for a period that is appropriate for the purpose for which it was provided. Your information will be archived and disposed of in accordance with DECC policies, legislative requirements and guidelines based on the NSW State Records Act 1998.
We take reasonable steps to protect information during transfer and storage. Physical measures, such as building and equipment security, are used in conjunction with digital technology, such as data encryption and firewalls, to minimise unauthorised access to information.