Privacy

This Privacy Policy applies to all the publicly accessible pages administered by HealthShare NSW. HealthShare NSW does not have any responsibility for the privacy policies or practices of third party sites linked to from our pages.

The Privacy Officer 
c/o - HealthShare NSW 
Locked Bag 2030 
St Leonards NSW 1590

Phone: 0436 922 192

Email: HSNSW-privacy@health.nsw.gov.au

Users of the HealthShare NSW site are entitled to expect that any information as a result of that use will be treated within the terms of the New South Wales government's privacy responsibilities and obligations. The New South Wales government's privacy practices are regulated by the New South Wales Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1988.

What information do we collect?

When you look at the pages on the HealthShare NSW site, our computers automatically record information that identifies, for each page accessed:

• the IP (Internet Protocol) address of the machine which has accessed it
• your top-level domain name (for example .com, .gov, .edu, .au, .uk etc.)
• the address of your server
• the date and time of your visit to the site
• the pages accessed and documents downloaded
• the previous site visited, and
• the type of browser and operating system you have used.

The HealthShare NSW site use sessional cookies to collect information. This information is unable to be retained once the user session has ceased.

How do we use the information collected?

The information collected during each visit is aggregated with similar logged information and published in reports in order for HealthShare NSW to identify patterns of usage. This will assist us in improving the HealthShare NSW site and the services it provides.

HealthShare NSW will not disclose or publish information that identifies individual machines, or potentially identifies sub-groupings of addresses, without consent or otherwise in accordance with the New South Wales Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1988.

Who do we share your information with?

HealthShare NSW (HSNSW) may share personal information including health information with a range of third-party organisations. For more details see the NSW Health Privacy Management Planopen_in_new. As an example, with the consent of the individual, HSNSW may need to share information with IDMatchopen_in_new to verify their identity. For more information on Document Verification Service (DVS) visit the Australia Government IDMatch websiteopen_in_new.

What exceptions are there to this rule?

HealthShare NSW will collect, use and disclose more extensive information than stated above in the following circumstances:

• unauthorised attempts to access files which are not published HealthShare NSW pages
• unauthorised tampering or interference with files published on HealthShare NSW site
• unauthorised attempts to index the contents of the HealthShare NSW site by other sites
• attempts to intercept messages of other users of the HealthShare NSW site
• communications which are defamatory, abusive, vilify individuals or groups or which give rise to a suspicion that an offence is being committed, and
• attempts to otherwise compromise the security of the web server, breach the laws of the State of New South Wales or Commonwealth of Australia, or interfere with the use of the HealthShare NSW site by other users.

HealthShare NSW reserves the right to make disclosures to relevant authorities where the use of the HealthShare NSW site raises a suspicion that an offence is being, or has been, committed. In the event of an investigation, HealthShare NSW will provide access to data to any law enforcement agency that may exercise a warrant to inspect our logs.

Is the information stored securely?

Yes. Information collected is stored in an appropriately secure format and held by HealthShare NSW for archival purposes. When the information is no longer required for the purposes for which it was collected it is deleted.

Who has access to this information?

HealthShare NSW captures this information on its own computers and through the use of third-party analytical software such as Google Analytics. Access to the raw data is restricted to a limited number of officers in HealthShare NSW for the purpose of analysis and to report on the success of HealthShare NSW in meeting communication and access objectives. The officers who can access this data are members of HealthShare NSW and the Communications and Corporate Governance branch of HealthShare NSW.

Will this policy be updated over time?

Due to the developing nature of privacy principles for online communication, this policy may be modified or expanded in light of new developments or issues that may arise from time to time. The amended policy will be posted to this site and will operate from the time it is posted.

Privacy of patient information

HealthShare NSW is committed to safeguarding the privacy of patient information, and has implemented measures to comply with its obligations under the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002.

If you have a general privacy enquiry or complaint regarding NSW Health, please contact:

The Privacy Officer
Legal Branch
NSW Ministry of Health
Locked Mail Bag 961
North Sydney NSW 2059

Phone: (02) 9391 9606
Fax: (02) 9391 9604
Email: privacy@doh.health.nsw.gov.au.