Privacy Policy

Welcome to WESNET's Privacy Policy

1.     Hi, we’re WESNET (the Women’s Services Network) Inc (ABN 16 068 548 631) (“we”, “us” and “our”) and welcome to our privacy policy. This policy sets out how we handle personal information and applies across all of WESNET’s websites, online presences, training and activities, including WESNET, The Australian Women Against Violence Alliance, SafetyNet Project, Technology Safety and other conference websites (“the Sites”).

2.     WESNET recognises the importance of protecting the privacy and the rights of individuals in relation to their personal information will endeavour to handle your personal information in accordance with our privacy policy and the Australian Privacy Principles.

What type of personal information do we collect?

3.     We collect certain personal information about visitors and users of our Sites. The most common types of information we collect are things like: user names, member names, email addresses, other contact details, online forms, payment information such as payment agent details, transactional details, support queries, forum comments and web analytics data. We may also collect personal information from job applications and this information may be used to assess an applicant’s suitability for employment. Information or an opinion is your “personal information” if it is about you as an identified or identifiable individual. We also collect de-identified information about recipients of SafeConnection Smartphones

How we collect personal information

4.     We may collect personal information directly when you provide it to us, automatically as you navigate through the Sites or through other people when you use services associated with the Sites.

5.     When you provide personal information to us via the Sites you’re consenting to us collecting and using that information in line with this policy and the user terms of each of the Sites. You are likely to provide personal information when you complete membership registration and buy or provide items or services on our Sites, subscribe to a newsletter, email list, submit feedback, fill out a survey, or send us a communication.

6.     If you choose not to provide personal information, we may not be able to provide you with our services and you may not be able to carry out transactions or access the full range of features available through our Sites.

Personal information we collect about you from others

7.     Although we generally collect personal information directly from you, we may on occasion also collect information about you from other people (such as the payment provider account details required to process a transaction) and by using tracking technologies such as cookies, web beacons and other web analytics software or services.

How do we use personal information?

8.     We may use your personal information in order for us to:

    communicate with you in relation to our operations, activities and objectives.
    verify your identity when accessing our services, membership or registered user areas.
    improve and evaluate our programs and services and to comply with relevant laws.
    provide you with information, advice or referral to support services.
    gather case studies and other information that contributes to policy development, advocacy and practice improvements that seek to eliminate violence against women or to evaluate our training or programs.
    monitor activity on the Sites, like to identify potential fraudulent activity and to ensure compliance with the user terms that apply to the Sites.
    train WESNET staff or Contractors about how to best serve our community.
    provide general administrative and performance functions and activities.

    Using a pseudonym or engaging with us anonymously

    9.     We seek de-identified information about women who receive smartphones or other services through the Telstra Safe Connections program.

    10.  Where practicable, we will give the opportunity for you to engage with us an anonymous basis, or using a pseudonym.  Where we create a user registration or membership we may let you use a pseudonym, but we will need to ensure we can identify you before we do this for the protection of other users and members.

    When may we disclose your personal information?

    11.  We may disclose personal information to people like:

    subcontractors and service providers who assist us in connection with the ways we may use personal information (as set out above),
    our professional advisers (lawyers, accountants, financial advisers etc)
    ,
    regulators and government authorities in connection with our compliance procedures and obligations
    ,
    other people where we are authorised or required by law to do so.

    12.  Our policy is not to disclose personal information to any overseas recipients, but we are unable to vouch for third party platforms, applications or links that we use on this website.  While we make every endeavour to keep our website and the applications we use safe, no website is completely safe from hacking.

    How do we store your personal information?

    13.  We store personal information on secure servers that are managed by us and our service providers, and occasionally hard copy files that are kept in a secure location. Personal information that we store is subject to security and access controls, including username and password authentication and data encryption where appropriate.

    How can you access your personal information?

    14.  If you have a membership or registered user login on our site, you can access some of the information that we collect about you by logging in to your account. You also have the right to make a request to access other information we hold about you and to request corrections of any errors in that information. You may also close the account you have with us for any of our Sites at any time. To make an access or correction request, please contact us using the contact details at the end of this policy.

    Choices regarding control of your personal information

    15.  Where we have your consent to do so (e.g. if you have subscribed to one of our e-mail lists or have otherwise indicated that you are interested in receiving offers or information from us), we may send you communications about products, events and services that we feel may be of interest to you. You can ‘opt-out’ of such communications if you would prefer not to receive them in the future.

    16.  If we send e-mails through email responders or listserves we will generally include an “unsubscribe” facility that you can use to opt-out of further communications – to opt-out, just follow the instructions in the e-mail.

    17.  You also have choices about cookies, as described below. By modifying your browser preferences, you have the choice to accept all cookies, to be notified when a cookie is set, or to reject all cookies. If you choose to reject cookies some parts of our Sites may not work properly in your case.

    Web analytics

    18.  When you visit our Sites, there’s certain information that’s recorded which is generally anonymous information and may not reveal your true super-hero identity. The fancy term for this is ‘web analytics information’, and we only use this information for statistical and website development purposes and to improve our services to you. If you’re logged into your account some of this information could be associated with your account. We’re talking about the following kinds of details:

      your IP or proxy server IP
      basic domain information
      your Internet service provider is sometimes captured depending on the configuration of your ISP connection.
      the date and time of your visit to the website
      .
      the length of your session.
      the pages which you have accessed.
      the number of times you access our site within any month.
      the size of file you look at.
      the website which referred you to our Sites.
      the operating system which your computer uses.

      Information about children

      19.  Our Sites are not suitable for children under the age of 13 years, so if you are under 13 we ask that you do not use our Sites or give us your personal information (if you are a young tech wiz, please direct your nearest responsible adult to use the Sites for you!). If you are from 13 to 18 years, you can browse the Sites but will need the supervision of a parent or guardian to become a registered user. It is the responsibility of parents or guardians to monitor their children’s use of our Sites.

      Information you make public or give to others

      20.  If you make your personal information available to other people, we can’t control or accept responsibility for the way they will use or manage that information. There are lots of ways that you may find yourself providing information to other people, like when you post a public message on a forum thread, share information via social media, or make contact with another user via our Sites. Before making your information publicly available or giving your information to anyone else, think carefully. If giving information to another user via our Sites, ask them how they will handle your information. If you’re sharing information via another website, check the privacy policy for that site to understand its information management practices as this privacy policy will not apply.

      When we need to update this policy

      21.  We may need to change this policy from time to time in order to make sure it stays up to date with the latest legal requirements and any changes to our privacy management practices. When we do amend the policy, the changes will be effective straight away. We’ll usually publish information about changes to be made to this policy on our Sites – but please be aware that it is your responsibility to check in and make sure you keep up to date with any changes to this policy.

      How can you contact us?

      22.  If you have any questions about our privacy practices, please contact the National Secretariat in writing at GPO Box 1579 Canberra City ACT 2601 Australia or contact us on 1800 WESNET.

      23.  If you have any concerns about how we have been managing your personal information, or if you think we have not been complying with Australian privacy law, you can make a complaint in writing to our National Secretariat. We will consider your complaint and contact you to resolve the matter.

      WESNET Privacy Policy v1.1, effective date 9 December 2016