Information collection and privacy protection
General privacy statement
The NSW Ambulance website is maintained by NSW Ambulance. This Privacy Policy applies to all the publicly accessible pages on the NSW Ambulance site located at http://www.ambulance.nsw.gov.au/. If you have any questions about the NSW Ambulance site, or the application of this Privacy Policy or a request for access to information held please contact:
The Privacy Contact Officer
Legal Services
Ambulance-privacycontactofficer@health.nsw.gov.au
Users of the NSW Ambulance 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 Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (PPIP Act).
What information do we collect?
When you look at the pages on the NSW Ambulance 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.
Only sessional cookies are used from the NSW Ambulance site to collect information. This information is unable to be retained once the user session has ceased.
Our websites use Google Analytics, a service that transmits website traffic data to Google servers in the United States. Google Analytics does not identify individual users or associate individual IP addresses with any other data held by Google. We use reports provided by Google Analytics to help us understand website traffic and webpage usage. For more information about this, see Google's Privacy Policy. You can opt out of Google Analytics if you disable or refuse the cookie, disable JavaScript, or use the opt-out service provided by Google.
How do we use the information collected?
The information collected during each visit is aggregated with similar logged information and collated for analysis so we can identify patterns of usage of our websites. This helps us improve the site and the services offered on it. We will not disclose or publish information that identifies individual machines, or potentially identifies sub-groupings of addresses, without consent unless authorised or required by law or otherwise in accordance with the New South Wales PPIP Act.
Social media
Our websites contain links to social networking services Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Social media communications are in the public domain. We will not ask you for personal information through social media. If we need personal information to answer your question or help you, we will ask you to use a more private and secure channel, such as sending us an enquiry via our feedback/complaints form or by telephoning us.
When you communicate with us using these services we may collect your personal information to help us communicate with you and the public. We may also use the social networking services to invite you to participate in surveys and to attend our events or services.
We use and manage information collected from social media services in line with the State Records - Strategies for managing social media records. This includes capturing information and making records of some social media activities, which will be managed and kept for appropriate periods of time.
This privacy statement does not extend to how information is collected, used and disclosed by social network websites. These websites have their own privacy policies and we encourage you to read them.
What exceptions are there to this rule?
NSW Ambulance will collect, use and disclose more extensive information than stated above in the following circumstances:
- unauthorised attempts to access files which are not published NSW Ambulance pages
- unauthorised tampering or interference with files published on the NSW Ambulance site
- unauthorised attempts to index the contents of the NSW Ambulance site by other sites
- attempts to intercept messages of other users of the NSW Ambulance 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 enjoyment of the NSW Ambulance site by other users.
NSW Ambulance is authorised by the PPIP Act to make disclosures to relevant authorities where the use of the NSW Ambulance site raises reasonable grounds to believe that an offence is being, or has been, committed. In the event of an investigation, NSW Ambulance will provide access to data to any law enforcement agency in response to a warrant, subpoena or other statutory instrument.
Is the information stored securely?
Yes. Information collected is stored in an appropriately secure format and held by NSW Ambulance for archival purposes. When the information is no longer required for the purposes for which it was collected it is deleted.
Your email address – contact form
NSW Ambulance will record your email address if you send a message by email or use our online contact form. Your email address provided via the form will be used to respond to specific user queries. Your email address will not be added to any mailing lists without your consent. We will not use or disclose your email address for any other purpose, without your prior written consent or unless lawfully required or authorised.
Links to external websites
This site contains links to other sites. Our website privacy statement does not extend beyond our websites. When following links to third party sites, we recommend you read the privacy statement of that site to familiarise yourself with its privacy practices.
NSW Ambulance is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such websites. Please refer to our disclaimer for additional information.
Security of Information
While we take all reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification and disclosure there are inherent risks associated with the transmission of information via the internet. Please refer to our disclaimer for further information.
For those who do not wish to use the internet, we provide alternative ways of obtaining and providing information. We will remove personal information from our system where it is no longer required, except where archiving is required and in order to fulfil our obligations under the PPIP Act.
Will this policy be updated over time?
Due to the developing nature of online communication, this policy may be modified 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
NSW Health 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.
More information regarding the privacy of patient information can be found in the Respecting the privacy of your personal information (PDF, 62.34 KB) document.
If you have a general privacy enquiry or complaint regarding NSW Ambulance, please contact:
The Privacy Contact Officer
Legal Services
NSW Ambulance