Revised September 2022
This statement explains Valley FM policy regarding the personal information we store about you. This policy complies with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) as defined in the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012, which amends the Privacy Act 1988.
Introduction
We value all our supporters and people that use our broadcast and digital services and take seriously the privacy of any personal information that we may collect from you, or that you may disclose to us, as part of your interaction with those services.
It is important that you take some time to understand the policy. We have to assume that if you use our services, you agree with its principles.
This policy defines:
- the purposes of collecting and holding personal information
- the types of personal information we collect and the ways we do it
- how you can enquire and access your personal information, request corrections or complain if you believe we may have breached the APPs
- if we disclose your personal data, in particular to overseas recipients.
We are committed to ensuring the privacy of your personal information. We may need to update this policy at any time and recommend that you review our policy periodically. If we make a change, we will publish the amended policy (including the date it became effective) on this website, and we will notify users through our social media services. We assume that if you use any of Valley FM digital services, you agree to this policy.
Why we collect your personal information
We collect your personal data because you:
- Have made a donation. We need this information (e.g. your credit card details and your name and address) to process the payment transaction and to issue a tax-deductible receipt.
- Want to support us as a Member, Sponsor or Volunteer. We need your personal information to communicate with you and for legal reasons.
- Took part in a competition. We need the contact information to notify winners and distribute prizes, and to send you further communication regarding Valley FM, such as newsletters in the future.
- Requested one of the community services we offer (e.g. Noticeboard, a newsletter) on-air and through the website. We need this information (e.g. your email address) to be able to provide you with the service.
- Provided feedback or made a complaint. We will use personal information to ascertain if this feedback or complaint is common to other listeners of similar gender and age groups, and see how successfully we are providing services to our target audience. We may also need it to get back to you.
We may collect personal information also for purposes directly related to any of the above, including a better understanding of our audience. In turn, this knowledge allows us to tailor our content to better serve their interests and needs.
We also collect anonymous information, or with minimal personal details, from your interactions with our digital platforms (our website and our pages on social media). The analysis of this statistical information allows us to provide content that is more relevant to our audience.
What personal information we collect and how we do it
The types of information we collect are:
- personal details
- anonymous activity-tracking data.
Personal details may include name, address, email address, age, phone number and gender. Also, we collect financial information like credit card or bank account details that you provide when you make a donation or become a member. These financial details are only used to process the donation transaction and are not stored in our system. However, if you sign up as a regular donor, we need to save these details for the purpose of processing the periodic donations.
In some specific cases (e.g. when you apply to become a Member or a Volunteer) we may collect ‘sensitive’ information, which is used strictly for the purpose it was collected. (Note: The privacy legislation considers information about people’s health, racial or ethnic origin, or political opinions to be sensitive information).
We collect anonymous data about visits to our website, like the number and frequency of visitors, the most popular pages and general traffic patterns. This is mainly aggregated statistical data and does not allow us to identify users. We also have access to statistical information related to our Facebook and Instagram pages. (Note: We may have access to some personal information of our social media visitors based on their security settings in the social media platform, based on its privacy policy.)
The ways we collect information include:
- verbally, either personally (e.g. you come to the station to make a donation) or over the phone (e.g. you win an on-air competition and provide your details to receive the prize)
- in writing (e.g. you send us a letter, fax or an email with your details)
- electronically (e.g. you fill an online form on the website or anonymous information gathered with ‘cookies’— see below).
When you provide personal details verbally or in writing, we transfer the relevant details to a database in our system. In doing this, we apply internal procedures that ensure we maintain the privacy of the information provided.
When we collect personal information electronically (e.g. when you fill out an online form) the transfer of information to our database is carried out automatically without human intervention. In general (TBC), the path from your computer to our system is securely encrypted. (Note: We use Secure Socket Layer or SSL encryption.)
We collect anonymous website activity using cookies attached to the browser you use to access our website. A cookie is a small data file that is saved on your machine or portable device that lets our digital service store information.
Most browsers allow you to manage cookies based on your preferences. You may set your browser to prevent the installation of new cookies, and you may delete existing ones. Please refer to the help area of your browser for instructions on how to do this. Please note that in some instances avoiding cookies may mean you will not be able to take full advantage of our website.
We will collect non-personally identifiable information and disclose to third parties when you access our web site. Such non-personally identifiable information is used to track activity on our website.
We will collect non-personally identifiable information and disclose to third parties when you access our live or on-demand streams. Such non-personally identifiable information is used by our service providers to provide the streams. We will not attempt to and will not assist or knowingly permit any third party to pass information other than non-personally identifiable information to the service provider or otherwise associate the service provider’s tracking technology with information other than non-personally identifiable information.
How we protect your personal information
We only use your personal information for the particular purpose you provided it. In some cases, we may use it also to send you periodic updates about Valley FM.
Otherwise, we will not use or disclose your personal information without your consent, unless there is a duty to the public to disclose that information, we are required to by law, or where the interests of Valley FM require disclosure.
We store personal information in an in-house database system, which is protected from external unauthorised access by robust security technology. Internal access to the information is restricted to ‘need to know’ personnel.
At any stage, we may need to use third-party providers (for normal operation and contingency storage) to host some or all of our systems. These providers may have technical facilities in countries other than Australia. We will endeavour to use providers whose privacy policies are compatible with ours.
When you access our social media pages, you are protected under the privacy policy of the social media platform and not by this policy. You should review your security settings and ensure that you are comfortable with any disclosure of information allowed by such settings. You should note that these social media platforms can and do store their data outside Australia.
You should also note that articles published on our websites may contain links to third parties’ websites. If you click on such links and are transferred to another website, you will need to refer to that other party’s privacy conditions as this privacy policy will no longer apply.
How you can access your personal information
At any time you can request access to the personal information that we hold about you. You may simply want to check it, and if appropriate make corrections to it, or you may want to let us know of the change. For example, you may opt-out of receiving one or all of our communication services at any time.
You can contact us by:
- email: [email protected]
- phone: 02 6296 6895 (9:00 am to 5:00 pm on business days)
- mail: PO Box 112, Erindale Centre, ACT 2903
How you can complain about a privacy issue
You may feel that we have breached your privacy in a particular instance. You can contact our Privacy Officer in relation to any privacy issues by:
- email: [email protected]
- phone: 02 6296 6895 (9:00 am to 5:00 pm on business days)
- mail: PO Box 112, Erindale Centre, ACT 2903
The Privacy Officer will respond with an estimated time for us to respond to your enquiry or complaint. In this period we will investigate the matter according to our Privacy Policy and our internal procedures and respond to you.
If we exceed this period or if you are not satisfied with the outcome, you can make a complaint to the Privacy Commissioner at the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC). The OAIC can be contacted on 1300 363 992 or at www.oaic.gov.au.
How you can obtain a copy of this Privacy Policy
You can contact our Privacy Officer (see above). We will be happy to send a copy free of charge to your email, fax or postal address.