Respecting your privacy
Soils For Life respects your right to privacy and is committed to protecting the personal information of our connections.
We adhere to the Australian Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) and, to the extent applicable, the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR), in relation to the handling of personal information.
This Privacy Policy sets out how we collect, use, store and disclose personal information, and may be updated from time to time.
What personal information we collect
“Personal information” means information or an opinion about an identified or reasonably identifiable individual. “Sensitive information” is a subset of personal information as defined in the Privacy Act, and includes certain types of personal information such as health information, and information about racial or ethnic origin, membership of a political, professional or trade association, sexual orientation or criminal record.
We collect personal information about individuals who interact with us or our website, as well as supporters, volunteers, donors, employees, contractors, job applicants and other people with whom Soils For Life has contact with in connection with our activities.
The types of information we may collect and hold include:
- identification information such as your name, date of birth, email or other address, and telephone number;
- payment information for donations;
- employee information, such as salary and entitlement information, tax file numbers, medical certificates and emergency contact details;
- (for job applicants) information to assess your suitability for a job vacancy, such as your education, qualifications, employment history and referees
- (for case study applicants and participants) financial and business data to benchmark performance, as well as details provided in interviews around participant’s social wellbeing and the ecological impact of current and historical land management practices.
Personal information may be collected where we are required or authorised by law to do so.
Why we collect personal information
The personal information we collect, and the way we handle that information, depends on our interaction with you. This includes:
- delivering our services;
- receiving and processing donations;
- verifying your identity (if required);
- responding to your queries;
- to inform you of our activities and events, including through our newsletter subscriptions;
- managing recruitment processes and the employment of our employees;
- enabling contractors and service providers to deliver services to us, or on our behalf, in relation to our functions and activities;
- complying with our legal obligations;
- performing other functions and activities relating to our business.
How we collect personal information
We collect personal information you provide to us directly, for example, in person, over the phone, by email, via our website or by completing our online or hard copy evaluation forms at field days.
We may receive personal information from third parties. If we do, we will protect it as set out in this Privacy Policy.
Using our website
Every time someone visits our website, software provided by Google Analytics generates an ‘anonymous analytics cookie’. These cookies can tell us whether or not you have visited the site before and what pages you visit. Your browser will tell us if you have these cookies and, if you don’t, we generate new ones. This allows us to track how many individual users we have, and how often they visit the site. We use them to gather statistics, for example, the number of visits to a page, to help us identify if visitors would benefit from more information on a particular area.
If you do not want your visit to our website data reported by Google Analytics, you can install the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on. For more details on installing and uninstalling the add-on, please visit the Google Analytics opt-out page at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
Our website may contain links to other websites operated by third parties. We make no representations or warranties in relation to, nor are we responsible for, the privacy practices of any third-party website.
How we use and disclose personal information
We will generally only use and disclose personal information for the primary purpose for which it is collected. Personal information may be used for another purpose if you consent, or this is required or authorised by law.
We may use your personal information to send you marketing materials about services and events that may be of interest to you. You can opt out of receiving these communications by using the unsubscribe link provided in the footer of the email newsletter communications or contacting info@soilsforlife.org.au.
We will never pass your details on to third parties for marketing purposes.
Disclosing personal information overseas
We will generally only disclose personal information to an overseas entity with your consent, or if the disclosure is required or authorised by law.
Sometimes personal information may be stored on databases located outside Australia. Where this occurs, we take reasonable steps to ensure that information is secure.
Keeping your information secure
Soils For Life stores personal information in electronic files and databases. This may include third party data storage providers. We also store data in hard copy files.
We take all reasonable steps to protect the personal information we hold from misuse, interference (including computer attacks) and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. We also comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard in relation to the security of credit card information.
Although we take measures to secure information transmitted to us via our website, there are inherent risks associated with the transmission of data over the internet. Any information that you electronically submit to us is carried out at your own risk.
Access and correction of personal information
You have a right to access your personal information.
You also have a right to make a request to correct any personal information we hold about you which you believe to be inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading. We will take reasonable steps to make corrections to ensure your personal information is accurate, up to date and complete. To help us do this, please advise us of any changes to your personal information.
Please contact us on the details below if you would like to request access to, or correction of, your personal information. There is no charge for making a request.
Additional rights under the EU GDPR
If you are located in a country that is a member of the European Economic Area (EEA), and the EU GDPR applies in relation to the handling of your personal information, you have the following data protection rights (in addition to those set out elsewhere in this Privacy Policy):
- the right to erasure – you can ask us to delete the data we hold about you;
- the right to restrict processing – you can ask that we restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances;
- the right to object to processing – you can object to the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances;
- the right to data portability – you can ask us to transfer your data to another organisation, or directly to you, in certain circumstances (although this is unlikely to be relevant to our services and activities).
Privacy complaint
If you consider we have breached our privacy obligations in relation to the handling of your personal information, you can make a complaint in writing by sending it to us on the contact details provided below.
If you do not receive a response from us within a reasonable period, or you are not satisfied with the outcome, you may make a complaint to the Office of the Australian information Commissioner (OAIC). Information about how to make a complaint to the OAIC is available on the OAIC website.
How to contact us
If you have any questions, comments, concerns or complaints about our privacy practices, please let us know. We will do our best to address and resolve any issues you have within one month of receiving your communication.
You can contact us by:
- sending an e-mail to info@soilsforlife.org.au
- calling the Soils For Life office on 02 6273 6647 during business hours
