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Privacy Policy

General

We respect and protect the privacy of our Internet visitors, customers and stakeholders. Australian Geographic endeavours to fully comply with the Federal Privacy Act 1988, the Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2001, and any further privacy acts and amendments as they may come to pass.

Subscribers, donors, mail-order customers

Information we collect and store

When you subscribe to AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHIC or order merchandise by mail order we will collect and store on our database your name, address, phone number, email address, order details, payment details and, if known, how you found out about AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHIC. We may also collect information about your use of our products and services, and any preferences you tell us about.

If you are giving a subscription or purchase merchandise via mail order to another person, we will record the above details for both the donor and the recipient of the subscription or mail-order purchase. If you request not to receive any offers by direct mail from organisations other than Australian Geographic we will note and comply with your request.

If you choose to have your subscription or gift subscription automatically renewed each year then we will store your credit-card information for this purpose until advised by you to the contrary.

If these details are not provided then we will be unable to fulfil your request, and withholding certain information may limit our ability to market relevant offers or services to you if wish to receive such information.

We do not ask for nor collect sensitive and personal information, such as your political or religious beliefs, ethnic background or sexual preferences.

How we keep and use information we collect

Information that we collect will be used to fulfil your subscription or mail order and for internal marketing purposes to help us refine our product and service to our customers.

We store customer information in a combination of firewall-secure and offline secure computer-storage facilities and paper-based files. We protect your information from misuse, loss, and unauthorised access or disclosure.

Your personal information is kept secure because:

  • Our computer system ensures that only authorised staff have access to your subscription or mail order records.
  • We will not alter or divulge details of your subscription, mail order or payment records or those of your gift recipient(s) to any person except yourself (or executor of your estate and we always take all reasonable steps to confirm the identity of customers who call us.
  • Any paper copies of your information, such as subscription forms or printouts from our computer, will be stored in a secure place on our premises or destroyed in a secure manner after use.
  • Contractors that we use to process and fulfil your subscription, such as mail-processing contractors, are required to keep your information secure and use it only for the purpose that we direct and authorise.
  • We will take reasonable steps to destroy or remove personal details from information when we no longer need it.
  • With your permission, we may allow other reputable organisations to send promotional literature to you, from time to time. We may do this so that we can gain reciprocal access to their own customer lists for the purpose of promoting subscriptions to AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHIC. If this occurs we always will:
  • Only deal with reputable organisations who support and comply with the Australian Direct Marketing Association's (ADMA) Code of Practice
  • Not provide your name and address details directly to any other organisation for promotional purposes, but always work through reputable professional mail-list contractors and managers who ensure that your name and address details remain confidential and are used for the agreed purpose only
  • Remove your name and address from usage by other organisations if you request us to do so in writing. We provide an opt-out reminder on all subscription or mail-order correspondence with you to facilitate this request.
Australian Geographic Store customers

If you purchase a product from one of our retail shops we will not collect or store any personal information, except if required to fulfil a mail order, subscription (as above), customer order, process a member sale, process a cheque transaction, process a refund or to contact you to inform you that your order has arrived.

In the event of a subscription, mail order, Member sale, refund or cheque transaction, data will be collected to enable us to fulfil your request and to assist us in our internal marketing to refine our product offer to our customers. If these details are not provided then we will be unable to fulfil your request, and withholding certain information may limit our ability to market relevant offers or services.

If you are a subscriber or donor to AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHIC and are using your membership card to receive your in-store discount, we will record your membership number against that sale. We may use this data on an aggregated basis to analyse how subscribers use their discount. We may also use this data to identify which individual subscribers or donors are likely to be interested in receiving promotional literature such as our retail catalogues.

If we conduct any in-store promotion where names and addresses are collected, for example as part of a competition draw, we will:

  • Keep your personal information secure and confidential
  • Only store and use your name and address for subsequent direct marketing purposes if this is explicitly stated at the time on the device used to collect your information together with an opportunity to opt out by advising us that you do not wish to be contacted for such purposes.

Australian Geographic website visitors and online customers

Record of visits

When on the Internet you visit our website, including our Online Store, our Internet service provider makes a record of the visits and logs the user's server address, the user's top-level domain name, the date and time of your visit to the site, the pages accessed, documents downloaded, the previous site visited and the type of browser used. No attempt is made to identify users, or their browsing activities, unless a law enforcement agency or a court exercises a valid warrant to inspect the service provider's logs.

Collection of information

We collect information from visitors to our site during online registration, contest registration, online surveys, expressions of interest for expeditions, when you buy from our Online Store and when you subscribe to AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHIC. The personal information we collect will never be sold, exchanged or given to a third party without your consent, regardless of its source. If we do pass on any information, it will only be in the form of summary statistics and none of the details will be personally identifiable.

Internet purchases from our Online Store

In order to make a purchase from the Online Store, Australian Geographic will collect and store on our database your name, address, phone number, email address, password, Society membership details, billing and shipping details, order details, payment details. We may also collect information about your use of our products and services, any preferences you tell us about. If these details are not provided then we will be unable to fulfil your request, and withholding certain information may limit our ability to market relevant offers or services to individuals.

Third parties

Where our website is linked to another organisation's website in conjunction with a third party ("AG Partner"), such as in the Membership Benefits directory, the AG Partner may record personal information that you submit to a linked website. However, this privacy policy does not apply to parties that may be linked or associated with our website. Those website owners are responsible for the privacy of the information they collect and should be contacted directly for details of their privacy policy.

Cookies

We use "cookies" to make our website perform better. A "cookie" is a feature built into your browser that assigns you a "user ID". Cookies are used to follow the pattern of movements of web users. Cookies let us know which pages on our website are visited, in what order and how often. By themselves, cookies can't be used to discover your identity - they merely identify your computer to our servers when you visit us. If you are unhappy about having a cookie assigned to you, you can set your browser to refuse cookies. Cookies are not used to record any personal information such as your name, address or email address.

Email

We will only record your email address or other personal details if you send us a message, or to fulfil orders you place with our Online Store. It will only be used for the purpose for which you have provided it and will not be added to a mailing list unless you have specifically consented to this. We will not reuse your email address for any other purpose. We will not reveal, disclose, sell, distribute, rent, license, share or pass that information onto any third parties.

Security

When you begin to place credit-card details into our Online Store form online, a secure system software called "socket security layer" (SSL) encrypts all information you input before it is sent to us.

Information by mail

We appreciate that some people may not wish to submit information via email or the Internet. If you do not wish to submit personal information to us via our website using the Internet or by email, you can write it down on paper and post it in an envelope to Australian Geographic, PO Box 321, Terrey Hills, NSW 2084 Australia.

Business (wholesale) customers and suppliers

If you are a business (wholesale) customer or supplier to us, we may collect and store information on your business and its principals that enables us to determine your suitability, competence or credit-worthiness to meet our business needs and requirements, and to analyse your sales and profit-generating performance for us. We will also collect and store sales or purchase information.

If we are unable to collect and hold this information then you will not be considered for participation as either a wholesale customer or supplier to Australian Geographic.

The information we collect will not be disclosed to any other organisation or individual except as may be required to seek advice from appropriate professionals such as lawyers, accountants, debt collectors or other advisors who act for us, or as may otherwise be required by law.

Editorial content

Information, including written or photographic material on individuals or organisations, may be collected and stored for the purpose of producing editorial content for AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHIC, other publications we may publish from time to time or for related public-relations purposes.

We will comply with the Australian Press Council Privacy Standards with respect to our collection, verification, storage and usage of personal information for journalistic purposes. These standards can be read or downlaoded for the Australian Press Council's website at www.presscouncil.org.au

 

Sponsorship Applicants

If you seek sponsorship from us, we will collect and store information, including your sponsorship application, together with our internal assessment of your application and/or record of interview if one occurs.

If we are unable to collect and hold this information then your sponsorship application will not be considered.

We will not disclose the information we hold to any other organisation or individual except as may be required to seek advice from appropriate professionals such as lawyers, accountants, experts or other advisors who act for us, or as may otherwise be required by law.

We will keep and store all successful applications for as long as we deem necessary or appropriate.

If your application is unsuccessful we will not return it to you. It may be kept for up to 12 months.

All applications will be kept in a secure place on our premises and destroyed in a secure manner when no longer required.

Information provided in successful sponsorship applications may be used as part of editorial content in AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHIC or as part of promotional material related to an Australian Geographic publication.

Job Applicants

If you apply for a position at Australian Geographic we will collect and store information including your application and/or resume. This information will be held by Australian Geographic for the purpose of assessing your suitability for positions within the company. We will not disclose the information we hold on you to any other organisation or individual except where we have the consent of the applicant to do so, as required by law, or under other circumstances where permitted under the Act.

If we are unable to collect and hold this information then you will not be considered for any vacant positions. All unsuccessful applications/resumes will not be returned, and may be kept for a period of up to 12 months.

All unsuccessful applications/resumes will be kept in a secure place on our premises and destroyed in a secure manner when no longer required.

Access to personal information

Individuals will be able to access their personal information upon request. However, Australian Geographic may occasionally need to deny access to information in accordance with the exemptions under the Act. You can request access to your information by contacting us on +61 2 9473 6700. Following a request, we will provide you with a copy of any personal information we hold about you in accordance with our obligations under the Privacy Act.

Data quality

Australian Geographic will take all reasonable steps to ensure that the data we collect, use or disclose is accurate, complete and up to date, and has been obtained directly from individuals or other reputable sources. Please notify us if there are any changes to your personal information.

Privacy inquires/complaints

Privacy-related inquiries or concerns can be directed to:

Australian Geographic
Attn: Privacy Officer
PO Box 321,
Terrey Hills NSW 2084

or via email to:  privacy@ausgeo.com.au

Review of privacy policy

This policy will be reviewed from time to time and any amendments will be incorporated in the updated policy.

Privacy Legislation

More information on privacy legislation is available on the Federal Privacy Commissioner's website at http://www.privacy.gov.au/