Privacy

The Love Food Hate Waste website is maintained and operated by the NSW Environment Protection Authority on behalf of the NSW Government and will be collectively referred to as "We", "our" or "us" in this privacy policy.

By using this site, you accept the privacy policy of this website, which is set out below. The privacy policy relates to the collection and use of personal information you may supply to us through your conduct on the website.

We reserve the right, at our discretion, to modify or remove portions of this privacy policy at any time. The amended policy will operate from the time it is posted.

This privacy policy is in addition to any other terms and conditions applicable to the website and should be reviewed periodically so that you are informed of any changes. We welcome your feedback and encourage you to contact us with any comments or queries.

Your rights to privacy

You are entitled to expect that information collected through your use will be treated and handled in accordance with the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW). For additional details see EPA and your privacy.

Automatic collection of information

Our computers automatically collect information when you view pages on the Love Food Hate Waste website and/or use services and facilities available to registered site users. Information tracked and collected in this manner cannot be traced to an individual person.

For each page that is accessed, we collect the following information:

• your IP (Internet Protocol) address (eg. 123.123.123.12 or xxx.yyy.com.au)
• top-level domain name (for example .com, .gov, .au, .uk etc.)
• address of your server
• date and time of your visit to the site
• pages and files accessed and documents downloaded
• previous site visited, and where a search engine, any search terms used to locate our site
• any website errors encountered
• type of browser and operating system you have used.

The information collected may be single-purpose for immediate use (to enable our server to establish and respond to your computers request for data) or archival for longer-term use (to enable site usage and page viewing trends and patterns to be analysed and reported over time).

We will not disclose or publish information that identifies individual machines, or potentially identifies sub-groupings of addresses, without consent or otherwise, in accordance with the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW).

Use of automatically collected information

The information collected is aggregated and analysed to enable us to understand visitor needs and interests, and also opportunities for improving the website and services offered on it.

This information is used to assist with diagnosis, support, and administrative reporting and management of the website service.

We may publish aggregated information about site usage and patterns, to the extent that it does not identify or cannot be used to identify individual users.

Cookies, tags and session identifiers

We use cookies, tags and session identifiers to provide you with a richer and more personal visitor experience.

A cookie is a small text file that is placed on your computer by a specific web server and domain. Cookies are uniquely assigned and personalised to and for you. They can only be read by the web server in the same domain that issued the cookie to you and cannot be used to run programs or read files on your computer, nor deliver viruses.

Cookies save you time and enable us to deliver a personalised experience. They allow us to monitor single user access, track, reward and restore your progress, and verify your Love Food Hate Waste online membership status. For example: each time you visit the website and use the optional facilities available to registered members, a session identifier is stored in a cookie to reduce the frequency of requests for your to verify your membership status. Without cookies the website would have no memory of you or your actions on the Love Food Hate Waste website.

You have the ability to accept or decline cookies. It is also completely optional to become a Love Food Hate Waste registered member. However, if you choose to decline a cookie from the Love Food Hate Waste website (through using a 3rd party security tool or your browser settings), you may not be able to fully experience the interactive features or membership services available on the website.

Use of the information collected by cookies and session identifiers

Cookies and session identifiers are not individually aggregated, logged or used for any reporting or analysis functions. They are used directly by the computer (your computer and our webserver) to monitor and maintain communication, and verify your identity during information requests and data exchanges.

Non-personal information received and supplied during this communication exchange will be collected as normal, aggregated and reported to enable visitor and page viewing trends and site usage to be analysed and understood.

We may publish aggregated information about site usage and patterns, to the extent that it does not identify or cannot be used, to identify individual users.

Collection of personal information

Information that in some way identifies you may be gathered if you provide it, for example when you Become a Partner, join Food Smart or Your Business is Food, or contact us .

Information collected from forms

Clicking on the 'submit' button on the Become a Partner, online programs or contact us forms acts as your consent for us to collect the information you have provided.

These facilities are available to enable you to become a member of the Love Food Hate Waste community, provide input into the site, request more information or follow-up, make suggestions, or comment on the provision of service delivered by the Love Food Hate Waste website.

Before you submit this information we will take reasonable steps to inform you of:

• where applicable, any law that requires the particular information to be collected
• which fields are mandatory and which are optional.

Use of the forms is optional. We will collect such personal details as your name, home or business address, telephone number and email address and may disclose your contact details within EPA and external consultants directly involved in the delivery and promotion of associated programs for the purpose for which it was provided only.

We will not add your email address or name to our mailing list unless you choose to subscribe. When you subscribe to Love Food Hate Waste, the information collected will be used only to help us determine content, and in accordance with the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW).

We may publish aggregated information, for example about the number of people who register as Food Lovers or who send feedback to the site, to the extent that it does not identify or cannot be used to identify individual users.

Information collected from email

If you send us an email, we will record your email address only for the purpose of responding to you.

Use and disclosure of personal information

Personal information collected from forms and email will only be used for the purpose for which you have provided it or for such other secondary purposes that are related to the primary purpose, unless we disclose other uses in this privacy policy or at the time of collection.

Copies of correspondence sent from and to the website, that may contain personal information, are processed as appropriate, then stored as archives for record-keeping and back-up purposes only.

Your personal information (including your email address) will not be automatically added to a mailing list, or sold or otherwise transferred to a third party for commercial purposes.

Disclosure under special circumstances

Apart from where you have consented or disclosure is necessary to achieve the purpose for which it was submitted, personal information may be disclosed in special situations where we have reason to believe that doing so is necessary to identify, contact or bring legal action against anyone damaging, injuring, or interfering (intentionally or unintentionally) with our rights or property, users, or anyone else who could be harmed by such activities.

We will collect, use and disclose more extensive information in the following circumstances:

• unauthorised attempts to access files which are not published Love Food Hate Waste pages or files
• unauthorised tampering, damage or interference with files, data or materials on the Love Food Hate Waste website
• unauthorised attempts to index or mirror the contents of the Love Food Hate Waste site by other sites or services
• attempts to intercept messages or data exchanged by and between users, and the Love Food Hate Waste site
• communications which are defamatory, abusive, vilify individuals or groups or which give rise to a suspicion that an offence is being committed
• attempts to otherwise compromise the security of the web server or its data, breach the laws of the State of New South Wales or Commonwealth of Australia, or interfere with the use or enjoyment of the Love Food Hate Waste site by other users.

We reserve the right, under these circumstances, to make disclosures to relevant authorities, including law enforcement agencies, where the use of the site raises a suspicion that an offence is being, or has been, committed.

We may also engage third parties to provide you with goods or services on our behalf. In that circumstance, we may disclose your personal information to those third parties in order to meet your request for goods or services.

Storage of personal information

We strive to ensure the security, integrity and privacy of personal information submitted to our site, and review and update our security measures to incorporate industry best practice and current technologies. Unfortunately, no data transmission or communication exchange over the Internet can be guaranteed to be totally secure. However, we will take all reasonable steps to protect the personal information you may transmit to us through your use of the site.

Once we receive your transmission, the information is stored in an appropriately secure format or is deleted, where the purpose for which it was collected no longer applies.

Access to the raw data is restricted to a limited number of officers in the organisation and select contractors, who are responsible for the delivery and promotion of associated programs, and the provision of technology and information support services. All are obliged to respect the confidentiality of any personal information held or received by us.

Links to other sites

EPA and the NSW Government does not have any responsibility for the privacy policies or practices of third party sites linked to or referenced from the Love Food Hate Waste website.

We also do not make any representations about third party web sites that may be linked to or from Love Food Hate Waste.

Before disclosing your personal information on any other website, we advise you to examine the terms and conditions of using that site and its privacy policy or statement.

Information requests or enquiries

The Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 confers on the public a right to obtain access to documents held by a government agency. Documents covered by the Act include electronic documents like transactions through the web.

If you have any questions about the application of this privacy policy, or have a request for access to information held by the Love Food Hate Waste site, please contact the EPA privacy officer.

Refer requests for information to:

FOI/Privacy Officer

Environment Protection Authority

By post: PO Box A290, Sydney South 1232

By hand: Level 14, 59-61 Goulburn Street, Sydney

By phone: (02) 9995 6080 or (02) 9995 6497

Queries about this policy

If you have any further queries relating to our privacy policy or you have a problem or complaint, please contact us.