Website privacy

This Privacy Policy applies to all the publicly accessible pages on this website.

icare does not have any responsibility for the privacy policies or practices of third party sites linked to this site. If you have any questions about this site, or the application of this Privacy Policy or a request for access to information held please contact:

Privacy Officer
icare
GPO Box 4052
SYDNEY NSW 2001
Email: privacy@icare.nsw.gov.au

Users of this site are entitled to expect that any information collected as a result of that use will be treated within the terms of icare’s privacy responsibilities and obligations. icare’s privacy practices are regulated by the New South Wales Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 and the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002.

What information we collect and how it's used

When you look at the pages on this site, our computers automatically record information that identifies, for each page accessed:

When you visit icare.nsw.gov.au, our servers may record the following information for statistical purposes:

  • the user's server (IP) address and machine name
  • the location details such as longitude, latitude, city, region and country
  • the date and time of visit to the site
  • the top level domain name
  • the pages accessed and documents downloaded
  • the number of bytes transmitted and received for each request
  • the previous site or page visited
  • search terms used
  • the type of browser used.

icare.nsw.gov.au examines this information to determine the traffic through the server and to specific pages or applications. In order to deliver better services, we also perform statistical analysis to establish priorities and allocate resources.
No attempt will be made to identify users or their browsing activities except in the unlikely event of an investigation, where a law enforcement agency may exercise a warrant to inspect server logs. The statistics and log files may be preserved indefinitely and used at any time and in any way necessary to prevent security breaches and to ensure the integrity of the information supplied by the website.

Online forms

icare.nsw.gov.au will only record your e-mail address and personal information if you supply it to us, either by sending a message or completing and submitting a form through our website.

By submitting any personal information through online forms you are consenting, for the purposes of the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 and Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002, to your personal information being disclosed to us and potentially other appropriate third parties for the purposes of responding to your request and also administration, regulation and evaluation of icare’s processes.

This information will be used only for the purpose for which you have provided it and will not be added to a mailing list unless you have asked us to.

Cookies

‘Cookies’ are small pieces of text data that a web server can store on, and later retrieve from, a user's computer. They do not personally identify you, but do identify your browser. Cookies can be either ‘persistent’ or ‘session’ based. Persistent cookies are stored on your computer, contain an expiration date, and may be used to track your browsing behaviour upon return to the issuing website. Session cookies are short-lived, are used only during a browsing session, and expire when you shut down your browser.

This website uses persistent cookies.

They record your preferences in relation to your use of the site and provide us with other information about your enquiry that allows us to recognise your browser if you return to the icare website in the future. This enables icare to present information that may be most relevant to you based on your previous visits.
The cookies on this site do not read the information on your hard drive. They do not make your computer perform any actions or make your computer send information to any other computer via the internet. icare makes no attempt to associate cookies with users' names or identities. icare makes no attempt to associate cookies with users' names or identities. The icare server cannot find out your name or email address, or anything about your computer, by using cookies.

Managing cookies on your computer

Most browsers are set by default to accept cookies, however you can configure your computer to determine how you would prefer to interact with cookies across the internet. You may wish to set your browser to notify you when you receive a cookie, giving you the chance to decide whether or not to allow each cookie on to your hard drive, or to block cookies altogether. However, if you decide to not accept cookies set by this site, some of the web pages may not display properly or you may not be permitted to access certain information.

You may also set your browser so that the cookies set by this website are destroyed when your browser shuts down and no browser information is maintained which might identify you should you visit our site at a later date. In this way, the persistent cookies set by this site will effectively function as session cookies.

There are several techniques available for managing cookies in various browsers. Please see the help section of your browser.

Exceptions

icare will collect, use and disclose more extensive information than stated above in the following circumstances:

  • unauthorised attempts to access files which are not publicly available
  • unauthorised tampering or interference with files on the listed websites
  • unauthorised attempts to index the contents of the listed websites
  • attempts to intercept messages of other users of the listed websites
  • 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 use of the listed websites by other users.

icare reserves the right to make disclosures to relevant authorities where the use of the listed websites raises a suspicion that an offence is being, or has been, committed. In the event of an investigation, the department will provide access to data to any law enforcement agency that may exercise a warrant to inspect our logs.

icare may initiate proceedings in relation to any loss or damage suffered as a result of unauthorised use of information or any of the above circumstances.
Disclosure may also occur where it is lawfully authorised or required under any act, other law or statutory agency or foreign body.

How we protect information

icare.nsw.gov.au is hosted in Australia in secure, government accredited facilities. To help protect the privacy of data and personal information we collect and hold, we maintain physical, technical and administrative safeguards. We update and test our security technology on an ongoing basis.

We train our employees about the importance of confidentiality and maintaining the privacy and security of your information. Access to your Personal Information is restricted to employees who need it to provide benefits or services to you.

Google Analytics

The icare website uses Google Analytics, a reporting service provided by Google, Inc. ("Google") and its subsidiaries. Google Analytics uses "cookies" to help us analyse how users use the site. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the site (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the site, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage.

Google may also transfer this information to third parties, where required to do so by law or where such third parties process the information on Google's behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser. Please note, however, if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website. For more details visit Google Analytics Terms of Service.

In addition, this website has implemented Google Analytics' Demographics and Interest Reporting feature. This allows us to collect data relating to the demographics (age and gender) and interests of visitors to the website. We collect such data to analyse how visitors engage with our website and to make improvements. icare will not merge personally identifiable information with non-personally identifiable information collected via Google Analytics tracking code without your consent.

Data collected via the Google Analytics Demographics and Interest Reporting feature is stored on Google’s servers and is accessible by Google. You can opt-out of Google Analytics for Display Advertising in https://www.google.com/settings/ads or use the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

Google Tag Manager

We use Google Tag Manager, a digital marketing service provided by Google Inc. (“Google”). Reports obtained from Google Tag Manager are used to help improve the efficiency and usability of the website by measuring traffic and visitor behaviour to this site.

Google Tag Manager uses tags which are tiny bits of website code that allow us to measure traffic and visitor behaviour, understand the impact of online advertising and social channels, use remarketing and audience targeting, test and improve our site. Google Tag Manager keeps track of a set of tags and tag-firing rules but it does not collect any personally identifiable information. When a user visits the site, the most up-to-date tag configuration is sent over to the end-user’s browser with instructions to fire appropriate tags. The information generated about your use of the website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google. Should you wish to contact Google, you can find contact details on Google's Contact us page.

Sharing our content through social media

icare.nsw.gov.au also uses interfaces with social media sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, GooglePlus and others. If you choose to "like" or "share" or "recommend" information from this website through these services, you should review the privacy policy of that service. If you're a member of a social media site, the interfaces may allow the social media site to connect your visits to this site with other personal information.

Portals/self service

To subscribe or login to some parts of our website, you must provide either a valid email address or a specific user name and password. These details will only be used for the purpose for which you have provided them and will not be added to any other mailing lists unless you specifically ask us to. Email mailing list addresses are stored on a separate server and can be accessed by authorised staff only. Your email address will not be disclosed without your consent, unless required by law.

When you login to an icare portal or self-service application there will be specific terms and conditions relating to each service and you should refer to the privacy statements/terms and conditions of each portal/service when you login.

Chatbot/Live Agent Solution

icare's chatbot function allows users to ask general queries to help them navigate the website. The information captured by the chatbot may be used for training, analytical or research purposes to improve the experience of our users. The function does not require you to provide any health information. Please refrain from disclosing any health information when using the chatbot.

Links to other sites

 We might include links to other sites and we use social media sites, for example, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, to make it easy to share information. These other sites might use web measurement tools, customisation technologies and persistent cookies to inform the service they provide to their users. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of other websites, and we do not use, maintain or share personal information that is collected by other websites.