Privacy Statement

PRIVACY STATEMENT
The Department of Tourism, Regional Development and Industry ("Department") is committed to protecting user privacy. We understand and appreciate that visitors and users of this web service are concerned about their privacy and the confidentiality and security of any information that may be provided to us.

The Queensland Government has established a privacy regime for the Queensland public sector based on 11 information Privacy Principles. These are contained in an Information Standard that agencies are required to adhere to. A copy of this standard can be accessed by clicking here.

Further, the Department of Tourism, Regional Development and Industry has developed a Privacy Plan in accordance with the privacy regime referred to above. A copy of this Privacy Plan is available for download from our website.

1. COOKIES
This website ("The SmartSite") uses cookies to store membership ("My SmartSite") information only. If you have configured your browser to reject all cookies you will still be able to generally browse through The SmartSite.

Cookies
When you visit this website, our server makes a record of your visit and logs the following information for statistical purposes only—the user's server address, the user's top level domain name (for example .com, .gov, .au, etc), the date and time you visited the site, the pages accessed and documents downloaded, the previous site visited, and the type of browser you use.

No attempt is or 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 activity logs.

What is a cookie?
A cookie is a message given to a web browser by a web server. The browser stores the message in a text file called cookie.txt. The message is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server.

The main purpose of cookies is to identify users and possibly prepare customised web pages for them. When you enter a website which is using cookies, you may be asked to fill out a form providing such information as your name and interests. This information is packaged into a cookie and sent to your web browser which stores it for later use. The next time you go to the same website, your browser will sent the cookie to the web server. The server can use this information to present you with custom web pages. So, for example, instead of seeing just a generic welcome page, you might see a welcome page with your name on it.

The name cookie derives from UNIX objects called magic cookies. These are tokens that are attached to a user or program and change depending on the areas entered by the user or program. Cookies are also sometimes called persistent cookies because they typically stay in the browser for long periods of time.

2. PURCHASING
Personal and financial information provided when you purchase an item or renew a licence is protected at all stages of the transaction.

When you purchase something through The SmartSite (eg. Business BookShop), your personal and financial details are protected at all stages of the transaction. In order to process your payment we need to know your name, address details, e-mail address and your order.

Your credit card details are entered directly into our financial institution's system (Commonwealth Bank) and are not collected by our servers or transmitted from our site. They are NOT known to our system.

3. E-MAIL
E-mail correspondence sent to The SmartSite will be treated as a public record and will be retained as required by the Libraries and Archives Act 1988 (Qld) and other relevant regulations.

E-mail messages are monitored by the Department's web team for system troubleshooting and maintenance purposes.

4. YOUR PERSONAL DETAILS
Your name and address details will not be added to a mailing list, nor will we disclose these details to third parties without your consent unless required by law.

However, if you are a SmartSite member ("My SmartSite"), your details may be retained and used for the following purposes:

administrative and operational purposes
to deliver superior web services
to market web services
to prevent any unauthorised access to member details
to make recommendations to members about other services the Department offers that may be of interest to you
to comply with any applicable laws and/or regulations
for such further and other lawful uses in connection with the Department's activities consistent with this Privacy Statement.

The Department does not use any identifier assigned to you by a Commonwealth agency (eg. tax file number) to identify you. The Department will not use or disclose any such identifier other than for necessary and proper purposes.

5. HOW ARE YOUR MEMBER DETAILS UPDATED
The Department strives to maintain up to date and accurate information about members of My SmartSite.

Only My SmartSite member information is retained by the Department. My SmartSite members can view this information and update it at their discretion at any time by using the "My Account" option on their My SmartSite home page.

6. CONTACT
If you have any queries about our privacy and security please contact Privacy Contact Officer at privacy.contact@sd.qld.gov.au.