ECAI’s privacy policy Statement
Your privacy is important
This statement outlines Energetic Communities Association Incorporated‘s policy on how we use and manage personal information provided to or collected by it.
Energetic Communities Association Incorporated (ECAI) is bound by the Australian Privacy Principles contained in the Commonwealth Privacy Act and is compliant with the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012.
This Privacy Policy helps you understand why and how we collect and use personal information, and what to do if you have questions, concerns or complaints. We will occasionally make updates to this policy, so we will note the date of the last change at the top of the page).
Remember, you are in control of the personal information you provide to us. You can choose what to provide to us (including being anonymous or using a pseudonym where practicable), and you can request to change or access these details at any time.
What kind of personal information do we collect and how do we collect it?
ECAI regularly asks for information that helps us engage with you. For example, to process your donation and provide a receipt, or to record your support of a petition or letter to your local MP. It is your choice how much information you provide (however we might not be able to fulfil a request if you don’t provide information).
Below are some examples of what information we commonly collect
- Personal details, such as your name
- Contact details
- Payment information for donations
- Interests and opinions
- Online activity
- Your support for our work, such as signing a petition, or hosting an event
- Other areas of our work you might be interested in supporting
- Your communication preferences
Conversations by phone or email with our staff and volunteers Personal Information you provide:
ECAI will generally collect personal information held about an individual by way of donation coupon, phone calls, printed and online forms, surveys, meetings (interviews, focus groups, workshops). You do have the right to seek to deal with us anonymously or using a pseudonym, but in almost every circumstance it will not be practicable for us to deal with you or provide any services to you except for the most general responses to general enquiries, unless you identify yourself.
Personal Information provided by other people:
In most cases, we’ll ask you for this information directly (for example asking you to complete a donation coupon, or sending you a survey), however some information is collected automatically (like online activity by visitors to our website) or from another source (like updating mailing addresses from Australia Post, information that is listed in public directories, obtaining details for potential future supporters from like-minded organisations or third-party suppliers, or information that is reported to us about safeguarding or fraud related incidents).
How will ECAI use the personal information you provide?
ECAI collects personal information to fulfil our core work: engaging with the public, raising awareness and fundraising. To help us be effective, efficient and informed, we collect information to ensure a complete and accurate record of your history and engagement with ECAI. For example, we will use this information to keep you updated with issues you are interested in, to provide opportunities for you to support ECAI’s work, or to notify you of volunteering roles with us.
ECAI occasionally requires external suppliers to assist in some activities and may provide your information to them in order to achieve these – for example, printing a large number of letters to our supporters.
From time to time, ECAI may also use your details to send you information on behalf of like-minded organisations that you may be interested in supporting as a donor or customer. Personal information collected by ECAI will not be shared with them.
When ECAI needs to share information with a third party, ECAI will use secure means and only for the purposes outlined above.
Marketing and fundraising:
ECAI treats marketing and seeking donations for the future growth and development of ECAI as important. Personal information held by ECAI may be disclosed to an organisation that assists in ECAI’s fundraising.
Who might ECAI disclose personal information to?
ECAI may disclose personal information, held about an individual to:
- people providing services to ECAI; and
- anyone you authorise ECAI to disclose information to.
Sending information overseas
Sometimes we may need to store or use your information in a country other than Australia, usually because one of our technical systems is located or needs to process data overseas (for instance, social media channels). Further, the information that ECAI collects for safeguarding and fraud reporting purposes may be stored on cloud services including services provided by third party service providers, and some of these cloud services may be hosted overseas.
As of the last update of this policy, the countries in which we store data include:
United States
Online Activity and Social Media
ECAI uses Google Analytics and Squarespace to track visits to our website and use this information to track the effectiveness of our website, like visits, length of visit, viewed pages and the technical capabilities of our visitors. For more information on our analytics tools, please read Google’s Privacy Policy and Squarespace Privacy Policy
When you submit information to our websites via a form, we collect the data requested in the webform in order to track and respond to your submissions. We share this information with our hosting providers, so that they can provide website services to us.
We use tools that tell us when a computer or device has visited or accessed our content and allow us to tailor advertising both on our websites and through advertising networks on other websites based on your visits or behaviour through cookies on your device. You can control how cookies are used and for what through the settings on your chosen browser.
ECIA also uses social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, etc. You can control how you receive content through each app and website’s settings.
How does ECAI treat sensitive information?
In referring to ‘sensitive information’, ECAI means:
“information relating to a person’s racial ethnic origin, political opinions, religion, trade union or other professional or trade association membership, sexual preferences or criminal record, that is also personal information; and health information about an individual”.
Sensitive information will be used and disclosed only for the purpose for which it was provided or a directly related secondary purpose, unless you agree otherwise, or the use or disclosure of the sensitive information is allowed by law.
Management and security of personal information
ECAI’s staff are required to respect the confidentiality of personal information and the privacy of individuals.
ECAI has in place steps to protect the personal information ECAI holds from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification, interference or disclosure by use of various methods including passworded access rights to computerised records.
When you use our websites, having your cookies enabled will allow us to maintain the continuity of your browsing session. We may also use web beacons, Flash local stored objects and JavaScript. If you adjust your browser settings to block, reject or delete these functions, the webpage may not function in an optimal manner. We may also collect information about your IP address, although this may not identify you.
Updating personal information
ECAI endeavours to ensure that the personal information it holds is accurate, complete and up-to-date. A person may seek to update their personal information held by ECAI by contacting the Privacy Officer of the ECAI at any time.
The Australian Privacy Principles and the Health Privacy Principles require ECAI not to store personal information longer than necessary. In particular, the Health Privacy Principles impose certain obligations about the length of time health records must be stored.
You have the right to check what personal information ECAI holds about you.
Under the Commonwealth Privacy Act, an individual has the right to obtain access to any personal information which ECAI holds about them and to advise ECAI of any perceived inaccuracy. There are some exceptions to this right set out in the applicable legislation.
You can request to access the personal information ECAI holds about you, update or correct the information we have collected, or let us know of your preferences for how we communicate with you by contacting our Privacy Officer:
- By phone: 0413 114 860 (Tuesday to Thursday from 9 AM to 5 PM)
- By emailing: admin@energeticcommunities.org.au
ECAI may require you to verify your identity and specify what information you require, no fee will be charged for accessing your personal information or making a correction.
How long will ECAI keep my information?
Under our destruction and de-identification policies, your personal information that is no longer required will be de-identified or destroyed. In many circumstances, however it will be kept for marketing purposes, if you will had consented to that in writing with us.
Enquiries and Privacy Complaints
If you would like further information about the way ECAI manages the personal information it holds, please contact the Privacy Officer. If you have any concerns, complaints or you think there has been a breach of privacy, then also please contact the Privacy Officer:
- By phone: 0413 114 860 (Tuesday to Thursday from 9 AM to 5 PM)
- By emailing admin@energeticcommunities.org.au
If you’ve made a complaint, the Privacy Officer will acknowledge that your complaint has been received, provide you with their contact details and give you an estimate of when they can update you on the status of your complaint
If we then have not dealt satisfactorily with your concerns, we will meet with you to discuss further. If you are not satisfied with our response to your complaint within 30 days from this meeting, then you can refer your complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner via:
- email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au
- tel: 1300 363 992
- fax: +61 2 9284 9666