NSW RFS Privacy, Copyright and Disclaimer

Privacy

This NSW Government website is maintained by the New South Wales Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS). This Privacy Policy applies to all the publicly accessible pages on the NSW RFS site located at www.rfs.nsw.gov.au.

The NSW RFS does not have any responsibility for the privacy policies or practices of third party sites linked to the NSW RFS site.

If you have any questions about the NSW RFS site or the application of this Privacy Policy or a request for access to information held, please contact:

Privacy Officer
Locked Mail Bag 17
Granville NSW 2142
Phone: +61 2 8741 5555
Fax: +61 2 8741 5550

Users of the NSW RFS site are entitled to expect that any information gathered while using the NSW RFS site will be treated within the terms of the New South Wales government's privacy responsibilities and obligations. The New South Wales government's privacy practices are regulated by the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW) (PPIPA).

This Privacy Policy sets out how the NSW RFS collects, uses, discloses and stores information collected through your use of the NSW RFS site, which may include personal information, and how individuals may access and correct personal information that we may hold. The NSW RFS will only collect, use and disclose this information in accordance with PPIPA and any other applicable laws.

What information do we collect?

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

• The IP (Internet Protocol) address of the device being used, which can sometimes be matched to broad geographic data
• The pages accessed, documents downloaded and transactions completed such as keywords searched for onsite and other forms completed
• The date and time of your visit to the site
• The last site and page visited immediately prior to arriving at the NSW RFS site, including any search terms used at internet search engines
• The address, hostname and top-level domain, for example .com or .au, of your server
• The type of browser and operating system used on the device
• The bandwidth, that is, your internet connection speed
• If the device supports JavaScript or other specific technologies and their version number
• The number of screen colours displayed on the device
• The time spent on each page of the NSW RFS site

Only some of this information may be considered personal information.

If you use the feedback facilities on the NSW RFS site you may also choose to provide us with your personal information such as your name, address, phone number and relevant contact details or other information about you. Depending on your complaint or the service you require, sometimes this information may also include health information. You may choose to provide feedback anonymously or not provide all the information requested.  If you use the feedback facilities anonymously or do not provide us with the requested information we may not be able to reply to your feedback.

How we collect this information?

Cookies

We collect the information on the NSW RFS site by using ‘cookies’ which are small pieces of text data that a web server can store on, and later retrieve from, a 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.

We use first and second party persistent cookies (i.e. issued and retrieved by the NSW RFS systems or its service providers) to collect information about visitor behaviour and general website statistics. We may also use services, for example, Facebook Pixel and Affectv, which may place cookies on your browser to provide relevant advertisements and information from us to your browser or app.

The cookies on the NSW RFS site do not read the information on your hard drive. The NSW RFS makes no attempt to associate cookies with users' names or identities. Our server cannot find out your name or email address from the cookies used on the site.

You can accept or decline cookies by modifying the settings on your browser. Disabling cookies will not affect your ability to use our websites.

If you would like to enable/disable cookies in your browser, you can do this in:

• Google Chrome > Settings > Show advanced settings > Privacy > Content settings
• Mozilla Firefox > Options > Privacy > History (Use custom settings for history)
• Safari > Edit > Preferences > Privacy
• Internet Explore > Tools > Internet Options > Privacy

Analytics services

We also use analytics services (for example, Google Analytics and Facebook pixel) to help us analyse and provide reporting on how users use the Site.

How do we use information collected?

The information collected during each visit is aggregated with similar logged information and published in reports in order for the NSW RFS to identify patterns of usage of the site. This will assist us in improving the NSW RFS site and the services offered on it.

The NSW RFS will not disclose or publish information that identifies individual machines, or potentially identifies sub-groupings of addresses, without consent or otherwise in accordance with PPIPA.

What exceptions are there to this rule?

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

• Unauthorised attempts to access files which are not published NSW RFS pages
• Unauthorised tampering or interference with files published on the NSW RFS site
• Unauthorised attempts to index the contents of the NSW RFS site by other sites
• Attempts to intercept messages of other users of the NSW RFS 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, breach the laws of the State of New South Wales or Commonwealth of Australia, or interfere with the use of the NSW RFS site by other users
• The NSW RFS reserves the right to make disclosures to relevant authorities where the use of the NSW RFS site raises a suspicion that an offence is being, or has been, committed

In the event of an investigation, the NSW RFS will provide access to data to any law enforcement agency that may exercise a warrant to inspect our logs.

Is the information stored securely?

Information collected is stored in an appropriately secure format and held by the NSW RFS for archival purposes. When the information is no longer required for the purposes for which it was collected it is deleted.

What do we do with information provided in feedback?

The NSW RFS provides feedback facilities on the NSW RFS site to allow users to provide input into the future development of the site and to comment on the provision of service by the NSW RFS.

The provision of personal details on feedback forms is optional.

Users may provide personal details for the purpose of receiving a reply to their feedback. This information will only be used for the purpose for which it was provided. We will not add your email address or name to any mailing list.

The NSW RFS may publish aggregated information about feedback on the site, to the extent that it does not identify or cannot be used to identify individual users.

Your privacy rights

Where we collect personal information about you on this site, you have the right to request for access to that information to be provided to you. We will not keep any personal information for longer than is necessary for the purposes for which it is used, and information will be stored and disposed of securely. We will not disclose personal information, except in the circumstances outlined above (What exceptions are there to this rule?), without your permission or as otherwise permitted by law.

Personal information collected via this site is collected and held by the NSW RFS, which is located at:

4 Murray Rose Avenue
Sydney Olympic Park NSW 2127

Postal Address:
Privacy Officer
Locked Mail Bag 17
Granville NSW 2142
Phone: +61 2 8741 5555
Fax: +61 2 8741 5550

Will this policy be updated over time?

Due to the developing nature of privacy principles for online communication, this policy may be modified or expanded in light of new developments or issues that may arise from time to time. The amended policy will be posted to this site and will operate from the time it is posted.

Fires Near Me mobile site (www.firesnearme.com.au) Disclaimer

While the material within this application is current at the time of writing changes in circumstances after the time of publication may impact on the accuracy of the material.

The information and material contained herein is general in nature and is intended for your use and information. The NSW Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS) disclaims, to the extent permitted by law, all warranties, representations or endorsements, express or implied, with regard to the material contained herein. The NSW RFS does not warrant or represent that the material contained herein is free from errors or omissions, or that it is exhaustive. Users should exercise their own skill and care with respect to its uses. You must not assume that this material will be suitable for the particular purpose that you had in mind when using it.

The NSW RFS disclaims any liability (including but not limited to liability by reason of negligence) to the users of the material for any loss, damage, cost or expense whether direct, indirect, consequential or special, incurred by, or arising by reason of, any person using or relying on the material and whether caused by reason of, any error, omission or misrepresentation in the material or otherwise.

The NSW RFS recommends users of the application do not rely solely on the information provided in this application. A number of sources, including the www.rfs.nsw.gov.au website, 1800 679 737 information line and media, should be used and users should assess the relevance and accuracy of each.

Current incident activity is sourced from the NSW RFS incident control database. It is not 'real-time' information and is only a general indication of current activity. Incident spatial location (burnt area and fire origin) update times may differ from the update time of incident details.

Fires Near Me Application Disclaimer

While the material within this application is current at the time of writing changes in circumstances after the time of publication may impact on the accuracy of the material. Individuals are responsible for ensuring they have the most current version of this application.

The information and material contained herein is general in nature and is intended for your use and information. The NSW Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS) disclaims, to the extent permitted by law, all warranties, representations or endorsements, express or implied, with regard to the material contained herein. The NSW RFS does not warrant or represent that the material contained herein is free from errors or omissions, or that it is exhaustive. Users should exercise their own skill and care with respect to its uses. You must not assume that this material will be suitable for the particular purpose that you had in mind when using it.

The NSW RFS disclaims any liability (including but not limited to liability by reason of negligence) to the users of the material for any loss, damage, cost or expense whether direct, indirect, consequential or special, incurred by, or arising by reason of, any person using or relying on the material and whether caused by reason of, any error, omission or misrepresentation in the material or otherwise.

The NSW RFS recommends users of the application do not rely solely on the information provided in this application. A number of sources, including the www.rfs.nsw.gov.au website, 1800 679 737 information line and media, should be used and users should assess the relevance and accuracy of each.

Current incident activity is sourced from the NSW RFS incident control database. It is not 'real-time' information and is only a general indication of current activity. Incident spatial location (burnt area and fire origin) update times may differ from the update time of incident details.

My Fire Plan Application Disclaimer

While the material within this application is current at the time of writing changes in circumstances after the time of publication may impact on the accuracy of the material. Individuals are responsible for ensuring they have the most current version of this application.

The information and material contained herein is general in nature and is intended for your use and information. The NSW Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS) disclaims, to the extent permitted by law, all warranties, representations or endorsements, express or implied, with regard to the material contained herein. The NSW RFS does not warrant or represent that the material contained herein is free from errors or omissions, or that it is exhaustive. Users should exercise their own skill and care with respect to its uses. You must not assume that this material will be suitable for the particular purpose that you had in mind when using it.

The NSW RFS disclaims any liability (including but not limited to liability by reason of negligence) to the users of the material for any loss, damage, cost or expense whether direct, indirect, consequential or special, incurred by, or arising by reason of, any person using or relying on the material and whether caused by reason of, any error, omission or misrepresentation in the material or otherwise.

The NSW RFS recommends users of the application do not rely solely on the information provided in this application. A number of sources, including the www.rfs.nsw.gov.au website, 1800 679 737 information line and media, should be used and users should assess the relevance and accuracy of each.