General privacy statement
What information do we collect?
How do we use the information collected?
What exceptions are there to this rule?
Is the information stored securely?
What will we do with information provided in Feedback?
Will this policy be updated over time?
General Privacy Statement
The New South Wales (NSW) Electronic Tendering System (eTendering) is managed by the Department of Finance, Services and Innovation.
This Privacy Policy applies to all the publicly accessible pages on the eTendering system. Responsibility for the privacy policies or practices of third party sites (those not directly controlled by Department of Finance, Services and Innovation) linked to the eTendering system is not included.
If you have any questions about the eTendering system, or the application of this Privacy Policy or a request for access to information held please contact:
NSW Procurement Service Centre
McKell Building
2-24 Rawson Place
SYDNEY NSW 2000
email: nswbuy@treasury.nsw.gov.au
Users of the eTendering system are entitled to expect that any information as a result of that use 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 New South Wales Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1988.
What information do we collect?
The type of information that is collected by the eTendering system can be broken down into three distinct groups. They are:
1. System information
2. Tendering Details
3. Notification Details
How do we use the information collected?
The three different groups of information (described above) are treated differently, as follows:
System information: The information collected during each visit is aggregated with similar logged information and published in reports in order for the Department of Finance, Services and Innovation to identify patterns of usage of the system. This will assist us in improving the system and the services offered on it.
The Department of Finance, Services and Innovation 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 New South Wales Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1988.
Tendering Details: This information is used to identify who have registered on the eTendering system. The system records these records for the business of tendering in such instances as when a registrant downloads or orders documentation (purchased or otherwise). This also applies when a registrant lodges a tender response. A good example of the use of this information is if a tender has changed since it was published on the system. Then those registrants who have collected that specific tender will be sent an email to let them know that it has changed.
This information is not used for any purpose other than tendering related matters or the support of registrants in the use of the eTendering system.
Notification Details: These details are used only within the eTendering system to determine who should be sent notification about tenders. NSW Government may use this information to determine the level of interest from industry for a particular category of goods and service. It will not be shared with non-government entities.
What exceptions are there to this rule?
The Department of Finance, Services and Innovation will collect, use and disclose information stated above in the following circumstances:
· where another NSW Government agency (including State-owned Corporations and other quasi-agencies) participates in eTendering (by publishing tender opportunities on the eTendering system) they will also be given access to the information above. However only where it relates to the specific tender opportunities that have been published by that specific agency for the purposes of tendering business and support. These other agencies are given the information on the understanding that it will not be used for any purpose that is not tendering related.
· unauthorised attempts to access files that are not published pages of the eTendering system;
· unauthorised tampering or interference with files published on the Department of Finance, Services and Innovation site;
· unauthorised attempts to index the contents of the eTendering system by other sites;
· attempts to intercept messages of other users of the Department of Finance, Services and Innovation 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 enjoyment of the eTendering system by other users, and
· the Department of Finance, Services and Innovation reserves the right to make disclosures to relevant authorities where the use of the eTendering system raises a suspicion that an offence is being, or has been, committed. In the event of an investigation, the Department of Finance, Services and Innovation will provide access to data to any law enforcement agency that may exercise a warrant to inspect our records.
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Is the information stored securely?
Yes. Information collected is stored in an appropriately secure format and held by the Department of Finance, Services and Innovation for archival purposes.
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What will we do with information provided in Feedback?
The Department of Finance, Services and Innovation provides feedback facilities on the eTendering system to allow users to provide input into the future development of the system and to comment on the provision of service .The Department of Finance, Services and Innovation provides a query service for those that may need help or support in their use of the eTendering system.
The provision of personal details on feedback and queries is optional. Users may provide personal details for the purpose of receiving a reply to their feedback or query. 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 Department of Finance, Services and Innovation may publish aggregated information about feedback and/or queries on the site, to the extent that it does not identify or cannot be used to identify individual users.
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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.
