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Privacy

Western Sydney University is committed to the protection of your personal information. The University will adhere to the provisions of the NSW Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (the Act) in relation to the personal information it acquires, holds, uses or communicates relating to students, staff or other persons.

The following statement outlines policy, procedures and safeguards in place to manage personal information related to the content and use of Western Sydney University websites. It is the privacy policy statement of corporate Western Sydney University and should be read in conjunction with the Western Sydney University Privacy Policy. The statement is not intended to cover Western Sydney University entities and affiliated bodies, who may be subject to national legislation. For privacy policy information on Western Sydney University entities and affiliated bodies, please contact the relevant entity or body.

Collection of Personal Information

When you engage in certain activities on this website, such as requesting information, downloading information or other content, Western Sydney University may ask you to provide certain information about yourself by filling out and submitting an online form. It is completely optional for you to engage in these activities.

If you elect to engage in these activities, Western Sydney University may ask that you provide us personal information, such as your name, contact details (including addresses, phone, fax and email) and other personal identifying information.

Western Sydney University will only collect sufficient information necessary to enable us to comply with your request for information. Communications sent by the Western Sydney University website will be sent to appropriate University staff for action as needed.

It is important to remember that the University also holds personal information about individuals that it generates in the course of its operational activities, such as staff salaries and wages, timetables, examination results and library records.

Recording of your Email

If you send us a message, the University will record your email address. This email address will only be used for the purpose in which you have provided it. We will not use your email address for any other purpose and will not disclose it without your consent; however, some email communications may be monitored for statistical and quality purposes by the University.

It is important to remember that email is not a secure form of communication and that Western Sydney University cannot guarantee that your message will not be viewed by someone else when being sent to us. We strongly recommend that you write to us if the information you wish to provide is highly confidential.

How your Personal Information is Used

All information collected by the University is necessary to conduct the business of Western Sydney University as an educational institution.

The University's use of personal information is limited to the purposes for which it was collected except where the individual has agreed to another use or in emergency circumstances.

Some information may be collected for statistical purposes for use in University planning and for mandatory government reporting.

The University will only retain personal information for as long as is necessary, and will then dispose of the personal information securely, in accordance with approved methods.

Disclosure of Personal Information

Disclosure of personal information is limited to the purpose for which it was collected.

No personal information will be disclosed to a third party without your consent, except where it is legally required, such as compliance with a search warrant or a subpoena or in certain emergency circumstances.

There are interactive features on some of the Western Sydney University websites, including chat rooms, discussion forums, message boards, and/or news groups. These features are opt-in services and by their nature require that certain details are transmitted to third parties. Please remember that any information that is disclosed in these sites is public information and that you should not post any information that you do not want seen.

Security of your Information

Western Sydney University has a number of security measures in place to protect your information. There are categories of security information that can only be accessed with a login name and password. These security measures aim to ensure that only authorised users are able to access personal information. Users should ensure that their login name and password are kept securely, and not accessed by others. Western Sydney University encrypts your personal information and thereby aims to prevent unauthorised parties from viewing such information when it is transmitted to Western Sydney University.

Your Choices with Respect to Personal Information

Western Sydney University recognises and appreciates the importance of responsible use of information collected on this site. If you do not want the information you provide to the University to be used, and you indicate this preference when you provide your personal information to Western Sydney University, Western Sydney University will endeavour to honour your preference.

Please note that if you provide Western Sydney University with inconsistent privacy preferences (for example, by indicating on one occasion that Western Sydney University may contact you with course information offers and indicating on another occasion that they may not), Western Sydney University cannot guarantee that your most recent privacy preference will be honoured.

Collection of Information

When you visit Western Sydney University, you can surf the site anonymously and access important information without revealing your identity.

No attempt will be made to identify individual users or their browsing activities except, in the unlikely event of an investigation, where a law enforcement agency may exercise a warrant to inspect Western Sydney University logs.

In order to improve our site, we use ‘cookies' to track your visit. A ‘cookie' is a packet of information that allows the server (the computer that houses the website) to identify and interact more effectively with your computer.

When you use a Western Sydney University website, we send you a temporary cookie that functions as your identification card. A different identification card is sent each time you use the website. While Western Sydney University uses cookies to track your visit to Western Sydney University websites and our web servers automatically log the IP/Internet address of your computer, this information does not identify you personally.

Most browsers are initially set to accept cookies. You can set your browser to accept all cookies, reject all cookies, or notify you when a cookie is sent. Please refer to your computer browser instructions or help screens to learn more about these functions. If you reject all cookies, you may not be able to use our websites.

When you access the Western Sydney University website, our web server makes a record of your visit and log the following information for statistical purposes:

the client IP address
the access date and time
the pages you accessed and documents downloaded
the previous site you visited
the type of browser you used.

Students wishing to obtain access to their personal information should contact the functional area holding their personal information.

For further information regarding access and amendments to your personal information, please refer to the Western Sydney University Privacy Policy Guidelines or the Western Sydney University Calendar.

E-Learning and vUWS

vUWS, the University's e-learning system, is used for teaching and learning to support on campus and off campus teaching. Each site within vUWS, such as an undergraduate unit, is password protected and authorised access is required. There is information stored on the University's vUWS system about staff and student usage and access throughout a site.

(a) server usage information - the server logs and records details about user access (staff and students). This information is used for investigating access difficulties, improving server performance and tracing any breaches of security. The information is also used for statistical analysis of access times and locations and other patterns of use to aid in systems planning and improvement. Information is not released to any third party. Authorised staff have access to the server logs.

(b) site usage information - vUWS automatically tracks personal information about how students use unit material, how and when unit material has been accessed, and the number of discussion postings read and posted. The system also retains, for a designated teaching period for a unit, electronic assignment submissions and quiz results and marks if used, contributions posted to the site discussion board and transcripts of chat room discussions. Unit coordinators and associated teaching staff and other authorised staff with legitimate reasons have access to this information. (Note the other authorised staff access is guided by established protocols). Unit coordinators may also compile and save discussion postings for teaching improvement purposes.

Links to Other Websites

The website contains links to third-party websites. These links are provided solely for your convenience. They are not an endorsement by us of the contents of such third-party websites. We are not responsible for the content or practices of linked third-party sites. We do not make any representations or warranties about the content or accuracy of materials on such third-party websites or the practices of such sites. If you decide to access linked third-party websites, you do so at your own risk. You are encouraged to review the terms of use, privacy policy, and other policies of any linked site, as the policies of the linked site may differ from those of this website.

Further Information

This statement deals primarily with privacy issues associated with the use of the University of Western Sydney's website.

Further information about privacy matters including contact points for any enquiries can be found at Privacy at Western Sydney University