This site is owned and operated by the City of Parramatta Council using software licensed from Harvest Digital Planning (Harvest). For details on how the City of Parramatta Council collects and protects your personal information, refer to the City of Parramatta Council Privacy Statement below. For details of how Harvest may access personal information, please refer to Harvest’s Privacy Policy.
City of Parramatta Council Privacy Statement
This website privacy statement describes how Harvest Digital Planning Pty Ltd (ABN: 12 148 958 927) (“Harvest”) collects, protects and uses your personal information through its online software applications (the “Software”) through the website [https://participate.cityofparramatta.nsw.gov.au/] (known as “Participate Parramatta”) licensed to the City of Parramatta Council (ABN 49 907 174 773) (“City of Parramatta”).
We take your privacy seriously
The City of Parramatta values the privacy of individuals who visit and use https://participate.cityofparramatta.nsw.gov.au/ and the City of Parramatta associated websites and services. This privacy statement outlines how we deal with your personal information.
The City of Parramatta and Harvest are subject to the New South Wales Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 and the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002. These Acts give people some control over the personal information they provide to an agency and the right to know how it will be used.
What is personal information?
Personal information includes any information or opinion about an individual whose identity is apparent or can be readily identified from the information or opinion. For further information visit the NSW Information and Privacy Commission website.
Links to external websites
This website contains links to external websites not owned or operated by the City of Parramatta. The City of Parramatta is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such websites.
Social media
“Participate Parramatta” uses social media sites to share and promote information resources and services. The City of Parramatta abides by the privacy policies and terms of service of third-party social media providers we use. We will not share personal information when we post to social media. We remind users to be mindful not to post any personal information that they do not wish to be made public, and to seek consent before posting the personal information of others.
Collection of personal information
“Participate Parramatta” will only collect personal information which you provide to us and will only use it for the purposes for which it was collected. We keep the collection and retention of personal information to the minimum required to support our functions. The provision of personal information is voluntary; however, some services are only available to registered users or where certain information is provided.
At all points of collection, we will inform you of what personal information we need, why we need it, and any specific conditions around the collection and use of that information. Personal information collected by “Participate Parramatta” will be treated within the terms of the New South Wales Government's privacy responsibilities and obligations.
Anonymous information is also collected for statistical purposes, to monitor usage of our site and services, and to gather information to help us see how we can make future improvements.
Personal information collected by third parties
This website provides access to services and functionalities which are delivered by third-party vendors, whose websites are not owned or operated by the City of Parramatta, e.g. Eventbrite for event bookings. When you use these functions, you do so on these vendors’ websites, and the personal information you provide will be used, disclosed, transferred and stored in accordance with their privacy policies. The City of Parramatta is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of these websites. We will endeavor to inform you where you have left “Participate Parramatta” website and we encourage you to read the privacy policies of all third parties before providing any information to them.
Our third-party partners may provide “Participate Parramatta” with your contact details if required to resolve any service issues. Non-identifiable data will also be used by Harvest for analytical purposes.
The provision of personal information to third-party providers is voluntary, however some services can only be made available to identified users.
User registration on the website
The City of Parramatta uses the third party community engagement platform owned by Harvest to handle registrations and logins on “Participate Parramatta”. This platform allows for limited profile sharing across the website. This includes Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn).
Registering with the website is voluntary; however, some services may only be available to registered users.
Feedback from users
We collect your feedback to understand your views on projects, which shape the City. Providing personal details is required for feedback forms and submissions. Any information you choose to give us is used to understand community views and to inform decision-making. Information such as ideas and views on projects may be released under the Government Information Public Access Act (GIPA) that is de-personalised.
If you provide your contact details, you may be contacted to provide further feedback.
Photographs of users
Photographs and video may be used to document “Participate Parramatta” events for reporting and promotional purposes.
An individual must give consent for the use of their photograph or video image for an event. If consent is not provided no identifiable, photos or videos footage of you are taken.
Metadata collected about website visits
We automatically collect certain information when you use our website, including
- information about your interaction with the website, including the actions you take, e.g. the pages or other content you view or otherwise interact with;
- the dates and times of your visits;
- device information, such as your IP address or other device address or unique device identifier, operating system information, web browser, and/or device type and language; and
- non-identifying data you enter into web forms (e.g. search terms).
This information is then aggregated and evaluated, and may be published in reports that show “Participate Parramatta” usage patterns and identify popular areas of the website. This helps us to improve and develop the website and its services.
Cookies
The website uses cookies to improve the responsiveness of the site to repeat visitors. Cookies help reduce the information you might need to enter multiple times, and can take you to frequently visited parts of the site more quickly. If you choose to disable cookies on your browser, you are welcome to do so, without losing any functions or services provided by “Participate Parramatta”, but you may find your browsing experience is less automated.
For security reasons, Harvest also uses some visitor data to detect and respond to criminal activity. We use software programs to monitor network traffic and identify unauthorised attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage to our organisation.
Use of personal information
Any personal information collected by the City of Parramatta through this website will only be used for the purpose for which it has been collected, which includes to properly consider your feedback and submissions and to communicate with you further about these matters, if required.
The City of Parramatta will only publish personal information on the website if it has been collected for this purpose with your knowledge and consent.
Any personal information collected can be accessed by you and may also be available to third parties in accordance with the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998, Council's Access to Information Policy and Privacy Management Plan.
You may contact City of Parramatta at 126 Church Street, Parramatta to access to, and correct, any personal information you have provided. Enquiries concerning this matter can be addressed to City of Parramatta’s Privacy Contact Officer, by contacting City of Parramatta on 1300 617 058. City of Parramatta’s offices are located at 126 Church Street, Parramatta, NSW, 2150.
Disclosure
Except for when required by law, the City of Parramatta will not disclose your personal information to any third party unless you have authorised us to do so. Under no circumstances will the City of Parramatta sell or receive payment for licensing or disclosing your personal information.
City of Parramatta is subject to the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPA). Applications to access information are considered under (GIPA) in accordance with the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998.
Personal information may be disclosed under services contracts entered into by the City of Parramatta as a service provider in connection with the specific customer service provisions of “Participate Parramatta”.
Access to aggregated website data is restricted to a limited number of authorised staff who analyse and report on the success of the website in order to meet the City of Parramatta’s communication and access objectives. In the event of an external investigation, a law enforcement agency may exercise a warrant to inspect the “Participate Parramatta” logs.
Storage
The “Participate Parramatta” website has security measures in place to protect against loss, misuse and alteration of information by Harvest. Harvest meet legislative requirements and follow industry best practice to ensure the security of the website and the information systems behind it.
Access, accuracy and remove
You have the right to access and correct personal information about you held by “Participate Parramatta”.
The City of Parramatta will take reasonable steps to ensure your personal information is accurate, complete and up to date. Should you wish to access or amend this information, please contact participate@cityofparramatta.nsw.gov.au.
If you no longer wish to receive any communications, or want to be removed from “Participate Parramatta”, or would like to request data deletion, please contact participate@cityofparramatta.nsw.gov.au.
“Participate Parramatta” content is retained in accordance with the State Records Act.
Where can I find more information?
If you have any questions about this Web Privacy Statement, please contact us on participate@cityofparramatta.nsw.gov.au.
Further information on NSW privacy law can be found at the NSW Information and Privacy Commission website.
This Statement is regularly reviewed and updated.
Date of last revision: September 2021
