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Privacy Policy

ABC Online is strongly committed to protecting your privacy while interacting with our content, products and services. We want to provide a safe and secure environment for you and your children.

The ABC is concerned about protecting the safety and privacy of young people using our services. We encourage you to participate in your child's online experience. We also encourage you and your child to visit the age-appropriate ABC Online website specifically designed for children, 'The Playground' at abc.net.au/children.

The purpose of this Privacy Policy is to tell you what kind of information we may gather about you when you visit our site, how we may use that information, whether we disclose it to anyone, and the choices you have regarding our use of, and your ability to correct this information. Our policy allows you to choose what kind and how much information you provide to us and to control how we use whatever information you give us. Our goal is to provide you with a satisfying experience while allowing you to control your privacy and to give you a means to voice any questions or concerns you may have.

This policy applies only to ABC Online and not to other companies' or organisations' websites to which ABC Online is linked.

Please note that the ABC Shop has additional information about how it deals with privacy and personal information you provide ABC Online when dealing with the ABC Shop. Please visit the ABC Shop's privacy and security page.

Collection of information

Information is collected from you primarily to make it easier and more rewarding for you to use our services. Depending on the service you are accessing, you could be asked to provide information such as your name, email address or information about what you like and do not like. It is entirely your choice whether to respond to these questions or not.

ABC Online collects two types of information. The first type is anonymous information. For instance, we may collect information to tell us that five thousand people visit this Privacy Policy today, but we do not know their names, where they live or their date of birth - they are 'anonymous' to us. Another example of ABC Online collecting anonymous information is when ABC audiences are invited to respond to surveys on the ABC website. The surveys may ask you for demographic information such as your age, gender and postcode. This information is collected for research purposes, is used in the aggregate (where possible), and remains anonymous. Many of the individuals who access our services are anonymous to us.

The second type of information that ABC Online collects is personal information. ABC Online will collect personal information that lets us know the specifics of who you are such as your name, email address, or postal address, when you provide it to us. With this information, ABC Online can provide a variety of personalised and enhanced services that are not available to anonymous users. We hope that you will find it beneficial to provide individually identifiable information about yourself to us because it will make our services more valuable to you.

Sometimes, we may specifically ask for personal information about you when you sign up to use a service. Certain information may be required, such as your name, age, internet address or screen name, billing address, type of computer, credit card number, in order to provide that service or product to you. This information may also be used to inform you of additional products and services which may interest you. You can choose not to receive such information when you are undertaking product or service registration on our website. We may also ask about your interests, but it is your choice whether to respond.

How much of your personal information that you choose to disclose to ABC Online is completely up to you. The only way we know something about you personally is if you provide it to us, for example when you take part in a discussion forum or enter one of the competitions on our websites.

Use of anonymous information

ABC Online automatically gathers anonymous information to monitor the use of ABC Online like the numbers and frequency of visitors to ABC Online and its areas, very much like television ratings that tell the networks how many people tuned in to a program. We only use such data in the aggregate. This collective data helps us determine how much our audiences use parts of the site, so we can improve ABC Online to assure that it is as appealing as we can make it for as many users as possible. ABC Online may publish or provide this aggregate data to other people.

Use of personal information

ABC Online will only use the personal information you have chosen to provide us for the purpose for which you provided it. ABC Online will not use it for any other purpose without your consent.

Cookies

For information about cookies on ABC Online see this page.

The ABC Shop site currently uses cookies. For more information about how the ABC Shop uses cookies, please visit the ABC Shop's privacy policy at http://www.abcshop.com.au/help/privacy.shtm


Disclosure

There will be occasions where it will be necessary for the ABC to disclose your personal information to third parties. The ABC may be required by law to disclose the information, or the ABC may be required to disclose your personal information to third parties to provide the service you have requested, for example, if you purchase products online from the ABC Shop, the ABC will need to disclose your personal information to third parties in order to bill and deliver your products. However, the disclosure will only be made where it is necessary to fulfil the purpose for which you disclosed your personal information. Otherwise than stated above, we do not disclose personal information that you may give us, such as your name, address, email address or telephone number, to any organisation or person outside the ABC unless you have authorised us to do so. For example, when you contribute to an online forum you may want to publish your name and email address.

No sale of personal information

Under no circumstances will ABC Online sell or receive payment for licensing or disclosing your personal information.

Interacting with ABC Online

There are many interactive features on ABC Online that you can contribute to. These include: Guestbooks, Forums, Event Diaries, Reviews, Recipes, Online Voting, Community, Mailing Lists and Email.

When interacting with ABC Online, we suggest that you use your discretion and exercise caution when providing your personal information.

Note that whenever you post personal information in publicly accessible places, such as chat rooms or message boards, this information becomes available to anyone with access to the internet. This information can be collected and used by others. In short, if you post personal information online that is accessible to the public, you may receive unsolicited messages from other parties in return. Therefore, we recommend that you refrain from posting any information that you do not want seen in these public areas. For example, when participating in an ABC forum, guest book or chat area, your name will appear on the message board. The ABC recommends that applicants registering online do not use their real names, but a pen name or pseudonym. You must not intentionally use the name of another living person.

Ultimately, you are solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of your passwords and/or any personal information. Be responsible whenever you are online.

Access and correction: personal data

If ABC Online holds your personal information the ABC will where possible provide you with access to the information. The ABC will take reasonable steps to correct the information so that it is accurate, complete and up to date.

Security

The ABC operates secure data networks that are designed to protect your privacy and security. The ABC Shop has it's own Security and Privacy Issues document which can be found on The Shop website at http://www.abcshop.com.au/help/privacy.shtm.

Complaints about privacy

If you have any complaints relating to online privacy issues on our websites, please notify ABC Online. While the ABC accepts no liability for any material or links posted to the service, we will investigate all complaints.

Changes to ABC Online privacy policy

If we decide to change the ABC Online Privacy Policy, we will post those changes here.