This Privacy Policy applies to all the publicly accessible pages on State Records NSW (SRNSW) website.

Rights to privacy

The SRNSW must comply with the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW) which regulates the collection, storage, quality, use and disclosure of personal information.

Information that in some way identifies an individual may be gathered when using our website or sending us an email.

What information do we collect?

Information collected from web browsing

When you look at the pages on the NSW State Archives site, our computers automatically record small pieces of information.

This information does not identify a visitor.

Personally identifiable data is not collected nor is it available via the analytics tools that are used to gather this information. The information below is used for statistical purposes and to assist in diagnosing website issues. It is also used to determine audience outreach and improve the delivery of website content. For each page accessed the following is recorded:

  • the IP (Internet Protocol) address or host name eg. 123.123.123.12 or xxx.yyy.com.au;
  • the address of your server;
  • the date and time you visited the website;
  • the pages or documents you attempted to view or download, and whether those pages or documents were displayed
  • the type of browser and operating system you have used
  • the previous site visited, if you reached our website by clicking on a link
  • whether you have previously visited our website

Demographic data recorded by the analytics tools includes:

  • age group;
  • gender;
  • location;
  • language.

​Cookies

Cookies are small pieces of text data that a web server can store on, and later retrieve from, a user's computer.

They do not personally identify you, but do identify your browser (as listed above). 

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 (such as pages accessed and documents downloaded as listed above) upon return to the issuing web site. Session cookies are short-lived, are used only during a browsing session, and expire when you shut down your browser.

This site uses persistent cookies.

The cookies on this site do not read information on your hard drive. They do not make your computer perform any actions or make your computer send information to any other computer via the internet. Our server cannot find out your name or email address, or anything about your computer, by using cookies.

Information collected from online forms and services

When you submit a form on this website or provide information as part of using an online service, we collect information from this activity. This information may include personal and organisational details such as your full name, business name and contact information such as phone number or email address.

Clicking on the ‘submit’ button on the form acts as your consent for the SRNSW to collect the information you have provided. Before you submit this information we will take reasonable steps to inform you of:

  • the purpose of collecting the information you provided and how we intend to yse it
  • where applicable, any law that requires the particular information to be collected
  • which fields are mandatory and which are optional.

Information collected from email

If you send us an email, we will record your email address for the purpose of responding to you.

How do we use the information collected?

Information collected from web browsing is used to identify patterns of usage of this website. This will help us to improve our website and the electronic services offered on it.

Information collected from forms, newsletters and email will only be used for the purpose for which you have provided it. We will not use it for any other purpose, nor will we disclose it, unless with your consent or in other circumstances where such use or disclosure is permitted under the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998.

Your personal information (including your email address) will not be automatically added to a mailing list or sold or otherwise transferred to a third party for commercial purposes.

What exceptions are there to this rule?

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

  • unauthorised attempts to access files which are not published SRNSW pages
  • unauthorised tampering or interference with files published on the SRNSW website
  • unauthorised attempts to index the contents of the SRNSW website by other websites
  • attempts to intercept messages of other users of the SRNSW website
  • communications which are defamatory, abusive, vilify individuals or groups or which give rise to a suspicion that an offence is being committed; and
  • 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 SRNSW website by other users.

The SRNSW reserves the right to make disclosures to relevant authorities where the use of the SRNSW website raises a suspicion that an offence is being, or has been, committed. In the event of an investigation, SRNSW will provide access to data to any law enforcement agency that may exercise a warrant to inspect our logs.

Storage of personal information

Access - under the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 you have the right to access and change personal information we hold about you, such as your contact details.

Accuracy - we are committed to ensuring that the information we hold is accurate, complete and up to date, so we encourage you to advise us if the information you have given us has changed. If you believe our information is inaccurate, please contact us and we will correct the information.

Retention - we will retain the information you have provided for a period that is appropriate for the purpose for which it was provided. Your information will be archived and disposed of in accordance with our policies and the relevant retention and disposal authorities.