Privacy Statement
The Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust (SMCT) recognises a person’s privacy is a fundamental human right and is committed to protecting Personal Information we hold and to complying with all relevant privacy laws, including the Charter and the Act.
SMCT will only collect such personal information as is necessary for fulfilling its functions of operating a Class A Cemetery Trust (refer Cemeteries and Crematoria Act 2003, Section 12A), including operating cafes and other facilities and its dealings with funeral directors and consumers.
SMCT will be open and transparent about the information being collected.
SMCT will ensure that it keeps records of interments, places of interment, cremations and rights of interment and make such information available for inspection at any reasonable time for historical or research purposes, as required under the Cemeteries and Crematoria Act 2003 (Sections 59-60).
Whilst information about a deceased person is not Personal Information for the purposes of the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic) SMCT will ensure that the privacy of persons still living is protected where their identity can be reasonably ascertained from supplying the public information regarding a deceased person.
Privacy Statement – Further explanation
Personal Information
Personal Information means any information that may be used to identify an individual, including, but not limited to, a first and last name, a home, business, or other physical address, a phone number, and an email address.
We collect Personal Information from our Site users and customers only when such information is voluntarily provided to us in connection with enquiries regarding our services through the ‘Enquire Now’ page, as part of signing up for our email subscriptions, or during your business transactions with us.
How We May Use Your Information
If you provide us with Personal Information, we may retain and use that information for several purposes, including facilitating and otherwise addressing your enquiry, request, subscriptions, or business transactions and relationship with SMCT. We may also use Personal Information to ensure compliance with our policies and any applicable law.
With Whom We May Share Your Information
We may use other businesses to perform services for us, such as maintaining the Site and our e-mail services and processing enquiries. SMCT will not sell or share your Personal Information with any unaffiliated third parties for marketing purposes. We reserve the right to disclose such information in special cases when we have reason to believe that disclosing this information is necessary to identify, contact, or bring legal action against someone who may be (either intentionally or unintentionally) causing injury to or interference with our rights or property, other visitors, or anyone else that could be harmed by such activities. We also reserve the right to disclose such information when we believe in good faith that the law requires it.
Non-Personal Information
We may collect general, non-personal, statistical information about the use of the Site, such as original sites from which visitors access our Site, when they first visited our Site, their IP address, how many visitors access a specific page on the Site, how long they stay on that page and which hyperlinks, if any, they ‘click’ on. We may use the IP address to infer information about such visitors, including their company, city and state. We collect this information through the use of ‘cookies’ and other tracking technologies in order to determine which areas of the Site are most popular and to enhance the Site for visitors. We may group this information into aggregate visitor data in order to describe the use of the Site to our existing or potential business partners, sponsors, advertisers, or other third parties, or in response to a government request. However, please be assured that this aggregated data will in no way personally identify you or any other visitors to the Site.
Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies
Some of our web pages utilise ‘cookies’ and other tracking technologies. A cookie is a small text file that a website transfers to an individual’s web browser and is stored on the device. Cookies and other tracking technologies may record information such as a URL and domain requested, referral URL’s, Internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser software and operating system types, clickstream patterns, and dates and times that our Site is accessed. We, and/or our third-party advertising service providers, may place cookies or similar files on your computer for security purposes (such as authentication), to facilitate site navigation and to personalise your experience while visiting our Site. Cookies allow us to collect technical and navigational information, such as browser type, time spent on our Site and pages visited (these types of cookies are typically referred to as ‘Session Cookies’). We also use cookies that enable us to serve advertisements of our products and services, including special offers, when you visit other websites (these cookies may be referred to as ‘Advertising Cookies’).
We do not obtain, store or maintain any Personal Information about you through our use of cookies (either the Session Cookies or the Advertising Cookies). Also, we do not link the information we store in cookies to any Personal Information you may submit while on the Site. However, we reserve the right to use IP addresses and other tracking technologies to identify a visitor only when we deem it necessary to enforce compliance with the Site’s policies, to protect the Site, our customers, or others, or when we believe in good faith that it is require by law.
You may set most browsers to notify you if you receive a cookie, or you may choose to block cookies with your browser. However, please be aware that some features of the Site may not function properly or may be slower if you refuse cookies. While the Site does not currently respond to ‘Do Not Track’ signals submitted by your browser, you can opt out of any of the Advertising Cookies at any time by simply visiting http://www.google.com/settings/ads/onweb/?hl=en to adjust your preferences. You can find out more about your ‘Do Not Track’ options, please visit http://www.allaboutDNT.com.
If you have any questions regarding SMCT’s privacy practices, you are encouraged to contact SMCT at enquiries@smct.org.au.
Users are advised that there are inherent risks in transmitting information across the internet.
Individuals may contact SMCT by phone or mail if they have concerns about making contact via the internet.
Collection
When you only browse SMCT’s websites, SMCT does not collect your personal information.
Sometimes, SMCT collects personal information that individuals choose to give via online forms or by email, for example when they:
- Ask to be on an email list
- Make an appointment request
- Request information to be emailed
- Send SMCT a written comment via SMCT’s main webpage (http://smct.org.au).
When an individual looks at SMCT’s websites a record is made of the individual’s visit and SMCT may log the following information for statistical purposes:
- The individual’s server address
- The individual’s top level domain name (for example .com, .gov, .org, .au, etc.)
- The pages the individual accessed and documents downloaded
- The previous site the individual visited
- The type of device being used
- What search terms lead the user to the page
- The type of browser being used
SMCT does not identify users or their browsing activities except, where a law enforcement agency may exercise a warrant to inspect server logs in the event of an investigation.
Complaints
SMCT takes its obligations pursuant to the Information Privacy Act seriously. You may complain about SMCT’s breach of any of the IPPs
by submitting your complaint in writing to the Privacy Officer.
Any complaints should detail all relevant particulars, including why you believe SMCT has breached the IPP.
Upon receiving a written complaint, SMCT will acknowledge receipt in writing within 7 days. SMCT will investigate and provide a written response within 28 days from the date the complaint was originally received.
Please address your enquiry to:
The Privacy Officer
PO Box 1159
Clayton VIC 3169