Privacy Policy
We are committed to protecting the privacy and security of the users of our sites.
This privacy policy will advise you about how we protect your personal information, and about what choices you have concerning our use of such information. Please read this policy carefully. We may need to change this policy from time to time in order to address new issues and reflect changes on our sites. We will post those changes here so that you will always know what information we gather, how we might use that information, and whether we will disclose that information to anyone. Please refer back to this policy regularly.
If you have any questions or concerns about our privacy policy, please visit our Contact page.
Scope Of Privacy Policy
This policy applies to your use of this site and any services provided that lie within the domain commonground.org.au.
Personal Identification Information
We may request personal identification information from you in connection with your use of, or participation in, membership registration, our contests, games, surveys, forums, subscription registrations, content submissions, chats, bulletin boards, discussion groups, requests for suggestions, visitors' requests for free products or services or additional information, and in connection with other activities, services or resources we make available on any of our sites. In all of these cases, we will collect personal identification information from you only if you voluntarily submit such information to us. We will never intentionally disclose any personal identification information about you as an individual user (such as, for example, your full name, street address, telephone number, credit card number or e-mail address) to any third party without having received your permission.
If you do provide us with personal information, we may use it to conduct the activities described above. If you identify yourself to us by sending us an e-mail with questions or comments, we may use your personal information to respond to your questions or comments. We may file your comments for future reference, or we may discard the information after we have reviewed it.
We may also contact you to confirm your registration and about your account status and regarding changes to this site's Terms and Conditions and this Privacy Policy.
If you give us your permission, we may also use personal identification information for internal or external marketing and promotional purposes. On occasion, for example, we may send you e-mails to introduce a product or service that we think might be of interest to the users of our sites. For us to obtain your permission to send you this information, we will give you an opportunity to "opt-in" at the time our request for your personal information is made. It is, unless otherwise explicitely stated by email or some other means, automatically assumed that you will "opt-in" after our initial request is recieved. However, you may choose to "opt-out" at any time, even after you have provided personal information, by following the procedures set forth below at the end of this Privacy Policy. Please note, however, that under certain circumstances, if you initially do not choose to "opt-in," or if you later "opt-out," you may not be eligible for certain benefits for which a name, e-mail address, telephone number or other personal identification information is needed.
We have the following exceptions to these policies: We will release specific information about you or your account to comply with any valid legal process such as a search warrant, subpoena, statute or court order. We will also release specific information in special cases, such as if there is an attempted breach of the security of this site, or a physical or property threat to you or others.
Please note that if you give out personal information online -- for example, on a public forum such as a message board or chat room, folder, chat IM feature -- that information can be collected and used by third parties. Although we strive to protect our users' privacy, we cannot guarantee the security of information you post in these forums. You disclose such information at your own risk.
Non-Personal Identification Information
We collect non-personal identification information through the use of "cookie" technology and/or IP address tracking. Non-personal identification information might include the browser you use, the type of computer, technical information about your means of connection to our site-such as the operating systems and the Internet service providers utilized, and other similar information. Our system also automatically gathers information about the areas you visit and search terms you utilize on our sites and about the links you may select from within our site to other areas of the World Wide Web or elsewhere online.
We use such information to administer the site and, in the aggregate, to understand how our users as a group use the services and resources provided on our sites. This way we know which areas of our sites are favourites of our users, which areas need improvement, and what technologies are being used so that we may continually improve our sites.
We may share this aggregate statistical information with our partners, suppliers and other third parties, but we will not share any individual names, personal navigational or other personal information. Some of our advertisers may display ads on our sites which solicit or contain technology to collect information about our users for the advertisers, but we will not permit such advertisers to collect any personal information from our users within our sites.
Most browsers are set to accept cookies. You can set your browser to refuse cookies, or to alert you when cookies are being sent. If you do so, please note that some parts of this site, such as message boards, chats, contests and game areas, may not function properly.
The Use of Cookie Technology
A cookie is an element of data that a web site can send to your browser, which may then store it on your system. Our site makes use of cookies to permit the completion of the user's current activity on the site and for aggregate, non-personally identifiable analysis (for example we may track the number of times users visit a portion of our site, but we do not track or know who those users are). We only use cookies to collect personally identifiable information with your consent, as described above under Personal Identification Information.
Most browsers are set to accept cookies. You can set your browser to refuse cookies, or to alert you when cookies are being sent. If you do so, please note that some parts of this site, such as message boards, chats, contests and game areas, may not function properly.
This site is P3P enabled. P3P is a standardized set of multiple-choice questions which cover the major aspects of a Web site's privacy policies and which, taken together, present a clear snapshot of how a site handles users' personal information. P3P-enabled Web sites make this information available in a standard, machine-readable format that P3P enabled browsers can "read" automatically and compare to the user's own set of privacy preferences. For example, Internet Explorer 6 requires third parties that set cookies to deliver P3P compact cookie policies with their cookies. IE6's default setting will test whether a cookie collects personal information and allows an opt-out. IE6 users may change their privacy level to a higher or lower level than the default setting. P3P was developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), a worldwide web standards setting organization.
Privacy of Children
We understand that young people need special safeguards and privacy protection. We realize that they may not understand all the provisions of our policy or be able to make thoughtful decisions about the choices that are made available to our adult users. We strongly urge all parents to participate in their children's exploration of the Internet and any online services, and to teach their children about protecting their personal information while online.
This site is not directed to children under the age of 13. We prohibit registration by children under the age of 13 for all interactive portions of the site including chats and message boards. We will not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under 13.
Note to Parents: If you have any concerns about this site or the related services or anything that lies within the domain commonground.org.au, please contact us.
Links To Other Sites
Users may find advertising or other content on our sites that link to the sites and services of our partners, suppliers, advertisers, sponsors, licensors and other third parties. In many cases, the links represent cooperative projects or are mutual links established with persons or entities connected with our sites. Although we initially visit the sites or services that are so linked, we do not control the contents or links that appear on these sites. In addition, these sites or services, including their contents and links, may be constantly changing. These sites and services may have their own privacy policies and customer service policies, or no policy (policies) at all. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third party sites or services before providing any of them with your personal information.
Security Policy
Protecting your privacy and your information is a top priority. We have taken careful measures to secure both your information and our physical premises. We exercise great care in providing secure transmission of your information from your PC to our servers. Our secure server software encrypts information, ensuring that all Internet transactions remain private (unless sent by an unsecured means, such as e-mail).
Choice/Opt-Out
If you "opt-in" to receive information from us or others, you can change your mind later. If at any time you would like to stop receiving such information or "opt-out" of a feature, you can let us know by sending an e-mail stating your preference to info@commonground.org.au. To help us address your request, please specify the feature from which you wish to opt out.
Your Acceptance of These Terms
By using of this site and/or any services and/or anything that lies within the domain commonground.org.au, you signify your acceptance of our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to this policy, please do not use our site or any of the provided services. Your continued use of this site or any of the services provided following the posting of changes to these terms will mean that you accept those changes.