PHC RIS privacy policy and data collection

The following data collection and privacy policy has been developed in reference to the principles and guidelines set out in the Information Privacy Principles under the Privacy Act 1988 (www.privacy.gov.au/publications/ipps.html), and the Standard elements for all privacy statements proposed by ESOMAR and MRS listed on the WebSM website: (www.websm.org/index.php?fl=2&lact=1&bid=11609&parent=35).

Who is doing the research

The Primary Health Care Research and Information Service (PHC RIS) contributes to improved primary health care policy and practice. The service aims to increase the exchange of information about Australian general practice, primary health care research, evaluation and development, between primary health care researchers, policy advisors and the national network of the Divisions of General Practice. PHC RIS is an independent academic unit based at Flinders University in South Australia in the Discipline of General Practice and is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing. For more information about PHC RIS, refer to the following link www.phcris.org.au/aboutus

How information is collected

Our servers automatically record information about your usage of this site, namely, the time you visited and the pages called up. We obtain this information through the use of "cookies". If you don't want us to retain any information, you can remove all cookies through the use of Preferences in your browser program and also set your browser not to accept cookies in future. On our site you are able to order publications and subscribe to one of our email services such as eBulletin. The types of personally identifiable information that may be collected at these pages include: name, address, organisation, e-mail address and phone number. All of our email services include instructions on how to "unsubscribe" from the service.

In line with their funding agreement information is sought by PHC RIS from the Divisions of General Practice Network about their activities, infrastructure, and membership, as well as planning and reporting information, particularly in relation to National Performance Indicators. This information is sought for the purposes of providing valuable information regarding Divisions' activities for Divisions of General Practice Network, funders, policy makers, researchers and other stakeholders interested in building relationships with Divisions.

PHC RIS operates a helpdesk to assist respondents with any problems or queries they may have in relation to filling out the ASD or complying with the planning and reporting framework.

How information is retained

Once information has been received by PHC RIS, it is transferred into a secure database for the analysis purposes. Measures have been put in place to protect the loss, misuse and alteration of information received by PHC RIS. Access to stored information is restricted to relevant PHC RIS employees, for data analysis and quality control purposes only. Some systems may retain information that links the current user or visitor to the information entered or requested. This information may be used for administrative purposes. Data stored by PHC RIS will not be used or disclosed for any commercial purposes.

How we information is used

We may use the information you provide about yourself to fulfil your requests for our publications, services, to respond to your enquiries and to alert you about new PHC RIS products and servies. We will not provide any of your personal information we obtain through this website to other parties without your consent. We sometimes use the non-personally identifiable information that we collect to improve the design and content of our site and to enable us to personalise your Internet experience. We also may use this information in the aggregate to analyse site usage, as well as to offer you products or services.

Use and disclosure of your personal information

We will not use or disclose any of your personal information without your express consent, unless:

• we are required by law;
• where it is necessary to provide you with a service requested by you;
• to implement the terms of use of this site; or
• we consider it necessary to lessen a serious threat to a person's health or safety.

Storing and securing your personal information

We do our best to take all reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information we hold about you is kept secure, accurate and up-to-date. We respect the confidentiality of any personal information held by us. Unfortunately, however, we will not be responsible for events which may arise from unauthorised access to your personal information. To assist in preventing unauthorised access it is important for you to maintain the confidentiality of any password(s) used.

Analysing site usage

We use a third party independent service (Google Analytics) to measure and analyse usage across the site. This service involves coding being placed on pages on the site to enable the following information on site usage to be collected:

• the number of unique visitors to the site;
• The average length of time these unique visitors spend on the site when they visit; and
• The entry and exit points onto the site for these unique visitors.

This independent service stores a cookie (see below for more about cookies) in the browser which contains a unique identifier and enables the independent service to track the number of unique visitors to the site. This unique identifier used by the independent service would not identify a user personally. We will not marry any data collected by the independent service with any personal information collected on the site. This coding may not be disabled completely however. If you disable cookies in your browser the effect would be that the independent service is unable to track you as a unique visitor to the site and will read you as a new visitor each time you browse a new page on the site. The independent service would collect and collate aggregate and not personal information which is then provided to us to assist with our analysis of site usage. This independent service data may also be accessible by media organisations and research companies for the purpose of comparing usage patterns with similar internet web sites.

The use of cookies

Cookies are items of information transferred from a website to your computer's hard disc to assist with record keeping. For example a cookie enables your computer to recognise that you have visited this website. Most web browsers are programmed to accept cookies. Cookies don't identify users, but they do identify browsers. Cookies can be disabled. Cookies have a positive benefit in that they can enhance your enjoyment of what we can offer through this website. For example they can assist us to ensure that information provided to you is relevant to your interests. Through cookies we can collect aggregated information on how people use the website and which advertisements are effective. With this information we are better able to improve the website and the services and information it provides. Cookies also enable us to monitor our site registration system, for example, by identifying a site visitor who may have previously been a member.

Privacy of responses

• PHC RIS recognises and respects the importance of confidentiality in the research process. However, within the brief of facilitating the flow of a broad range of Divisions' information among various stakeholders, specific Division information is often required. The following points show how the privacy of responses is managed in different contexts:
  • Annual Survey of Divisions:
    • Identified data from most sections of the Survey may be provided on request for purposes such as identifying which Divisions are involved in particular activities.
    • Sensitive data (eg. organisational interrelationships, funding) will not be provided in identified format.
  • Annual and Six month reports:
    • It is established that Divisions' Planning and Reporting documents are public documents, to be made readily accessible in published format. Related data and research results are therefore clearly identified and identifiable.

• Once the data has been analysed and documented, selected research results are displayed on the PHC RIS Website. Examples of this may include:
• Divisions Network Reporting data (submitted Planning and Reporting documents available)
• Published ASD reports (hard copies available)
• National summary of Divisions' Annual Reports
• On-line Benchmarking Tool
• On-line Excel spreadsheet of key statistics
• On-line browsable table and graphs.
• Research results are also used for a range of PHC RIS functions, for example responding to stakeholder requests for information, publicising key research and practice issues, promoting activities and key achievements of Divisions etc.

How To Contact Us

Should you have other questions or concerns about these privacy policies, please call us on 1800 025 882 or send us an email at phcris@flinders.edu.au.