THE WEB PAGES FROM AUSTRALIA

AOL Australia Privacy Policy


AOL Australia Pty Limited (ABN 56 074 720 460) (AOL or we) respects the privacy of our members (who have registered with AOL Australia), visitors (who simply browse the AOL Australia websites) and other users of our services (together referred to as Users). We are bound by the National Privacy Principles (NPPs) contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (the Privacy Act). This Privacy Policy outlines AOL's commitment to protecting the privacy of individuals.


1. How and why we collect personal information

AOL needs to collect personal information in order to conduct its business.

Members: When you register with AOL we ask for certain personal information including your email address and gender.


Other interaction with us through our services: If you order products or services from AOL or our online merchants or advertisers, you enter competitions or promotions or you agree to participate in market research we may collect personal information about you. We will tell you what personal information we require before we collect it. Irrespective of who you are, we may keep records of your communication with us (whether in writing, by email or by phone) for the purpose of supplying and improving our services (including monitoring and training our staff).


Visitors: If you simply browse the AOL website without registering, ordering any products or services or entering competitions or promotions we will not collect any personal information about you, although through the use of certain technologies we may gather anonymous information about your visits and your use of our services.


More information for Users

The provision of personal information is not compulsory. However, if you choose not to supply certain personal information you will not be able to register with us or use all of our services. We will indicate when we collect personal information which information is mandatory for registration or for the supply or use of relevant services.

The personal information we collect may be supplemented with information (including commercially available demographic information) which we obtain from other companies in order better to understand you as a customer and to provide you with better, more relevant, content, advertisement, communications, products and services.

We use personal information to:

  • operate, analyse and improve our services;
  • personalise the content, advertising and promotions you receive and our communications with you; and
  • conduct research and analysis.


2. Will your personal information be given to anyone else?

We will not sell, rent or trade personal information about you to or with others.

Personal information collected by us may be disclosed by us:


  • if we need to share your information in order to provide a product or service you have requested (for example, if you wish to purchase something from one of our online merchants we will share your information with the merchant and we will exchange relevant information with any financial institution with which you have a credit card or bank account to which payment is to be debited);
  • if we engage a contractor or service provider (for example, an IT service provider or a mailing house) to do something on our behalf (in which case, unless we tell you otherwise, they will only be authorised to use the personal information for the purpose of providing the service or performing the function required by us);
  • to our related companies, both in Australia and overseas;
  • if we have your consent; or
  • if we are required or authorised by law to make the disclosure (for example, by a court order) or the Privacy Act otherwise permits the disclosure.

If you provide sensitive information to us (for example, information about your racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership or health) you consent to it being shared with the organisations or types of organisations referred to above.


If you are a User, under the Terms of Service you consent to us transferring your personal information within Australia and to India, the United States of America and such other countries as we may specify from time to time for the purposes of processing and storage or to provide a product or service you have requested.


If you provide someone else's payment details to pay for any services, you must obtain that party's express consent before you do so. If you do provide a third party's payment details to pay for a service (for example, you provide the credit card details of a partner or friend) we may disclose to the third party your name and address and information relating to payments made by that method.


3. How is your personal information stored?

AOL uses technology and other means to ensure that the personal information it holds is as secure from unauthorised access, destruction, use, modification or disclosure as it reasonably can be. Our employees are authorised to access personal information only to perform their particular functions.


4. Cookies, web beacons and your options

AOL may use cookies, web beacons or similar technologies to enhance and personalise your online experience and to enable AOL to recognise you as a previous visitor to the site and its services. This information may be used to:


  • remember the preferences and registration data that you give us;
  • authenticate your screen name before you can access your personal information or your AOL account (we do this for added security);
  • enable you to participate, or check your eligibility to participate, in certain online activities, such as making sure that each person only votes once in an online poll;
  • personalise features of our services, for example, by providing you with customised content such as a local weather forecast or advertisements based on information you have submitted to us;
  • help measure and research the effectiveness of our services including collecting statistics on your response to advertisements, email and other communications you receive; and
  • provide security within shopping baskets or transactions.

AOL may also allow its partners and advertisers that are presenting advertisements on the services to set their cookies, or apply web beacons or similar technologies, to your computer. For example, these cookies and advertisement effectiveness technologies may be used to help ensure you don't see the same advertisement too many times, to show the next advertisement in a series or to tell whether an anonymous user responded to a particular advertisement.


You can adjust the settings on your browser to erase or block cookies, web beacons and similar technologies from your computer if you want to. However, if you do so you may not be able to use or access certain features of our services or they may not work very well. For more detailed information on these technologies and how to disable them, visit cookies.


The web sites you visit, including those of AOL's advertisers and partners, have their own privacy policies. We encourage you to review the privacy policy of any website you visit before submitting any personal information via that site.


5. Your online communications

AOL honours the confidentiality of your private online communications in private chat rooms, emails and instant message conversations. AOL does not read, or disclose to third parties, private communications when you use the services, except:


  • when we, or one of our service providers processing your information or communication on our behalf, are compelled to do so by law or in response to a valid request by a competent authority;
  • as indicated in the Terms of Service, we reserve the right to co-operate with any law enforcement authority (including by disclosing the parties to or content of private communications) even if we are not compelled to do so by law; and
  • we may disclose private communications if we believe physical safety is at risk.

Of course, what you write or post in public or member chat rooms and message boards is not private and is available to the public.


6. Your right of access and correction

You have the right to seek access to most personal information which we collect and hold about you. We may deny access in some circumstances. If we do this we will tell you why. You also have the right to ask us to correct information about you if it is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date.


If you wish to seek access to any other personal information that AOL holds about you, or if you believe that personal information we hold about you is not accurate, complete or up to date, you should contact our Privacy Officer and include the details of your request.


7. Additional privacy information and how to contact us

The online world evolves, and so we may change this Privacy Policy at any time. Whenever we make a material change to our Privacy Policy we will post the updated policy at www.aol.com.au/global/privacy/, and it will take effect immediately or on a date which is nominated in the posting or in a notice we send to you. Your ongoing use of our services after the changes take effect signifies your agreement to the updated policy.


For this reason, it is important that you visit www.aol.com.au/global/privacy/ and review this Privacy Policy regularly. If you disagree with any changes made to this policy, you should discontinue your use of our services.


If you feel that AOL is not complying with this Privacy Policy, if you wish to seek access to your personal information or if you have any other privacy concerns, please contact our Privacy Officer:

  • by email to privacy@aol.com.au; or
  • by letter to the Privacy Officer, Level 6, 107 Pitt Street, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia.


This Privacy Policy was last updated on 6 February 2008.



COOKIES

What are cookies?


Cookies are small files of text data that may, depending on your browser settings, be automatically stored on your computer's hard drive when your web browser accesses certain web pages. The cookie will be set by the web site owner, or by providers of content on the web site.


The types of data stored depend on the sites you visit, but generally include the name of the web server from which the cookie originated, the 'lifetime' of the cookie (i.e. whether it will be deleted as soon as you leave the site, or if it may stay on your hard drive for longer), and a unique number which allows the web site which set your cookie to remember your browser if you return to a site provided by the same server which set the cookie. Cookies are set (or 'served') by computers often called 'servers'.


Can cookies improve my web experience?


Cookies can be used by web sites to save settings so that when you return to the site, you do not have to re-enter your settings. For example, you might be directed to a favourite sub-page, or your username for that site might appear in a pre-typed dialog box, so all you need to type is your password. Once you are on a site, cookies may be used to deliver the correct content to you (e.g. to ensure that the contents of your 'shopping basket' are saved until you have finished shopping on that site and want to pay).


What options do I have to accept or reject cookies?


Disabling cookies completely is not recommended if you want to maximise the functionality of web sites you visit (e.g. if you want to avoid registration pages of sites you visit regularly or if you use sites which incorporate shopping basket technologies).


How do I disable (or enable) cookies?


Please note that disabling cookies will prevent you from viewing some web sites. To disable cookies, scroll down to your version of Internet Explorer and follow the steps provided:


Internet Explorer 5.0 and Internet Explorer 5.5:


  1. Click on Start, Settings and Control Panel.
  2. Double-click on Internet Options.
  3. Click the Security tab.
  4. Click Custom Level, scroll down to 'Cookies' and select Disable.
  5. Click OK and then OK again.

To enable cookies instead, follow the above steps, but click Enable in Step 3.


Internet Explorer 6.0:


  1. Click on Start, Settings and Control Panel. (Windows XP users, click Start and Control Panel).
  2. Double click on Internet Options. (Windows XP users may need to click Switch to Classic View in order for this option to be visible).
  3. Click the Privacy tab.
  4. Click Advanced.
  5. If the 'Override automatic cookie handling' is enabled, ensure that First-party Cookies and Third-party Cookies are set to 'Block'.
  6. Click OK.
  7. Click OK on the Internet Properties form.

To enable cookies instead, follow the above steps, but ensure the First-party Cookies and Third-party Cookies are set to 'Accept'.


Firewall software can also be used to block cookies. If you are using Firewall software and are concerned that it may be blocking cookies please contact the Firewall vendor for further assistance.