Liverpool City Council is committed to protecting your personal information.

When you visit our websites, any personal information that you disclose will be dealt with in accordance with the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (the Privacy Act) and our Privacy Policy.

What is personal information?

Personal information means information or an opinion (including information or an opinion forming part of a database and whether or not recorded in a material form) about an individual whose identity is apparent or can reasonably be ascertained from the information or opinion.

This is what happens when you visit our websites

When you visit various pages on Council's websites, Council's information technology system automatically records information that identifies, for each page accessed:

  • the IP (Internet Protocol) address of the machine which has accessed it
  • your top-level domain name (for example .com, .gov .au)
  • the address of your server
  • the date and time of your visit to the site
  • the pages accessed and documents downloaded
  • the previous site visited
  • the type of browser and operating system you have used.

Council collects information directly

We will only collect personal information directly from you, or your authorised agent. The information collected will be for lawful purposes, directly related to our functions. We will only request information that is necessary for collection purposes. However, if you do not provide personal information to us, we may be unable to provide you with the services that you require from us.

How we use your personal information

We will use your information for the purpose for which it was collected. We may use it to understand community and customer needs and to improve our services. We may also use your information to inform you about services or provide information to you, such as newsletters. We may share your information with other Council business units, our agents and contractors to improve our services to customers. We will not add your information to a mailing list, nor will we give it to any other organisation or person, unless we do so with your permission.

If you provide your email address to subscribe to receive information from us, we will add your name to a database. We will use this information only to provide the service(s) that you have requested and we will not use this information for any other purpose.

Disclosure of your personal information

We will only disclose your personal information if:

  • you have consented to the disclosure
  • the disclosure is required or authorised by law
  • where it is necessary to lessen a threat to someone's life or health.

However, please note that the Government Information (Public Access) Regulation 2009 states that submissions made to Council about development applications are "open access information” and so we may have to disclose their contents to third parties requesting that information.

Accuracy of your personal information

We take reasonable care is to ensure that any personal information that we collect, use, store or disclose is accurate, complete and up to date.

Storage and security of your personal information

We take reasonable steps to store and secure any personal information that we hold from misuse, unauthorised access, and modification.

How we dispose of your personal information

Council will dispose of your personal information in accordance with the State Records General retention and disposal authority 39.

How you can access, correct or update your personal information

If you want to know what personal information we hold about you, you can request this information by contacting our Privacy Contact Officer. You can also apply to amend your personal information to ensure that it is correct and up to date.

Cookies

We track the pattern of visitor usage on our websites by using cookies. Cookie identify and recognise the computer (but not the person using the computer) when you visit our website(s).

Cookies are pieces of information that a website can transfer to an individual's computer hard drive for record keeping. The use of cookies is an industry standard and you will find most major websites use them. Most Internet browsers are pre-set to accept cookies. If you prefer not to receive our cookies, you can adjust your internet browser to disable our cookies or to warn you when cookies are being used.

Children's privacy

We take all reasonable steps to protect the privacy of children. We request that children under the age of 18 have a parent or guardian to submit personal information to us on their behalf, when required.

Changes to this statement

We occasionally update this statement and will put the updated date at the top of this statement.

Links to other sites

Council's website contains links to other sites. Council is not responsible for the contents and the privacy practices of the owners of other linked websites.

Privacy Contact Officer

Our Privacy Contact Officer (the Internal Ombudsman) can provide more privacy information: