Maitland City Council takes its privacy obligations seriously. Council’s approach to privacy management is detailed in the Privacy Management Plan on Council’s website. We have created this privacy statement to explain how personal information collected on this website is treated. This privacy statement may be updated from time to time. We encourage you to check this site for our most current version.

This site is owned and operated by Maitland City Council using software licensed from Social Pinpoint. We take appropriate measures to safeguard personal information and use encryption, access controls, and other security measures to protect it. For details on what personal information Social Pinpoint may collect and access, please refer to Social Pinpoint's Privacy Policy.

By accessing and using this site, you are choosing to accept and comply with our Terms. You're also agreeing to receive communications and/or updates from Maitland City Council on consultations in the Local Government Area to your nominated email address. If you would like to stop receiving communications or updates, you can select the unsubscribe button at the bottom of the email or email yoursay@maitland.nsw.gov.au.

What information do we collect?

We collect personal information provided by you when you register to use this site. This includes your email address and demographic information provided by you on registration. Please note that you are able to browse any publicly accessible sections of this website anonymously without registering.

We also collect information from your interaction with us through this website. This includes responses to surveys, comments on discussion forums, and other engagement opportunities.

This site also collects information for statistical and system administration purposes. This includes:

• Your server (or IP) address

• Your rough geographic location
• The day and time you visited our site
• The pages that you access within Have Your Say Maitland including how long you spend on each
• Your path through Have Your Say Maitland (the arrangement of pages and other content that you visit)
• The operating system you use

• Any documents, images or videos that you download from the service
• The language of your browser

How will we use the information we collect?

We collect personal information to:

• Administer the site and manage your account;
• Analyse and interpret it to help meet our objectives and obligations;
• Communicate information to you about engagement opportunities, events and other initiatives;
• Respond to enquiries and otherwise engage with stakeholders;
• Identify when you sign into your account;

• Send you newsletters and information, but only when you have agreed to us sending you this information or when the information is necessary to assist with the administration of the site;
• Respond to queries that you have contacted us about;
• Attribute content that you post on the site to you;
• Analyse use of the site to inform ongoing improvements and enhancements;
• Inform policy decisions by the Council; and

• For any other purposes that we indicate to you when we request your personal information.

Content you post on the site publicly can be viewed by anyone accessing the site. Each post will contain your username and any publicly available reports from consultations. This may include quotes from participants in forums, surveys and other consultation tools. Where practical, you may choose not to identify yourself, deal with us on an anonymous basis or use a pseudonym.

We collect this information to:

• Analyse and interpret it to help meet our objectives and obligations;

• Communicate information to you about engagement opportunities, events and other initiatives; and
• Respond to enquiries and otherwise engage with stakeholders.

Third Parties

We may also reveal personal information to third parties, and you consent to us disclosing your personal information, for the following purposes:

• consultants of Maitland City Council who perform various services for and on behalf of Maitland City Council, and
• other local governments and State government departments, in accordance with the this Privacy Policy.

Access and correction

If you want to know exactly what personal information we are holding about you, you are welcome to request such information by contacting our Privacy Officer

You can apply to Maitland City Council to amend your personal information to ensure it is relevant, up to date, complete and not misleading.

External links

Our privacy statement does not apply to other websites we may link to. We recommend you read the relevant privacy statement when you access another site.

This site is owned and operated by Maitland City Council using software licensed from Social Pinpoint. For details on how Maitland City Council collects and protects your personal information, refer to their Privacy Policy below. For details of how Social Pinpoint may access personal information, please refer to Social Pinpoint’s Privacy Policy.

The following Terms govern the use of Have Your Say Maitland. The software platform is owned by Social Pinpoint Inc. (SPP) and operated by us, Maitland City Council.

By accessing and using this site, you are choosing to accept and comply with these Terms. These Terms apply to all visitors and users of this site.

If you disagree with any of the Terms presented in this agreement, you must discontinue using the site immediately. If you are under 18 years old, please ensure that your parent or guardian understands and accepts these Terms.

These Terms do not apply to linked sites, affiliated services or third-party content or software, which will have their own terms that you must comply with.

Council content

Council owns or licenses the intellectual property rights in the material on this website. Except as provided by the copyright law applicable to you, you may not reproduce or communicate any of the content on this website.

User content

All information, data, images and other materials posted by users are the responsibility of the user from whom the content originated. User content represents the views and opinions of users, not Council. Council makes reasonable efforts to monitor and moderate user content (refer to ‘Moderation’ below). Users should also be aware that their posts are available to the public and may remain online indefinitely.

Moderation

Council will not tolerate content that is offensive, obscene, defamatory, threatening, harassing, bullying, discriminatory, hateful, racist, sexist, infringes copyright, breaches confidentiality, violates the privacy of Council staff, or may be unlawful. User content may be edited, removed or not published if we consider it inappropriate.

By monitoring the information that you provide, we are able to protect the integrity of the discussions from individuals and groups who may attempt to excessively effect the outcomes of a consultation process. For example, we check to ensure each user has a single email account. We also review the site to protect it from spam or trolls.

Please refer to the Moderation Policy for further details.

What do we require from users?

Users must not:

• advertise or offer to sell or buy any goods and services
• transmit content that contains software viruses or programs designed to change or destroy the functionality of any computer software or hardware
• collect or store personal data about other users of the site
• impersonate any person or entity, including a Council representative

• interrupt or interfere with the site or servers or networks connected to the site
• attempt to gain unauthorized access to the site or other use accounts

Can your account be suspended or terminated?

We may terminate or suspend your access to the site and/or account immediately, without prior notice, for any reason. We may immediately deactivate or delete your account and all the related files and information in your account. After your account has been terminated, the content you have posted may also remain indefinitely on the site.

If you want to terminate your own account, please send an email to yoursay@maitland.nsw.gov.au.

Risk

Your use of the site (including any material that you download) is at your own risk. Council, its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, agents, licensors and other partners are not responsible for any loss, liability, claim, or demand, including legal fees, arising from your use of the site. We make no warranty that the site will meet your requirements or be uninterrupted or error-free.

What happens if these Terms change?

We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to modify or replace these Terms at any time without notice. The most recent version of the Terms can be seen on this page.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about these Terms, please contact us at yoursay@maitland.nsw.gov.au.