Introduction

In this Privacy Statement, 'us' 'we' 'our' or ‘University’ means the Psycho-Oncology Co-operative Research Group (PoCoG) at the University of Sydney. We are committed to respecting your privacy. Personal information collected in the Portal will be handled in accordance with the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW) and the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (NSW) (“the privacy acts”). This Statement sets out how we collect, use, store and disclose your personal information.

 

Information we collect

There are two types of information we collect in the Portal.  These are:

(a) Personal information which is information about an individual that could reasonably identify them. For example, your name, age, gender, postcode, contact details and health information.  The Portal collects the following personal information about patients and/or health professionals:

  • Demographic - name, date of birth, address, phone number, email address, cultural background, language spoken, internet access, healthcare identifier and other personal information that may be required in order to facilitate your transactions with the Portal, your health care team and/or us.
  • Health Provider information - provider name, provider address, provider phone numbers, role/job title, provider number and prescriber number will also be captured for health professionals.
  • Health information - relevant medical history, diagnosis, planned treatment, general practitioner details, cancer specialist details and any other personal health information may be collected in order to facilitate transactions with the Portal, your health care team and/or us.
  • Screening information from surveys you have completed.
  • Psychosocial treatment - details of the services referred and provided to you, including any additional information necessary to deliver those services and any other personal health information needed to facilitate transactions with the Portal, your health care team and/or us.

All personal information is collected directly from users (patients and health professionals) through interactions with the Portal. 

 

(b) Non-personal information is automatically captured about your use of the Portal and may include your computer IP address, Portal activity such as date, time, pages accessed, data input, downloads, and login identification to verify your access.  Cookies may be used, which is a package of data the Portal requests be stored temporarily on your computer (or in memory) to identify you as a visitor.  You can block the use of cookies in your web browser settings but you may not be able to access all or some of the Portal features. 

 

By providing personal information in the Portal, you consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal and non-personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy and any other arrangements that apply between us.

 

Use of Information

(a) Personal Information you provide to the Portal will be used to assist with the coordination of psychosocial health care, including:

  • administering routine screening for anxiety and depression;
  • managing and coordinating your psychosocial care;
  • responding to queries;
  • application support;
  • improving the quality and features of the Portal;
  • reporting de-identified aggregate data to our funders (NSW Cancer Institute and Cancer Australia); and
  • for purposes related to those described above which you would reasonably expect.

(b) Non-Personal information:  Portal activity logs are used for statistical and business purposes such as diagnosing a fault and improving the Portal’s services or when required to, for investigations. The data is only accessible to authorised staff from the University and third party service providers for these purposes.  Portal activity information may be published at an aggregate de-identifiable level to assist with improving the services offered by the Portal and there may be times when non-personal information is combined with personal information to administer and improve the Portal’s services for your use.

 

Storage and Security of Information

Personal information collected via the Portal, is the property of your health service provider/employer who are required by the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (HRIP Act) to store patient information for a period of 7 years following the last occasion of service provided to you by the local health service.    Information which is no longer required to be retained by law will be destroyed in accordance with the State Records Act 1998 (NSW).

 

All information in the Portal is stored on a secured server managed and maintained by the University’s third party service provider, NetFront Pty Ltd (ABN: 27 132 358 368) who have security measures in place to protect against the disclosure, loss, misuse, unauthorised access or alteration of information contained within the Portal.  For your security, all passwords are stored in encrypted form and cannot be viewed in the Portal.  Keeping your personal information up to date, accurate and secure is important to us and if you find information in the Portal is outdated, incomplete, inaccurate or accessed without authorization please notify us immediately at pocog.adapt@sydney.edu.au.

 

Disclosure

Information held in the Portal will only be used for the purpose for which it was collected in accordance with this Privacy Statement.  Authorised staff at the University and NetFront will be able to view your personal information for the purpose of providing the Portal service to you and your health provider/employer and reporting de-identified aggregate data to our funders (Cancer Institute NSW and Cancer Australia).  A copy of any personal information held about you in the Portal is available to you upon request by contacting pocog.adapt@sydney.edu.au.

 

Information concerning you will not be disclosed to advertisers, other organisations or released overseas. Your explicit consent will be sought prior to the disclosure of your personal information for any purpose other than the intended collection of information as stipulated in this Privacy Statement.  However, there are specific circumstances where we are obliged to disclose personal information without your consent, where we believe there is a serious and imminent threat to the life, health or safety of yourself or the public, for law enforcement activities, or where required or authorised by law.  In the event personal information is disclosed to another party, reasonable steps will be taken to ensure the recipient is bound by confidentiality and privacy obligations.

 

Privacy Statement Changes

We may change the Privacy Policy at any time. If we do change the Privacy Statement, you will be notified of any changes by email or publish changes on the Portal Privacy page.  Amendments to the Privacy Statement will be effective immediately and your continued use of the ADAPT Portal after notice of change will signify your agreement to the new policy.  If the new Privacy Statement substantially affects your use of the Portal you may terminate your use of the Portal via email to pocog.adapt@sydney.edu.au.

 

Privacy Rights

You have the right to access and correct personal information held about you by the University.  For further information on this, or privacy matters generally, please contact pocog.adapt@sydney.edu.au.

 

Last Updated: 17 January 2017