Privacy Policy

EMC Privacy Policy

This policy outlines how EMC Media Communications (EMC) (ACN 074 671 462) will use personal information and handle any personal data collected.  EMC is committed to protecting your privacy. We are bound by the Privacy Act 1988, and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). We adhere to the Privacy (Market and Social Research) Code 2014 (the Code) in relation to the activities of EMC Research. A copy of the Code is available here. This Privacy Policy (Policy) should be read in conjunction with the Privacy Act and the APPs.

How this policy applies

This policy applies to personal information EMC collects from you:

  • via one of our websites
  • via telephone
  • via email
  • via fax
  • in person
  • writing

 

The kinds of information EMC may collect

From time to time you may voluntarily supply your personal information to EMC.  EMC will record your e-mail address if you send us a message, subscribe to an email newsletter, or complete a form if this information is requested.

 

You may supply personal information by, for example, responding to a survey, taking part in a competition or signing up to a campaign. EMC only collects personal information that is necessary for the EMC to perform its functions and/or activities.

 

Depending upon the circumstances you may provide to EMC, and EMC may collect, information such as, but not limited to:

  • your name
  • your contact details
  • your date of birth
  • your gender
  • your social media details (e.g. blogs, twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn)
  • your bank details
  • inquiry or complaint details.

 

Some personal information is considered sensitive information and includes:

  • your political, religious or philosophical opinions
  • your political party membership (if any)
  • your union membership (if any)
  • your racial or ethnic origin
  • any disabilities, illnesses or injuries you may have
  • any other health information.

 

We will only collect sensitive information where we have received your consent to your personal information being collected, used, disclosed and stored by EMC in accordance with this policy.

Where you provide information in relation to a job application the personal information you provide will only be collected, held, used and disclosed for the purposes of considering your potential employment with EMC.  

Sometimes we receive your information from our clients who have asked us to conduct research for them. Where this is the case, we will take steps to make sure it is clear that you have consented to us receiving your information in that way.

If we receive unsolicited personal information about or relating to you and we determine that such information could have been collected in the same manner if we had solicited the information, then we will treat it in the same way as solicited personal information and in accordance with the APPs.

 

How we use your information

We collect, hold, use and disclose personal information to:

  • Conduct qualitative market and social research projects, both on our own initiative and on behalf of our clients;
  • Report our findings from our research projects to our clients;
  • Assist our clients to develop targeted communications campaigns based on our research;
  • Engage with you on campaign outcomes and dunsubevelopments;
  • Publish the weekly Essential Report; and
  • Contact you further about our research projects, polls and campaigns in the future.

We may communicate with you via such means as email, post, SMS, telephone, mobile or other technology.

 

EMC websites

We may collect general information about you when you use our websites. This might include your IP address, the browser and operating system you are using, and related information. The information we collect from you in this way is aggregated and anonymous, and will not be used to personally identify you.

EMC websites collect two types of information. The first type is anonymous information. The web server makes a record of your visit and logs the following information for statistical purposes:

  • the user's server address
  • the user's top level domain name (e.g. com, .gov, .net, .au, etc.)
  • the date and time of the visit to the site
  • the pages accessed and documents downloaded
  • the previous site visited
  • the type of browser used.

 

No attempt will be made to identify users or their browsing activities except, in the unlikely event of an investigation, where a law enforcement agency may exercise a warrant to inspect the internet service provider's logs.

 

Another way information may be collected is through the use of "cookies". A cookie is a small text file that the website may place on your computer. Cookies may be used, among other things, to track the pages you have visited, to remember your preferences and to store personal information about you.

 

You can adjust your internet browser to disable cookies or to warn you when cookies are being used. However, if you disable cookies, you may not be able to access certain areas of the website or take advantage of the improved website experience that cookies offer.

 

Our websites may contain links to other websites, social media pages including Facebook, Twitter or other software programs. We are not responsible for the privacy policies of the entities responsible for those websites and we recommend that you review the privacy policies applicable to any other websites you visit.

 

EMC may, however collect information, including personal or sensitive information from these other websites or social media pages for the purpose of conducting its business as described above.

Disclosure to Third Parties

We disclose your personal information to third parties only for the purposes set out in this policy. We may disclose your personal information to our third-party service providers (for example, our IT service providers and database contractors), related organisations including our sister organisation Essential Research, and our clients where they have asked us to conduct research or campaigns on their behalf. The research and campaign data we disclose to our clients is usually aggregated and anonymous, and we will not personally identify you in our research reports unless you have given your consent for us to do so.

We will not disclose your personal information for the purpose of advertising, or direct marketing of third party goods and services.

EMC is an Australian company, however some of our service providers are located overseas, including the United States, the United Kingdom and Singapore. Before we disclose your information to our overseas service providers, we will take all reasonable steps to ensure that they comply with the Australian Privacy Principles, and only use your information for the purposes outlined in this Policy. You consent to us disclosing your personal information to overseas recipients on that basis.

We may need to disclose your personal information to a person or authority if we are required to do so by law.

 

Unsubscribing and opting out

We do our best to make sure that any information we hold about you is accurate, up-to-date and complete, and you have a right to access the information we hold about you. If you believe we are holding information about you that is inaccurate, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading, you can ask us to correct it. However it is important that we maintain the integrity of our research data, and depending on the nature of the research, we may need to keep a complete record of the information as it was at the time of collection. If this is the case, we will provide you with a written statement explaining our reasons for declining your request, and make sure you are aware of how you can make a complaint, if you want to.

You can ask us to destroy or permanently de-identify any research information we hold about you, and we will only refuse your request in exceptional circumstances.

If you would like to access your personal information, or request for us to update, correct or delete your personal information, you can do so by contacting us via any of the channels listed below. We will do our best to respond to your request within 30 days.

If you no longer wish to receive direct marketing or other communications, you may request at any time to cancel your consent to such communications as follows:

  • if subscribing to an email newsletter you may "unsubscribe" at any time from the newsletter mailing list
  • you may contact us at any time by mail or email directed to our privacy officer.

 

 

How EMC holds personal information

EMC holds your personal information electronically, both on our own servers, and with the assistance of our service providers.

We are committed to keeping your personal information secure and have a range of technical systems and procedural safeguards in place to ensure your personal information is protected.

When we no longer need to hold your personal information, we will take steps to destroy it, or permanently de- identify it. Research information about you will be destroyed or permanently de-identified once the purpose of the research has been achieved.

Change of control

If there is a change of control or structure of EMC, for instance through sale, merger, reorganisation, etc., we may transfer your personal information as part of that change. However, the use of your personal information will continue to be governed by the terms of this Privacy Policy, and only used in the ways described herein.

Changes to this policy

We may change the terms of this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we do so, we will post the changes here. By continuing to use our sites and services, you will be deemed to have accepted any changes we make.

Complaints

If you believe that EMC has breached the Australian Privacy Principles, or you have a complaint about how your personal information is being handled, you should contact us via any of the channels listed below.

We take your complaints seriously, and will attempt to resolve the issue quickly and fairly.

If we cannot resolve your complaint to a satisfactory standard, you are entitled to lodge your complaint with the Privacy Commissioner, or his successor:

https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-complaints/ 

Contact Us

If you have any questions or complaints about how we handle your personal information, or if you would like to request access to your personal information, please contact us at:

Associate Director - Research: Gavin White: gavin.white@essentialmedia.com.au (03) 9929 9999

Associate Director - Campaigns: Peter Stahel: peter.stahel@essentialmedia.com.au (02) 8280 9100

Terms of Policy:

  1. All staff must adhere to the policy as outlined above.
  2. The implementation and maintenance of this policy is the responsibility of the Chief Financial Officer.

Variations to the policy

This policy may be varied from time to time and an updated version will be posted on EMC’s websites. Please check our websites regularly to ensure that you have the most recent version of the policy.