This privacy policy outlines how the Office of The Leader Of The Opposition collects, uses, and protects your personal information when you use the Shape Victoria website. Your privacy is important to us, and we're committed to protecting your data in accordance with applicable privacy laws.

This site is owned and operated by the Office of The Leader Of The Opposition using software licensed from Social Pinpoint. For details on how Social Pinpoint may access your data, please refer to Social Pinpoint’s Privacy Policy.

Our collection, use, and disclosure of your personal information are regulated by the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic). You can find more information about your privacy rights at the website of the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner (OVIC).

We collect information to manage your participation and improve our services. This includes two types of information:

1. Information You Provide to Us

When you register an account, respond to surveys, or participate in discussions, you may provide us with:

• Registration Details: Your username, name, postcode, suburb, email address, and password.
• Demographic Information (Optional): Details such as your address, age group, and gender to help us understand our community demographics.
• User-Generated Content: Your comments, survey responses, ideas, map pins, and any other feedback you provide through the site's engagement tools.

You can browse this site anonymously without registering, but participation in most activities requires an account. We recommend using a username that does not personally identify you if you wish to remain anonymous in public forums.

2. Information We Collect Automatically

When you visit our site, we automatically collect technical information for statistical and system administration purposes. This "clickstream data" includes:

• Your IP address and server address.
• Your approximate geographic location.
• The date and time of your visit.
• The pages you accessed and the documents you downloaded.
• The type of browser, operating system, and device you are using.

This data is typically aggregated and de-identified and is used to analyse site performance and improve user experience. We will not attempt to identify you from this data unless required for a law enforcement investigation.

We use the personal information we collect for the following purposes:

• To administer the site and manage your user account.
• To attribute content you post publicly (like forum comments) to your username.
• To analyse feedback and site usage data to inform our projects, plans, and policy decisions.
• To respond to your inquiries and provide you with support.
• To send you newsletters and updates about projects you're interested in, but only if you've given us your consent.
• To monitor site activity for moderation purposes, ensuring the integrity of discussions and protecting the site from spam or misuse.

Any content you post in public areas of the site (such as discussion forums or idea boards) will be publicly visible along with your username. Please do not share any personal information in these public forums that you do not want to be seen by others.

Final reports or summaries of consultations may include anonymised quotes from public contributions.

We do not sell your personal information. We may disclose your information to third parties in the following circumstances:

• Service Providers: We may share information with trusted third-party consultants or researchers engaged to help us analyse and interpret feedback. This data is typically limited to your feedback and demographic details, but may also include your name and contact information. Our contractors are bound by strict privacy obligations.
• Legal Requirements: We may disclose your information if required or authorised by law, such as in response to a court order or a request under Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation.
• Platform Providers: The site operates on software from Social Pinpoint and may use other integrated tools for analytics or communication. These may include:
  • Google Analytics
  • Mailchimp
  • Hotjar

We recommend you review the privacy policies of these providers to understand how they handle data.

We take reasonable steps to protect your personal information from unauthorised access, use, or destruction. All stored data is protected using security measures like secure passwords and user logs.

You have the right to manage your personal information. You can request to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you.
• Correct any inaccurate or out-of-date information.
• Delete your user account and associated personal data.

To make a request, please contact us using the details below. We may need to verify your identity before proceeding. You can unsubscribe from our newsletters at any time by clicking the "unsubscribe" link in the email.

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. The most current version will always be posted on this page. We encourage you to review it periodically.

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or wish to make a request regarding your personal information, please submit an online enquiry using our online contact us form.