Earthwatch's General Privacy and Security Statement
Earthwatch Australia (Earthwatch) - ABN 25 875 253 851
Our committment
About Earthwatch
Your personal information
How information is collected
Privacy and the Internet
How information is used
Accuracy of information
Giving you control
Privacy questions
Our commitment
Earthwatch Australia gives you a chance to make a valuable contribution to worldwide scientific research, which addresses the world's most urgent environmental issues. Earthwatch provides the opportunity to bring scientists, educators and the general public together to help uncover the facts necessary to make informed conservation decisions. It's rewarding, inspirational, and invaluable for the protection of species and habitats for generations to come. During the past 35 years, over 40,000 volunteers aged 16 to 85, have joined us and contributed over 10 million hours of vital field research, making a real impact!
Earthwatch is committed to the highest levels of customer service. This includes protecting your privacy. Any information that you provide to us remains private and is only used for the purposes outlined below. We are bound by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) when we collect and handle your personal information. The identity of anyone who contacts us is kept confidential. We do not rent, sell or exchange our contact lists.
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About Earthwatch
Earthwatch provides a range of expeditions around the world for volunteers to work safely in the field. Earthwatch maintains a relationship with you in order to provide information to the research scientist, our Earthwatch International offices where you are travelling overseas to an expedition, and to provide medical information for your safety.
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Your personal information
Earthwatch collects personal information from you in order to provide services to you or to conduct customer satisfaction research. The personal information we typically ask you for is:
- Contact details (name, address, e-mail, phone numbers)
- Your Earthwatch supporter number
- Credit card or bank account details
- Medical details if you are participating on an expedition
We also maintain your details in order to provide Earthwatch services and facilities that you might typically use such as:
- Emergency response services
- Donations
- Earthwatch magazines or email newsletters
As an Earthwatch supporter you may elect to remain anonymous. However, if you choose not to provide your personal information, we may not be able to provide you with the services you require (e.g. a tax receipt) or the level of services on which we pride ourselves. While remaining an anonymous donor is possible for project donations and appeals, Earthwatch does regard it as important that people who choose to donate to a project or to Earthwatch are known by name.
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How information is collected
Earthwatch collects personal information in a number of ways, including:
- Directly from you, when you provide information by phone or in expedition participant forms.
- From our own records of how you use our services and facilities.
- From your use of our Internet site.
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Privacy and the Internet
Our site uses security encrypted response forms when personal and financial details are required. The security we use between your browser and our web site is SSL (Secure Sockets Layer). To confirm that your browser supports SSL security, you should see a yellow solid key on a blue background (Netscape), or a yellow padlock (Internet Explorer).
Earthwatch's web site contains links to other sites. Other sites may also have links to our site. In either case, we are not responsible for the content, privacy practices or business practices of any website or company except our own.
Earthwatch compiles statistical information about the use of our web site so that we can constantly improve its usefulness. We may track your visits to our web site through the use of ‘cookies' or equivalent technology. If you prefer not to allow the use of these tracking technologies you should be able to adjust your browser to either turn them off or to notify you when they are being used. We use the tracking information only for the purpose of improving our web site and do not disclose it to any third party.
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How information is used
The information collected enables Earthwatch to provide and improve its services to you such as processing donations, providing receipts, sending information about Earthwatch expeditions and events and providing opportunities for you to get involved with us.
Occasionally we may use external suppliers to help with mailing information to you or to conduct market research. These suppliers are required to sign an agreement to keep your personal information confidential.
When you are going on an expedition we may disclose your personal information to third parties - this may include our affiliate offices, expedition principal investigators and other team members. We limit the use and disclosure of any personal information provided by us to them to the specific purpose for which we supplied it.
Earthwatch requires certain health information to be provided by all expedition participants. This information will be used for screening purposes and/or in the event of a medical emergency during the expedition. This information will be kept confidential and will not be used for any other purpose.
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Accuracy of information
Earthwatch takes all reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information we hold is accurate, complete and up-to-date. However the accuracy of that information depends to a large extent on the information you provide. That is why we recommend that you:
- Let us know if there are any errors in your personal information; and
- Keep us up to date with changes to personal information such as your name or address.
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Giving you control
Earthwatch believes that the relationship you have with us is one that should be comfortable and appropriate to your needs. If at any time you do not wish to receive any communications or marketing materials, please let us know so that your preferences can be registered.
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Privacy questions
If you have any questions in relation to our privacy policy, please contact our office by email, phone, or letter, and direct your enquiry to Viki Nathan, Director of Business Systems.
You can contact us by:
Email: earth@earthwatch.org.au
Telephone: +61 3 9682 6828 (callers outside Australia)
Mail: Earthwatch Australia
126 Bank Street
South Melbourne VIC 3205
Australia