Policy

The Emerald Tourist Railway Board (ETRB), operator of the Puffing Billy Railway, is committed to the protection of your personal information in accordance with the requirements of the National Privacy Policy contained in the Information Privacy Act 2000 (Vic), as amended. It is a policy of the ETRB not to interfere with an individual’s privacy rights in the way it collects, uses or disseminates personal information.

Terminology

“Personal Information” encompasses all information that allows the identity of a person to be ascertained such as names, addresses, contact details and the like.
“Sensitive Information” includes political opinions, religious beliefs, professional or trade association memberships, sexual preferences and health information about an individual.

General principles

As a general rule, the ETRB will:

  • Not collect personal information unless it is necessary for its business activities;
  • Only collect personal information lawfully and fairly;
  • Not use or disclose personal information about an individual for a purpose other than for which it was collected unless such use or disclosure would be reasonably expected or has been expressly authorised by the individual concerned;
  • Take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information it holds is accurate, complete and up-to-date;
  • Take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse or loss;
  • Where necessary, take reasonable steps to let a person know what sort of personal information it holds;
  • Where necessary and requested by the individual concerned, provide the individual with access to personal information held in relation to that individual;
  • With some exceptions, only transfer such information to someone in a foreign country if that country has privacy laws similar to the Privacy Legislation above; and
  • Not collect sensitive information without the consent of the individual concerned.

Types of information collected and disseminated

The ETRB will store on its databases the name, address, contact details and product purchase details of persons making bookings to travel on Puffing Billy Railway or participate in Puffing Billy events.

Unless it obtains the prior consent of the individual person concerned, it will not disclose such information to third parties, but may itself use this information for the purpose of advertising of other Puffing Billy services, products and events.

We may use non-identifying and aggregate information for market research and planning, to better design our website and to share with advertisers and others. For example, we may tell an advertiser that X number of individuals visited a certain area on our website, or that Y number of men and Z number of women filled out our registration form.

Use of personal information

Where possible, the ETRB will only disclose the information collected where it has obtained the written consent of the individual concerned.

The ETRB will only send you mail or emails if you have elected to receive them or if they are in response to a communication received from you.

The ETRB will use return email addresses to answer the email we receive. Such addresses are not used for any other purpose except to provide you with information we feel would be of interest to you and are shared with other parties, including internet companies which are necessary to use in order to transmit e-mails, to send you this information.

We never use or share the personally identifiable information provided to us online in ways related or unrelated to the ones described above without also providing you an opportunity to opt-out or otherwise prohibit such uses.

Our commitment to data security

To prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and ensure the correct use of information, we have put in place appropriate physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.

Disclosure without prior authorisation

In certain circumstances the ETRB may be authorised by law to disclose your personal information even where written consent has not been provided:

  • Where there are grounds to believe that disclosure is required in order to prevent a threat to health or life;
  • Where the ETRB suspects that unlawful activity is or has been engaged in, such personal information may be used to investigate the suspected lawful activity; or
  • The use is authorised by law or reasonably necessary to enforce the law.

Privacy notice revision

To be able to continue to protect your privacy and to conform to changing generally accepted practices we reserve the right to change this privacy notice. We may need to change our notice to comply with future government regulations which are constantly changing as the internet evolves.

To contact the Emerald Tourist Railway Board (ETRB)

At any time you may notify the ETRB should your contact details change or if you do not wish to receive marketing materials or any other communications from the ETRB, by either telephoning (03) 9757 0700 or writing to:

Puffing Billy Railway
PO Box 451
Belgrave Victoria 3160.
Email: info@pbr.org.au