About
This is a national community Network which has formed to help build sustainable communities socially, economically and environmentally...
Site Administration Team
The Network is managed by a Site Administration team of approximately 30 people and is edited by our many registered website Users.
Network Ownership
The Network is owned and controlled by a not-for-profit Association called "The Bega Valley Network Inc." (also registered as The Australian Community Network - AUSTCOM - http://austcom.org.au).
User Registration
Any Resident of Australia can register their own free website within this Network and begin editing immediately. They may register as an individual, a community group or a business. This is a mainstay of the Network and will always remain the primary offer.
Packages for the Community
To maintain AUSTCOM sustainability we offer a range of services to the community including custom graphics, promtional print and office support services - see http://austcom.org.au/packages.html
Privacy
AUSTCOM will not sell or use any information you have given us for commercial gain. All personal information is considered private. AUSTCOM respects your privacy and is committed to protecting all personal information that you provide to us.
Information Collection and Use
This privacy statement covers collection of personal information and non-personal information.
Personal Information
Personal information is any information associated with your name or personal identity. Personal information will only be used to support your customer relationship with the Network services.
Disclosure of Personal User Information
AUSTCOM will not sell, rent, or lease your personal information to third parties. We will not share your personal information with business partners or any other third party company unless permitted by you in fulfilling tasks associated with our services.
Protection of AUSTCOM and others
We may release your information when we believe in good faith that release is necessary to comply with law enforcement or apply our conditions of use and other agreements; or protect the rights, property, or safety AUSTCOM, our employees, our users, or others. This includes exchanging information with other companies and organizations for fraud protection and credit risk reduction (as described above) and to comply with export laws.
Non-Personal Information
Non-personal information is data about usage patterns, reported in aggregate, which is not associated with a specific personal identity and may include the pages visited in the Network, browser type, browser language, operating system, and IP address. Non-personal data is aggregated to understand Network usability and performance.
Cookies
Most non-personal information is collected via cookies. The website may use cookies to enhance the user experience and personalize content. A cookie is a small data file that is transferred to your hard drive and identifies you as a unique user. Cookies help us understand which areas of the website are most popular, so we can improve the user experience on future visits.
IP Addresses
AUSTCOM may use your IP address to help diagnose problems or to gather demographic information, such as country of origin.
Your Consent and Our Revisions to the Privacy Statement
AUSTCOM occasionally reviews and modifies this privacy statement and therefore we recommend that you review the terms from time to time to make sure you are aware of how we collect and use personal information. By using our Network you consent to the collection and use of your personal information as outlined here.
Data Integrity and Security
We strive to maintain the reliability, accuracy, and completeness of personal information in our databases and to protect the privacy and security of our databases. Our servers and databases are protected by reliable security technology.
Further Information
If you have questions regarding our Privacy Statement, please contact us at enquiries@australiancommunities.org.au or on 02-6492 5000.
Links to Other Sites
This site contains links to other sites. AUSTCOM is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of other websites. Please refer to the policies of the respective sites you visit.
Online Shops
Every website (Community and Business) comes with e-commerce available (but not turned on). Online purchasing occurs using secure server technology. This encrypts your personal financial information before it is transmitted over the Internet, making it secure. You can only purchase products on the Network using a browser that supports secure server technology.
Promotional Offers and News Bulletins
As users of the community Network you may receive promotuional offers or news from the website administrators from time to time.
Common Ground Page Editing
In some site we allow all registered users to edit common navigation pages (eg Home page of the community website). Content loaded by users on common pages is the responsibility of the user. AUSTCOM takes no responsibility for content provided in common pages by users of our Network.
Ownership/Copyright
- All software installed on this site is opensource. AUSTCOM does not permit the use of commercial licensed software on this site.
- All content on common ground (see next section) is considered copyleft (public domain content).
- All content on individual pages; Personal, Community and Business, is owned by the page owner.
- AUSTCOM will remove any content that is under copyright that has been used without notice of explicit permission of the copyright holder.
Advertising Policy.
Owners of Personal, Community or Business pages are free to advertise within their own websites as they see fit. The common pages will be kept free of commercial advertising.
AUSTCOM Advertising
As the managing group, AUSTCOM reserves the right to advertise our products and services on any common pages within the Network. Any proceeds from this activity would be spent on the maintenance and development of this site. AUSTCOM is a Not-For-Profit organisation.
Child Protection
AUSTCOM endeavours to be proactive in protecting the children of the Network from inappropriate content. We recommend children be supervised during theri time on the internet and that content filtering software be installed where appropriate.
Complaints Process
AUSTCOM has no wish to apply censorship to content on this site. However occasionally people complain that content is offensive to them or unfit for children. To manage these complaints AUSTCOM has formulated the Content Complaints Process outlined below. No content may be removed other then via this process.
AUSTCOM Action
If any AUSTCOM Site Admin member believes that content may be illegal then they may hide the item immediately and consult the other members of AUSTCOM. If another member of AUSTCOM agrees that it is inappropriate content the item will remain hidden and the author will be contacted.
Community Action
A member of the community who wishes to have content removed must make a formal complaint addressed to AUSTCOM at enquiries@australiancommunities.org.au
Internet Content Host - ICH - Our Legal Obligations
AUSTCOM is an Internet Content Host (ICH) under the guidelines of the Australian Broadcasting Authority aba.gov.au. Illegal content will be hidden pending resolution with appropriate stakeholders (See Complaints Process below). Some content requires us to advise the Police immediately (eg incite to violence, child pornography etc).
Once a content complaint is received....
1) The item is hidden.
2) The author of the content is contacted and informed of the complaint.
3) The author is asked what action they would like to take.
4) The entire AUSTCOM team is to be notified, via mailing list, of details including nature of complaint, the content item in question, the position of both parties.
5) The complainant is informed of the result.
6) If complainant is not satisfied with the author response they are requested to communicate (mediation by request) to resolve their issues. Refusal by the complainant to engage this process will result in the replacement of the content. Refusal by the author to engage this process will result in the content being removed permanently.
7) If mediation can not resolve the process AUSTCOM reserves the right to classify the content to be made available only to those members of the community who have shown proof of age and signed away their right to the complaints process (see unprotected groups).
8) If mediation can not resolve the process AUSTCOM reserves the right to make the final decision on the outcome.
9) In some cases the Australian Broadcasting Authority (or Police etc) may insist content be hidden or removed. We are obliged to comply.
Unprotected Groups
This site is equipped with the technology to manage access permissions involving group access restrictions, and the ability to hide content.
AUSTCOM has implemented a group called "unprotected". Members of this group may place any content in this group to avoid offending members of the community. AUSTCOM may place content in this group if the complaints process is unsuccessful in resolving the issue.
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