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Privacy and Data Protection

1.1 Privacy and Data Protection

1.1 Your right to privacy is important to us. The following terms are provided to explain how we collect and use information about you so that you can make an informed choice about using the Website.

1.2 Data protection

1.2.1 THE MESSAGE GROUP is keen to strike a fair balance between your personal privacy and ensuring that you obtain full value from the products and services it provides, while ensuring that it complies with all protection the Australian Privacy Act of 1988 ('the Act') affords to you. THE MESSAGE GROUP will hold your personal data securely in accordance with the Act.

1.2.2 The main purpose of the Act is to contain the possible threat to individuals from the misuse of personal data relating to them held in manual records or on computing equipment. THE MESSAGE GROUP complies with all requirements of the law on protection of personal data held on computer or in manual records.

1.3 Collection and use of personal data

1.3.1 Any personal data that you give us will be treated with the utmost care and security. We will hold your personal information on our systems for as long as it is still used for the purpose stated when originally requested.

1.3.2 THE MESSAGE GROUP is keen to strike a fair balance between your personal privacy and ensuring that you obtain full value from the products and services it provides, while ensuring that it complies with all protection the Australian Privacy Act of 1988 ('the Act') affords to you. THE MESSAGE GROUP will hold your personal data securely in accordance with the Act, under which it is fully registered.

1.3.3 Should you request that we amend or suppress records containing your personal data, we will endeavour to do so as promptly as practical. However, you may receive communications for a transitional period while we process your records.

1.3.4 The Act gives you the right to see the personal information THE MESSAGE GROUP holds on you. Please see Data protection for more information.

1.4 Cookies

1.4.1 This Website uses cookies, a small piece of information stored on your computer in the form of a file, to facilitate access to restricted areas and to monitor usage by tracking which URLs are accessed and the sequence in which they are accessed (see paragraph 1.5 - Log files for more information).

1.4.2 This Website does not use cookies to store personal data. Cookies are used to store a unique reference number for each visitor to the Website, which allows one visitor to be distinguished from another.

1.4.3 You can find out more about cookies, their use, and how you can remove them by going to the Interactive Advertising Bureau website All About Cookies or Cookiecentral.com. You should note that if a User sets up his or her browser to reject the cookie, he or she may still use the Website, although functionality may be impaired.

1.4.4 We do use cookies to track some activities and provide a desirable experience for our visitors. We treat any data that we collect with a cookie with the same high respect that we treat other data visitors, and only use it in ways that are consistent with the policies described above. Please note that third party vendors, such as Google, may show our ads on sites on the internet. In addition to our own cookies, third party advertisers, such as Google, may use cookies to serve ads based on a user's prior visit to our website. You can restrict the use of cookies or delete them from your browser at anytime by configuring your browser settings. (Please note that restricting cookies may interfere with some of the functionality of our website.) You may opt-out of Google's use of cookies by visiting the Google advertising opt-outpage.

1.5 Log files

1.5.1 Continuous logs are kept of requests received by the Website's web servers as it is accessed. These logs are used to analyse usage of the Website.

1.5.2 Logs are maintained both by THE MESSAGE GROUP and third parties contracted by THE MESSAGE GROUP - Google Inc. ("Google") - who specialise in monitoring and analysing website usage (see paragraphs 1.5.4 and 1.5.5 for more information). We use Google Analytics to analyse use of the Website (see paragraph 1.5.5 below).

1.5.3 Each log entry includes the internet protocol (IP) address of the client used (typically, though not necessarily, the IP address of the personal computer (PC) used), the type of client used (typically, though not necessarily, the type and version of web browser used), the URL of the page (or object) requested, the URL of the previous page (or object) requested (known as the 'referrer' and could relate to this Website or another), and the reference number stored in a cookie created by the Website (if one exists). THE MESSAGE GROUP logs additionally contain the username used to access restricted areas of the Website. This username is not collected by nor shared with Google Inc.

1.5.4 Google Analytics uses "cookies", which are text files placed on your computer, to help the THE MESSAGE GROUP analyse how users use the Website. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the Website (including, without limitation, your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Subject to paragraph 1.5.5 below, this information will not include any of your personal data or information from which you will be readily identifiable. Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the Website, compiling reports on Website activity for the THE MESSAGE GROUP and providing other services relating to Website activity and internet usage. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google's behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser, however please note that if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of this Website. By using this Website, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above. If you would like to receive more information on Google Analytics, and the kind of information that they collect and process, we refer you to Google Analytics's website (see http://www.google.com/intl/en_ALL/privacy.html).

1.5.6 THE MESSAGE GROUP is only able to link log entries to individuals where it holds personal data that can be associated with log entries using IP address, username, or reference number from cookies. This is only possible in relation to Users connected directly to the THE MESSAGE GROUP network (ie using an THE MESSAGE GROUP IP address) and Users using an THE MESSAGE GROUP account (ie using an THE MESSAGE GROUP username). We will only use this information to identify you where we are required to by law or where we suspect that there has been a breach of the law or of these Terms of use.