Privacy Policy

Faithlife Church Privacy Policy 32 168 910 220 (“Faithlife”) recognises that the right to privacy of all people is very important. Faithlife Church seeks to ensure that the privacy of each individual is respected. This Privacy Policy sets out the key elements of how we comply with the Australian Privacy Principles, particularly in terms of the treatment of personal information that we collect and/or hold.

Faithlife must comply with the Australian Privacy Act, and the Australian Privacy Principles, as amended from time to time. Acknowledgement of our Privacy Policy Our obligations under the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012 is to comply with the Australian Privacy Principle 1.4 which requires us to set out our policies on the management of personal information in a clearly expressed document which is free of charge to anyone who asks for it.

Without limiting the generality of the above statement, a person’s use of the Faithlife website constitutes an acknowledgement that they have been made aware of our privacy policy. We respect your personal information and your right to privacy. This Privacy Policy describes the information that may be collected by us and how we protect your personal information. Should there be, in any specific case, any inconsistency between this statement and the Act, this statement shall be interpreted, in respect of that case, to give effect to, and comply with the legislation.

The kind of Personal Information we collect and hold

Personal information means information we hold about you from which your identity is either apparent or can be reasonably determined. We may collect non-personal information from you, such as browser type, operating system, and web pages visited to help us manage our web site. Many of our church services & conferences are recorded. Testimonials, baptism services and leadership meetings are further examples of recordings that may be made by Faithlife. Images of people attending and participating in our services &/or conferences, or other recordings, for example as above, may be used or shown in part for promotional purposes, resource material and commercial activities. 

By attending such church services and or conference sessions, or being involved in testimonials, for example, you agree to Faithlife using your image and personal information in these recordings.

How we collect and hold Personal Information

We use various internet technologies to manage our website, Facebook pages and certain online products and services. We do not use these technologies to collect or store personal information unless you have opted into such a feature. Our Internet server logs the following information which is provided by your browser for statistical purposes only: the type of browser and operating system you are using, your Internet Service Provider and top-level domain name, the address of any referring web site; and your computer’s IP address. All this information is used by Faithlife for aggregated statistical analyses or systems administration purposes. No attempt will be made to identify users or their browsing activities, except where required by or under law. 

Links to other sites

Faithlife’s website may contain links to other external sites. We are ultimately not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such external web sites. We encourage you to read and understand the privacy policies on those websites before providing any information to them. Searches Search terms that you enter when using our search engine are collected but are not associated with any other information that we collect. The purposes for which we collect, hold, use and disclose 

Personal Information

We use the personal information you provide only for purposes consistent with the reason you provided it, or for a directly related purpose. Generally, we will not use your personal information to market to you unless we have either your implied or express consent but in situations where it is impractical to obtain your prior consent, you have an ability to opt-out of such future communications. We do not share your personal information with other organisations unless you give us your express consent, or where sharing is otherwise required or permitted by law, or where this is necessary temporarily to enable our contractors to perform specific functions. Generally, Faithlife will collect personal information directly from you, and only to the extent necessary to provide a product or service or to carry out our internal administrative operations. We may collect personal information from you when: you fill in an application form, or register for a conference or event; deal with us over the phone; email us; ask us to contact you after visiting our website; or have contact with us in person. You may also be able to transact with us anonymously where this is lawful and practicable. We will collect personal information from you by lawful and fair means and not in an unreasonably intrusive way. We will use your personal information only for the particular purpose that you provided it, or for a directly related purpose. We may otherwise use your personal information where that other use is: required or permitted by law; or with your express or implied consent.

Pastoral care & broader Faithlife connectedness

If you provide your personal information to Faithlife, you consent to be contacted generally for pastoral care and follow up by Faithlife. The personal information you provide to Faithlife may be shared within Faithlife for the development of other products and services of Faithlife, and to improve our general ability to assist Church attendees and the wider community.

Video/Photographs

Photographic Images, and/or audio-visual recordings to be used by Faithlife Church and should they be required for the following purposes:

acknowledge the achievements and accomplishments of church members and volunteers, promote the services and activities of Faithlife Church to the wider community, and/or record events to maintain a historical record of Faithlife Church. Faithlife will seek the consent of individuals where it is practically possible to do so. Church members, and volunteers, aged 18 and over, will be asked to complete and sign the Consent Form for Image and/or Audio-Visual Recording if their image(s) and recordings are to be used. Individuals under the age of 18 years and adults who are unable to make an informed decision or make their decision known, requires permission to be granted by their parent or guardian using the Consent Form for Image and/or Audio-Visual Recording. Once permission is granted, this permission applies to all images, and/or audio-visual recordings, of the individual. Faithlife Church ensures that all imagery and recordings portray individuals and Faithlife Church in a valued

and positive way. Faithlife Church does not share or sell any images, and/or audio-visual recordings to any third party for commercial/marketing purposes and does not release any images, and/or audio-visual recordings unless required by law to do so. If you would like to have a video or still image removed from any material, please contact us using the contact details set out below. 

Direct marketing and your privacy

From time to time we may use the personal information we collect from you to advise you of, for example, conferences, events, products and/or services, which we believe may be of interest to you. We may then contact you to let you know about these products and services and how they may benefit you. We will generally only do this with your consent and you can opt-out of receiving such information in the future. Direct mail Where we use your personal information to send you marketing information via the post we may do so with your implied consent or, if this is impracticable, you can opt-out of receiving such future communications. Electronic marketing Where we use your personal information to send you marketing information by e-mail, SMS, MMS or other electronic means we may do so with your express or implied consent. You may give us your express consent by, for example, ticking a box on an electronic or paper form where we seek your permission to send you electronic or other marketing information. Consent may be implied from our existing business relationship or where you have directly or indirectly provided us with your electronic address. Your privacy preferences and choices You may contact us at any time to opt-out of receiving personalised marketing contacts from Faithlife. You may also instruct us at any time to remove any previous consent you provided to receive marketing communications from us. Security Faithlife will take reasonable steps to keep secure any personal information which we hold and to keep this information accurate and up to date. Personal information is stored in a secure server or secure files. The Internet is not a secure method of transmitting information. Accordingly, Faithlife cannot accept responsibility for the security of information you send to or receive from us over the Internet or for any unauthorised access or use of that information. 

Information sharing

We have a strict duty to maintain the privacy of all personal information we hold about you. However, certain exceptions do apply. For example, where disclosure of your personal information is: authorised or required by law, e.g. disclosure to various government departments and agencies such as the Australian Taxation Office, Centrelink, Child Support Agency or disclosure to courts under subpoena. In the public interest, e.g. where a crime, fraud or misdemeanour is committed or suspected, and disclosure against the customer’s rights to confidentiality is justified. With your consent, which may be implied or express, verbal or written.

Use of third-party service providers

When we temporarily provide personal information to companies who perform services for us, such as specialist information technology companies, mail houses or other contractors to Faithlife we require those companies to protect your personal information as diligently as we do. 

Disclosure of Personal Information to overseas recipients

If Faithlife transfers personal information to countries outside Australia, we will only do so in compliance with all applicable Australian data protection and privacy laws. Faithlife will take reasonable steps to protect personal information no matter what country it is stored in or transferred to. We will have procedures and data transfer contracts as appropriate to help ensure this.

Updating your information

Some personal information which we hold will inevitably become out of date. We will take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information which we hold remains accurate and, if you advise us of a change of details, we will amend our records accordingly. Access to your Personal Information Faithlife will, upon your request, and subject to applicable privacy laws, provide you with access to your personal information that is held by us. However, we ask that you identify, as clearly as possible, the type/s of information requested. Faithlife will deal with your request to provide access to your personal information in a reasonable time of receipt of your request. Faithlife will not charge you for lodging such a request but we may recover from you our reasonable costs incurred in supplying you with access to this information. 

Exceptions

Your right to access your personal information is not absolute. In certain circumstances, the law permits us to refuse your request to provide you with access to your personal information, such as circumstances where: access would pose a serious threat to the life or health of any individual; access would have an unreasonable impact on the privacy of others; the request is frivolous; the information relates to a commercially sensitive decision-making process; access would be unlawful; or access may prejudice enforcement activities, a security function or commercial negotiations.

Freedom of Information laws

In addition to privacy laws, you may have rights to access your personal information contained in certain Faithlife documents. Details on how to apply for access to these documents are contained in the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act). Contacts & complaints Faithlife is committed to working to obtain a fair resolution of any complaint or concern about privacy.

To contact us with a compliment or complaint or a privacy question, you can: Call us on 0429 388 871; or email us at admin@faithlife.org.au. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from Faithlife you may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) by writing to GPO Box 5218, Sydney, NSW, 2001; or calling 1300 363 992.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

Faithlife may amend this Privacy Policy from time to time. Visit our website regularly to keep up to date with any changes.