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Privacy

Privacy

This website is managed by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (Department). We recognise the importance of protecting your privacy and handle your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). This privacy policy describes what personal information we collect, why we collect it, and how we handle your personal information.

What information we collect and how we use it

The kinds of personal information we collect from you depend on how you use this website.

Energy Rating Calculator

The Energy Rating Calculator on this website allows users to compare the energy consumption and running costs of common household energy rating labelled products.

When you use the Energy Rating Calculator, we will use your IP address to detect the state or territory in which you are located, for the purpose of setting the electricity tariff that is used to estimate running costs. We do not store your IP address for the purpose of the Energy Rating Calculator.

If you use the Energy Rating Calculator to compare air conditioners, we will ask you to enter a postcode, for the purpose of setting the climate zone that is used to estimate running costs.

We use cookies to improve your experience of the Energy Rating Calculator. Cookies are small pieces of text sent to your browser by this website, as a tool to remember the products that you have compared using the Energy Rating Calculator. We retain this data for 12 months. You can change your browser settings to reject cookies.

You can email yourself a list of models that you have compared using the Energy Rating Calculator. To use this service, you will need to provide your first name and email address. This personal information will only be used for the purpose of providing you with this service.

The Energy Rating Calculator is hosted by Webquor Services Pty Limited (Webquor) on servers located in Australia. Your personal information will be shared with Webquor for the purpose of enabling the provision of hosting services.

Contact us

If you contact us, using the online form or by email, we will collect your personal information, including your name, email address, and details of your enquiry. This personal information will be used for the purpose of responding to your enquiry or message and may also be used to contact you about your experiences relating to the Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards Act 2012 (Cth) (GEMS Act), the Equipment Energy Efficiency (E3) Program, or the service we provided in response to your enquiry or message, such as conducting surveys related to user experience.

Energy Rating Product Registration System

The Energy Rating Product Registration System allows users to register products regulated by the Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards Act 2012 (Cth) (GEMS Act).

To use this service, we will ask you for your personal information, including your name, contact information and organisational details.

This personal information is collected by the Department for the purpose of executing its functions under the GEMS Act, including its functions to establish and maintain the GEMS Register, to develop, research and provide information and advice in relation to GEMS Determinations and products that are, or could be, covered by GEMS Determinations, and its enforcement functions.

Any personal information that you provide will be used to contact you regarding your product registration or any enquiry you submit relating to your use of the Energy Rating Product Registration system, and may also be used to contact you about your experiences relating to the GEMS Act, site and product registration process, such as conducting surveys related to user experience, compliance activities, or GEMS Determinations. Your personal information may also be used to contact you regarding potential changes to the GEMS Act, GEMS Determinations or E3 Program that are relevant to your registration. 

Your personal information will also be used to process, assess and administer your product model registration, and ensure its subsequent compliance with the GEMS Act. Without this information, the registration of a product may be delayed or unsuccessful.

To perform its functions under the GEMS Act, the Department may disclose personal information to contractors performing services for the Department, state and territory governments, or overseas recipients such as other governments and industry regulators. Prior to doing so, the Department will remove individuals' names and contact information, except where the disclosure is required or authorised by law. 

The Energy Rating Product Registration System is hosted by WSP Australia on servers located in Australia. Your personal information will be shared with WSP Australia for the purpose of enabling the provision of hosting services.

Website analytics

To improve your experience on this website, we use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google LLC (Google).

Google Analytics uses ‘cookies’ to collect data about how users use this website, including information about pages visited, links clicked on, and device and browser type. 

Although Google Analytics distinguishes between unique users, it does not personally identify who users are. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. Information collected by the Department using Google Analytics is transmitted to Google’s data centres, which operate globally, including in the United States. For more information, please refer to Google’s Privacy Policy and How Google uses data when you use our partners' sites or apps.

You can opt out of Google Analytics by using the opt-out service provided by Google.

Links to external websites

This website may contain links to other websites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of other websites. When you go to other websites, we advise you to be aware and read their privacy policy.

Disclosure to overseas recipients

As explained above, we share your personal information with overseas recipients, namely, MailChimp (for the purpose of distributing our newsletter) and Google Analytics (for the purpose of improving your experience on this website). We also share your personal information with overseas recipients to perform functions under the GEMS Act.

In some other cases, we may have to disclose limited personal information to recipients overseas under legislation or international information sharing agreements. This may occur, for example, in relation to a law enforcement matter such as a criminal investigation. However, where there is no requirement for us to disclose personal information to an overseas recipient, we will not do so unless you have consented to the disclosure.

 

How we protect your personal information

This website is hosted in Australia in secure government accredited facilities. To protect your privacy and safeguard information we collect and hold, we maintain physical, technical and administrative safeguards. We update and test our security technology on an ongoing basis.

We train our employees about the importance of maintaining the privacy and security of your information. Access to your personal information is restricted to employees who need it to provide services to you.

How to access and correct your personal information, or make a privacy complaint

For information about how you can seek access to, and correction of, your information, or make a privacy complaint, please refer to the Department’s Privacy Policy.

Contact us

If you have any questions about this privacy policy, our contact details are below:

Email: privacy@dcceew.gov.au

Post: GPO Box 3090, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia

Phone: (02) 6213 6000

Alternatively, you can use the contact us using the online form.

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