Privacy Policy

1. Purpose

To define the State Library policy for the management and safeguarding of personal information.

2. Scope

The policy applies to all personal information collected from members of the public by the Library for the purpose of undertaking library activities.

Definition:

Personal information is information about an individual, whose identity is apparent or can be reasonably ascertained from the information collected by the Library.

This policy does not apply:

  • To personal information about members of the public contained in items from the State Library’s collections; for example, personal information contained in diaries, letters, photographic images or oral histories owned by the Library.
  • Access to personal information under Freedom of Information legislation. Members of the public can make application to receive a copy of their personal information held by the State Library, and if found to be incorrect, to have it corrected under the Freedom of Information Act 1992. As per this Act, these applications are managed by the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries

3. Context

The State Library may collect personal information to provide services to clients and to enhance the safety and security of staff, library clients and property.

This information comes from a number of sources including:

  • Client registration (membership) information required to access some Library services;
  • CCTV for security monitoring purposes within the State Library building;
  • Computer logs which record data on clients who access State Library websites such as the Internet Provider (IP) address of the client and the URLs requested;
  • Computer logs which record data on clients who access websites from a SLWA public computer such as the URLs requested;
  • Commercial transactions such as venue hire and purchasing copies of collection items;
  • Registration for State Library programs and events;
  • Communications with clients via letter, email, online forms and other means;
  • Government required registration of people entering the building (e.g. COVID-19 contact tracing); and
  • Donor information.

4. Policy Statement

It is the policy of the Library Board of Western Australia that:

The State Library will act with the utmost probity in its use of personal information. The State Library will not make use of personal information except for the purpose it was collected, or for a purpose that would be reasonably expected in carrying out the State Library’s activities.

The State Library will not intrude to an unreasonable extent on the personal affairs of an individual while collecting such information.

The State Library will not disclose personal information to another organisation or individual unless required to do so by law.

5. Responsibility

Manager Policy and Research

6. References

Approved, Library Board, 2 December 2021 

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