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    • Governance and management
      • Privacy
        • Information and background
          • Privacy statement for the collection of staff information
          • Website privacy and security measures

Web site privacy and security measures

• How any personal or financial information provided via RMIT web sites may be used
• No junk mail or email
• Technical identifying information RMIT web servers collect from your visits to RMIT web sites
• What security is in place when you leave personal or financial information
• How does login to RMIT web sites work
• Warning: Leaving personal information in chat rooms, web boards and bulletin boards
• Links from RMIT web sites to other web sites
• More information

How any personal or financial information provided via RMIT web sites may be used

Personal or financial information provided via RMIT web sites will only be used by RMIT staff for the purposes of conducting the business of the University, and in line with the RMIT Privacy Policy. These uses include:

• responding to program and course inquiries
• conducting student and financial administration processes
• providing services
• dissemination of information to visitors, prospective students, current students, staff, and alumni

Such information is stored securely, retained for no longer than is necessary or required by law (e.g. archiving legislation), and then disposed of lawfully and securely.

No junk mail or email

Email privacy and security…

RMIT will not send you any unsolicited mail or email. You will always be asked to give your permission for RMIT to use your address to send any promotional information or to be placed on a mail list.

If you are not an RMIT staff member or student, RMIT records your email address only if you email the University. When you send an email to RMIT (that is, to an address that ends with ‘@rmit.edu.au’) your email address and any personal information you provide may be kept for the purpose of dealing with the enquiry. You may request to have your personal details removed at any time if you do not want any more information, or if the enquiry is concluded. You will not be placed on any mailing list as a result of emailing RMIT.

RMIT does use email for routine business communication to its staff and students, and keeps consolidated lists for these purposes. Such email is sent only to RMIT owned, allocated and managed email addresses (ie, addresses that end with ‘@.rmit.edu.au’).

In the above processes, email logs may be kept temporarily for the purpose of identifying and dealing with any inappropriate use of email. Such records are stored securely.

Technical identifying information RMIT web servers collect from your visits to RMIT web sites

A cookie is a file or information used by RMIT web servers for many purposes, including allowing authorised users to login to University web sites (see section below), and which can leave data on the hard drive of your computer so that it can remember something about you when you access the web site on subsequent occasions.

The University may make a record of your visits to RMIT web sites and logs any of the following information for security, statistical, recording, and other business purposes: the user’s server address, the user’s domain name, IP address, the date and time of the visit, the pages accessed and documents downloaded, the previous site visited and the type of browser used. This information is not disclosed, sold, or made available to other organisations. This information is kept only temporarily and is stored securely. An important use is to track and identify inappropriate usage and hence provide a more secure online environment. Any disclosure for reporting purposes is done in ways which do not allow an individual user to be identified.

In addition, RMIT does not acquire this sort of information from other organisations.

Users can ‘disable cookies’ on their web browser, however this may result in an inability to login or view some RMIT web pages.

What security is in place when you leave personal or financial information

A technically secure environment is in place for when personal or financial information is collected through RMIT web sites, to ensure that it cannot be accessed by other users or organisations.

The RMIT network which hosts the RMIT web site and all RMIT online systems has highly sophisticated security and publishing systems in place. Technically this includes:

• fire walling
• intrusion detection
• port filtering
• password-login
• virus protection
• packet shaping

E-commerce transactions involving authorisation to pay RMIT fees, or purchase products or services are conducted within the secure online environments of RMIT authorised banks and financial institutions to provide a greater level of security.

How does login RMIT web sites work

RMIT students, staff, and other approved persons have a license to log into RMIT web sites. This enables them to securely access important information and online services restricted to them, and not visible to, or available to visitors. Examples include:

• a student’s enrolment and results information and online course content
• a staff member’s personnel record and pay information

Logging in to access these services is conducted in a safe and secure environment.

When logging in, staff and students authenticate who they are by entering on a web page the staff or student number allocated for their use by RMIT, and a unique password that they have generated.

Student and staff numbers are stored securely. It is important that users with this license abide by RMIT approved use policies, especially keeping their number and password secure, and ensuring they log off when finished. In this way, their personal information, and that of others is protected from unauthorised access and misuse.

Warning! Leaving personal information in chat rooms, web boards and bulletin boards

The University cannot take responsibility for access to and use of personal information which you disclose in bulletin boards, chat rooms, and web boards, on RMIT web sites. All such communication services require users to login; however, in line with safe internet use practice, you should generally not disclose any personal information in such forums.

Links from RMIT web sites to other web sites

RMIT web sites contain links to other web sites. RMIT is not, and cannot be responsible for the privacy or security practices or the content of these web sites. A link to another web site does not imply an RMIT association with, or endorsement of, that web site.

For more information

In the first instance, contact the Corporate Web Team.