Privacy

Policy

  1. Policy Brief & Purpose

  • Glory City Church acknowledges the importance and right to privacy for all persons. The following policy outlines how Glory City Church seeks to comply with the Australian Privacy Principals. Glory City Church although not meeting minimum requirements for mandatory reporting, acknowledges its responsibility to adhere to the Australian Privacy Act and its amended principals.

  1. Objectives

  • The following documents seeks to:
    • Define our Privacy Policy and outline practices demonstrating adherence to the Privacy Act.
    • Educate and guide both our staff and volunteers in the area of privacy and confidentiality. 
    • Provide important information to the various stakeholders regarding organisational privacy practices

  1. Related Documents

  • Documents that relate to or are affected by this policy include:
    • Glory City Church Volunteers Declaration.
    • Glory City Church Confidentiality Agreement.
    • Glory City Church Staff Handbook

  1. Definitions

  • In this document unless the contrary intention appeases, a reference to:
    • Glory City Church refers to all entities including 
      • Glory City Church, Brisbane
      • The Glory City Academy
      • Glory City Network
      • Glory City Television 
      • Selah Wellness Centre
      • Katherine Ruonala Ministries
  • Personal Information my refer to an individuals name, surname, contact information, residential information, or demographic information. 

  1.  Scope

  • This Policy applies to the following persons:
    • All Glory City Church Staff and Volunteers.
    • Anyone attending gatherings arranged by Glory City Church and its associated entities.
    • All Glory City Church community stakeholders

  1. Acknowledgement Of Privacy Obligations

  • We acknowledge our obligation under the Privacy Act to set out our privacy policy for the managements of personal information, in a free document that is available upon request.
  • It is understood that when using the Glory City Church website, a person accepts and acknowledges that they are aware of our Privacy Policy.
  • We respect the right to an individual’s privacy. This document outlines both the information we collect and how it is used.
  • Should there be, in any specific cases, 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.

  1. Collection Of Personal Information

  • Personal information is information held about an individual from which a person’s identity is either apparent or can be easily determined.
  • At times we may collect information such as browser type, operating systems and pages visited to help us manage and maintain our website.
  • Many of our services, conferences and events are recorded, filed and distributed to individuals. 
  • Testimonials and leadership meetings are additional examples of recordings that may be collected and distributed.
  • Images and video of people participating in services, events and ministry activities may at times, be used for the development of promotional material, resources or commercial activities.
  • By attending any events or services at Glory City Church an individual agrees to the use of their image and personal information in these recordings or commercial activities. 
  • Glory City Church uses various technologies to manage personal information. These technologies are not used to collect or store personal information without the consent of the individual.
  • Our internet server logs the following information which is provided by browsers for statistical purposes;
    • Type of browser and operating systems.
    • Internet provider and top-level domain name.
    • The address of any referring website
    • The computers IP address.
  • This information is used strictly for statistical analysis and administration.
  • The information provided is not used as an attempt to identify persons and their activity except where it is required by law.

  1. Links to Other Sites.

  • Glory City Church’s websites may contain links to external websites. We accept no responsibility for the practices and content used on these sites. It is recommended that all persons using these sites read and understand the privacy policies of these external websites prior to providing them with any personal information.

  1. Use Of Personal Information.

  • Personal information is used strictly for stated or intended purposes only. 
  • We do not use personal information for communication or marketing purposes unless implied through consent. 
  • Where it is impractical to obtain prior consent, a user has the ability to withdraw from future Glory City Church communications. We do not share information with another organisation unless:
    • The person has expressed consent to information sharing;
    • Information sharing is required or permitted by law, or;
    • Is temporarily necessary to enable contractors to specific duties or functions.
  • Information is commonly used to improve the performance of internal administrative functions.
  • Information may be collected when:
    • A person fills out an information or application form, or when registering for a conference or event.
    • When a person engages with our organisation through telephone, email, via our website or in person.
    • When a person completes a form updating their contact information. 
  • A person may be able to correspond with us anonymously where lawful. We will collect personal information by lawful and fair means and not in an unreasonably intrusive way.
  • The information provided will be used for the intended purpose only. We may otherwise use information where it is required or permitted by law, or with express or mutual consent.

  1. Pastoral Care

  • When a person provides private information, they consent to being contacted from time to time for pastoral care reasons. The information provided may be shared internally for the development of other products and resources to assist the church community as well as the community at large.

  1. Video/Photography

  • Images of individuals in photographs or film are treated as personal information where a person’s identity is clear or can reasonably be established. All photographs and video footage of individuals will be used for church related purposes only, including at times in the development of promotional and advertising material. 
  • An individual’s consent will be sought if the photograph or video records sensitive information about the individual recorded. In other cases, the organisation will seek the consent of individuals where it is practically possible to do so. 
  • If an individual would like to have a video or still image of themselves removed from any material, they may contact Glory City Church via our contact information provided.
  • Glory City Church is committed to safeguarding the privacy and rights of children. We will only collect, use, or distribute images or videos featuring children with the explicit documented consent of their parents or guardians.

  1. Direct Marketing

  • We may use the personal information collected to advise and promote conferences, events, products and/or services, which we believe may be of interest and benefit to the relevant individual.
  • All direct marketing is performed with the consent of the individual, who are able to unsubscribe from receiving such information from us at any time.

  1. Direct Mail

  • We may use the personal information collected to distribute marketing information via post. This may be done with an individual’s implied consent. An individual is able to opt out of receiving such communications if they so desire. Please contact our office for more information or to withdraw from further communications with us.

  1. Electronic Mail

  • Where your personal information is used to send marketing information by e-mail, SMS or other electronic means, we only do so with your express or implied consent. An individual may give their consent by, for example, ticking a box on an electronic or paper form where we seek their permission to send them electronic or other marketing information. Consent may be implied from our existing business relationship or where an individual has directly or indirectly provided us with their electronic address.

  1. Privacy Preferences and Choices

  • You may contact us at any time to withdraw from receiving personalised marketing contacts. You may also instruct us at any time to remove any previous consent you provided to receive our marketing communications.

  1. Security

  • Reasonable steps will be taken to keep secure any personal information which is held by us, in order to keep this information accurate and up to date. Personal information is stored in a secure server or secure files, either as a hard-copy or in an electronic format. 
  • Please be aware that the internet is not a secure method of transmitting information. We do not 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.

  1. 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 persons rights to confidentiality is justified.
    • With your consent, which may be implied, expressed, verbal or written.

  1. 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, we require that those companies protect your personal information as diligently as we do.

  1. Disclosure of Personal Information to Overseas Recipients

  • If we transfer personal information to countries outside of Australia, we will only do so in compliance with all applicable Australian Data Protection and Privacy Laws. 
  • We will take reasonable steps to protect personal information no matter what country it is stored in or transferred to. Glory City Church will have procedures and data transfer contracts where appropriate to help ensure this.

  1. Updating Personal Information

  • Whilst we strive to take every necessary measure to ensure that the personal information given to us remains both confidential and accurate.
  • An individual has the right to manage their personal information including the right to request corrections to their personal information if it is inaccurate, incomplete, or out-of-date.

  1. Access To Personal Information

  • Glory City Church 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. Glory City Church will deal with your request to provide access to your personal information within a reasonable timeframe of receiving your request. 
  • Glory City Church will not charge you for lodging such a request but we may claim from you any reasonable costs incurred in supplying you with the access to this information.

  1. Exceptions

  • Your right to access your personal information is not absolute. In certain circumstances, the law permits us to refuse a request of providing access to 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 or others; 
    • The request is frivolous or vexatious; 
    • 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.

  1. Freedom Of Information Laws

  • In addition to privacy laws, you may have rights to access your personal information contained in certain organisational documents. Details on how to apply for access to these documents are contained in the Freedom of Information Act 1982.

  1. Contacts and Complaints

  • Glory City Church 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 our office on 07 3911 1363 
    • Email us via our contact form
  • We will endeavour to address your concern or queries regarding your privacy within one week. 
  • If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from Glory City Church 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.

  1. Changes To This Privacy Policy

  • Glory City Church may amend this Privacy Policy from time to time. We recommend visiting our website regularly to keep up to date with any changes we may make.

  1. Signing

  • This Policy was adopted on the 24th of April 2024 by Glory City Church, Brisbane. Authorised by:
    • Dylan Wearne
    • Executive Pastor
  • Review Date : 25th April 2025

Who we are

Our website address is: https://www.glorycitychurch.com.au.

What personal data we collect and why we collect it

Comments
When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.

An anonymised string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.

Media
If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.

Cookies
If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.

If you have an account and you log in to this site, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.

When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.

If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.

Embedded content from other websites
Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.

These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

How long we retain your data
If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognise and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.

For users that register on our website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.

What rights you have over your data
If you have an account on this site, or have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

Where we send your data
Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.

Online interactions on our platforms
Glory City Church can remove any comments or ban any users who post comments that are:

  • Not related to the topic at hand
  • Cause trouble or make it hard for others to enjoy the service
  • Mean-spirited, hurtful, or abusive
  • Lies that could damage someone’s reputation
  • Sexually suggestive or otherwise inappropriate

Glory City Church can also remove comments or ban users for other reasons, if they think it’s necessary.

In other words, Glory City Church wants to keep things positive and respectful. They won’t tolerate comments that are harmful or offensive to others.