Privacy Policy

The Thin Green Line Foundation is a global not-for-profit organisation that directly supports rangers on the frontline of conservation, enabling them to protect themselves, wildlife, communities, and the future of our living planet.

The Thin Green Line Foundation has obligations concerning the collection, use, handling, and disclosure of personal information. These obligations are set out in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).

In this Privacy Policy, references to “TGL”, “we”, “us” and “our” are to The Thin Green Line Foundation Ltd (ABN 22 126 573 779).

We may collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. We may review and update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes to our Privacy Policy will be published on our website. You may obtain a copy of our current Privacy Policy from our website or by contacting us using the contact details set out at the bottom of this Privacy Policy.

WHAT IS PERSONAL INFORMATION?

Personal Information

“Personal information” is information or an opinion about an identified individual or reasonably identifiable individual, whether true or not and whether recorded in material form or not.

Sensitive Information

“Sensitive information” is a sub-category of personal information which includes information or an opinion about an individual’s racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, membership of a political association, religious beliefs or affiliations, philosophical beliefs, membership of a professional or trade association or trade union, sexual preferences or practices, criminal record, health information, genetic information and certain biometric information.

WHAT PERSONAL INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT AND HOLD?

We collect and hold personal information about individuals such as our donors, rangers and other beneficiaries of TGL, and any other person who comes into contact with us. The types of personal information we may collect about you will depend upon the nature of our interaction with you.

Specifically, the personal information we collect and hold may include: 

• Information provided to us via forms on our website.
• The location from which you have come to our website and the pages you have visited.
• Technical data, which may include your IP address, country, the types of devices you are using to access our website, device attributes, browser type, language and operating system, and search engine referrals.

In respect of donors:

• Name
• Address
• Email address
• Telephone or mobile number
• Billing information (PayPal, Stripe, credit or debit card information)

In respect of rangers & other beneficiaries of TGL:

• Name
• Address
• Email address
• Phone number
• Proof of marriage / de facto relationship
• Date of birth
• Identification documentation
• Beneficiary account information
• Number and gender of dependent children
• Photographs or images of you

HOW DO WE COLLECT PERSONAL INFORMATION?

We may collect personal information directly from you or from a third party. We will only collect your personal information from a third party if it is unreasonable or impracticable to collect this information directly from you or if we are otherwise permitted to do so.

We may collect this information when you communicate with us through our website, by telephone, by e-mail or social media, by post, or in person. In some circumstances, the collection of personal information may be required by law.

Specifically, we may collect your personal information:

• when you participate in our programs and activities, such as our LEAD Ranger Program, Amazon Indigenous Protector’s Program, Junior Ranger Program and Ranger Exchange Program.
• to administer our Fallen Ranger Fund and provide funding to eligible individuals and organisations.
• when you request information about us, our services, programs or events.
• when you register to be a donor or make a donation.
• when you buy any products from our website.
• when you visit or fill in a form on our website.
• when you send us photos or recordings.
• when you contact us by telephone, email, social media, post or in person.
• when we are otherwise required or authorised by law.

WHY DO WE COLLECT, HOLD, USE AND DISCLOSE PERSONAL INFORMATION?

We collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information for the following purposes:

• to perform our charitable functions and activities.
• to identify and communicate with you, and to provide you with information and support.
• to process payments when you make a donation or purchase products via our website.
• to verify the legitimate ownership of credit card information to avoid credit card fraud such as bot or test donations.
• to enable you to access and use our website, and to improve and optimise our website and user experience.
• to send marketing and promotional messages to you and other information that has been requested or which may be of interest.
• to respond to any queries or complaints you have made.
• to comply with our legal obligations.
• to assist government and law enforcement agencies or regulators.

DIRECT MARKETING

We will use your personal information to offer you products we believe may interest you, keep you informed about opportunities to donate or partner with us, and send you updates about our work and how your support is making a difference to the rangers and communities we serve, but we will not do so if you tell us not to.

When you receive electronic marketing communications from us, you may opt out of receiving further marketing communications by following the opt-out instructions provided in the communication.

TO WHOM DO WE DISCLOSE PERSONAL INFORMATION?

We may disclose your personal information to the following third parties for the purposes listed above:

• in relation to fallen rangers, the International Ranger Federation for their Honour Roll of Ranger Deaths.

• our financial institutions and third-party provider who facilitates payments and funds transfers on our behalf.

• third party service providers who assist us in providing products and services to you and to administer our charity, and who may perform services for us or on our behalf.

• professional service providers and advisors who perform functions on our behalf, such as our lawyers and accountants.

• government, regulatory authorities or other organisations as required or authorised by law.

When we disclose personal information to third parties, we make all reasonable efforts to ensure that we disclose only relevant information and that it is accurate, complete and up to date.

Other permitted disclosures

We may disclose personal information in other circumstances, where the person concerned has consented to the disclosure, or where we are expressly permitted to do so by the Privacy Act or another law. These other disclosures may include where:

• you would reasonably expect the disclosure to occur.
• we are authorised or compelled by law to disclose.
• it is necessary as part of the establishment or defence of a legal claim.
• it is requested by an enforcement agency such as the police.
• it is a necessary part of an investigation following a complaint or incident.

Other uses and disclosures

We may collect, use and disclose your personal information for other purposes not listed in this Privacy Policy. If we do so, we will make it known to you at the time we collect or use your personal information.

DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION OUTSIDE AUSTRALIA

We may disclose your personal information to certain recipients located outside Australia; for instance, The International Ranger Federation based in the United States and Ebury, our payment services provider, which is based in the United Kingdom.

Where such recipients are located overseas, you may have rights to enforce such parties’ compliance with applicable data protection laws, but you may not have recourse against those parties under the Privacy Act in relation to how those parties treat your personal information.

INFORMATION COLLECTED VIA OUR WEBSITES

This Privacy Policy applies to the personal information that TGL collects through our website accessible at https://thingreenline.org.au/ and https://fundraisers.thingreenline.org.au/.

Cookies

A “cookie” is a small file stored by the web browser software on your computer when you access our website. An explanation of cookies can be found on the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s (OAIC) website.

We use session cookies for maintaining contact with a user throughout a web browsing session. Session cookies expire when the browsing session comes to an end, or a user shuts down their computer.

We use persistent cookies for statistical purposes and to improve our website.

You may accept all cookies, reject all cookies, or be notified when a cookie is set. However, if refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser, this may prevent you from using the full functionality of the website. 

We will deal with any personal information collected by cookies in the same way we handle other personal information under this Privacy Policy.

Web beacons

The website communications generated from using and/or subscribing via our website, such as promotional emails, may contain electronic images known as “web beacons”. Web beacons generally work in conjunction with cookies, and we may use them with cookies to, for example, count the number of visitors to the website or see whether you have acted on an email or clicked on a link.

Google Analytics

Our website use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google Inc. (Google). Google Analytics uses cookies to help analyse how users use the website, and anonymously tracks how users interact with the website, including where they came from, what they did on the website and whether they completed any transactions on the website.

The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google will use this information for the purpose of compiling reports on the website’s activity and providing other services relating to the website and internet usage. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google’s behalf. Google will not associate a person’s IP address with any other data held by Google.

You can opt out of the collection of information via Google Analytics by downloading the Google Analytics Opt-out browser add-on here. Google’s privacy policy can be found here.

Clickstream data

When you visit our website, a record is made of your visit including the following information:

• your server address.
• your top-level domain name.
• the date and time of access to the site.
• pages accessed and documents downloaded.
• the previous site visited.
• the type of browser software in use.

We analyse this non-identifiable website traffic data (including through the use of third-party service providers) on an aggregated basis to improve our services and for statistical purposes.

No attempt will be made to identify users or their browsing activities except in the unlikely event of an investigation, where a law enforcement agency may exercise a warrant to inspect the internet service provider’s log files.

WP Statistics

We use WP Statistics to understand the traffic and user data of our website by tracking the following information:

• IP address.
• Country of origin.
• Device information.
• Browser (including version of browser).
• Search engine referrals.

We will deal with any personal information collected by this tool in the same way we handle other personal information under this Privacy Policy.

Facebook Pixel

We use Facebook pixel – a piece of code that we put on our website to measure the effectiveness of our advertising by understanding the actions people take on our website. Facebook Pixel helps TGL to make sure our ads are shown to the right people. It collects data that helps us track conversions from Facebook ads, optimise ads, build targeted audiences for future ads, and remarket to people who have already taken some kind of action on our website.

Third party websites

Our website may link to other third websites which are outside our control, and other websites outside our control may link to our websites. While we try to ensure that we link only to websites which share our privacy and security standards, once you have left our website we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide on other websites. You should exercise caution and review the privacy statement applicable to the third party website in question.

SECURITY OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

We store most information about you in computer systems and databases operated by either us or our external service providers.

We implement and maintain processes and security measures to protect the personal information which we hold from misuse, interference or loss, and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. This includes:

• multi-factor authentication.
• up to date anti-virus and malware software.
• regular data backups.
• using trusted contracted service providers (including cloud storage providers).

However, we advise that there are inherent risks in transmitting information across the internet, including the risk that information sent to or from a website may be intercepted, corrupted or modified by third parties. If you have security concerns or wish to provide personal information by other means (e.g. by telephone), you may contact us using the contact details set out at the bottom of this Privacy Policy.

If the personal information we hold about you is no longer required by us for any purpose for which it was collected and is no longer required by law to be retained by us, we will destroy or de-identify the information.

HOW CAN I ACCESS OR CORRECT MY PERSONAL INFORMATION?

We have measures in place to ensure the information we hold about you is accurate, complete and up to date.

You may request access to, or request the correction of, the personal information that we hold about you by contacting us via our website (here) or via our email address (set out below). There is no charge for requesting access to or correction of your personal information, but we may require you to meet our reasonable costs in providing you with access (such as photocopying costs or costs for time spent on collating large amounts of material).

We will respond to a request to access or correct your personal information in a reasonable time. There are some circumstances in which we are not required to give you access to your personal information. If we refuse to provide you with access to your record or to update your record in the way you request, we will provide you with written reasons.

If we refuse to correct or update your information, you may request that we make a note on your record that you are of the opinion that the information is inaccurate, incomplete, out of date, irrelevant or misleading (as the case may be).

HOW CAN I MAKE A COMPLAINT?

If you have a complaint or concern regarding our handling of your personal information or think that your privacy has been affected, you should contact us in writing via our website (here) or via our email address (set out below) to raise your complaint or concern.

We will consider your complaint and determine whether it requires further investigation. We will notify you of the outcome of this investigation and any subsequent internal investigation within a reasonable time.

If you remain unsatisfied with the way in which we have handled your privacy complaint or concern, you may approach an independent advisor or contact the OAIC. See the OAIC website (here) for more information about how to make a complaint.

CONTACTING US

If you have any questions or would like further information about our Privacy Policy or practices, wish to make a complaint about the way we have collected or handled your personal information, or would like to request access to or correct your personal information, please contact us via our website or directly via the below details. If you email us, please use the subject line “Privacy”.

This Privacy Policy was last updated: 11 July 2024