Online privacy statement

This website is maintained by the NSW Police Force. This Online Privacy Statement applies to all the publicly accessible web pages within this website located at URL https://www.police.nsw.gov.au and to all the publicly accessible web pages listed in the search results function. However, we do not take any responsibility for the privacy practices or policies of any third-party websites linked to or from this website. When you interact with this website or send the NSW Police Force a message through the "Contact Us" web page, we may collect personal information about you.

By using this website, applications, and services, or otherwise providing us with your information, you acknowledge and agree to us collecting, holding, using, and disclosing your personal information as described in this privacy statement.

If you do not wish to be bound by this privacy statement, you should not access or otherwise use this website or services.

Your privacy

Personal information is information or an opinion about you where your identity is apparent or can reasonably be ascertained from the information or opinion. Common examples include your name, address, or photograph.

Health information is personal information about your physical or mental health. For example, information such as a description of your physical appearance or have any condition that might affect your wellbeing or behaviour.

You can find a complete definition of personal information and health information in the:

What information is collected?

Like many other websites, certain web page access information about your computer is automatically recorded in a log when you access any part of this website. The following types of information are recorded:

  • the IP (Internet Protocol) address of your computer, as well as your top-level domain name (for example, .com, .gov, .au, .uk etc.)
  • the address of your service
  • the date and time you accessed the web page or file
  • keywords searched and documents or files downloaded
  • time spent on each page
  • the web address (URL) of the web page or file
  • the web address (URL) of the last webpage accessed if it brought you to the current web page or file
  • the name and version of your internet browser software, computer operating system and screen resolution used to access the web page or file.

Only some of this information may be considered personal information for the purpose of the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998.

In addition,

  • when you send the NSW Police Force a message through the "Contact Us" web page, you may choose to provide us with your personal information such as your name, email address, telephone and fax numbers and street address. Provision of this information is optional.
  • Please note that mobile phone users accessing this website should be aware that most phone applications enable their user's mobile phone details (and in some phone applications, also their user's geographic location) to be recorded by the NSWPF's website host. That information will be kept secure, confidential and private, in accordance with the applicable laws.

How do we use the information collected?

Web page access information recorded when you access this website may be used to improve the website and our services.

The NSW Police Force may extract and publish aggregated information about usage patterns from these records. However, we will not disclose or publish information that identifies individual computers, or identifies sub-groupings of addresses without consent, or otherwise than in accordance with the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 and the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002. When you send us a message through the "Contact Us" web page, personal information you choose to provide us will only be used for the purpose of responding to your enquiry and in accordance with the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 and the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002.

What exceptions are there to this rule?

We may collect, use and disclose more extensive information than stated above in the following circumstances:

  • unauthorised attempts to access files on this website which are not accessible to the public
  • unauthorised tampering or interference with files publicly-accessible on this website
  • unauthorised attempts to display the contents of this website through third party websites other than typical Internet search engines
  • attempts to intercept messages of users of this website
  • communications which are defamatory, abusive, threatening, vilify individuals or groups or which give rise to a suspicion that an offence is being committed
  • attempts to otherwise compromise the security of this website, breach the laws of the State of New South Wales or the Commonwealth of Australia, or interfere with the enjoyment of this website by other users.

Who has access to the information collected?

The NSW Police Force uses an internet hosting provider to provide the public with access to this website, which collects the web page access information as described above. This information is stored securely for archival purposes.

If the NSW Police Force needs to access the raw data, access is restricted to a limited number of staff of the NSW Police Force for the purpose of analysis and performance measurement of the website.

When you send us a message through the "Contact Us" web page, that message will be forwarded to staff of the NSW Police Force in the area you have selected. If your enquiry does not relate to that area of the NSW Police Force, we will redirect your message to the relevant area.

In instances where the use of the NSW Police Force website raises a suspicion that an offence is being, or has been, committed, information about the suspicious activity will be made available to the NSW Police Force staff who are investigating the matter.

What about my email address?

The NSW Police Force only record email addresses if you provide us with your email address through the "Contact Us" web page. We will only use your email address for the purpose of responding to your enquiry. Your email address will not be added to any mailing list, used or disclosed for any other purpose without your consent or otherwise than in accordance with the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 and the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002.

However, the NSW Police Force advises that there are inherent risks in transmitting information across the Internet.

What are ‘cookies’ and how are they used on this website?

A cookie is a small piece of data that a website sends to the internet browser software (which may then be stored on the computer) that is designed to save preferences or keep track of information previously selected. A cookie cannot retrieve any data from the hard drive, pass on computer viruses or capture email addresses.

Cookies can be either 'persistent' or 'session' based. Persistent cookies are stored on the computer, contain an expiry date, and may be used to track browsing behaviour upon return to the issuing web site. Session cookies are short-lived, are used only during a browsing session, and expire when closing your browser.

This website only uses session cookies for each page that is accessed during a browsing 'session'. Cookies will not record or collect any information when you access publicly accessible web pages or files and use publicly accessible online forms (including search) as provided. The website statistics for this website are generated from the web page access information as described above.

Google Analytics

This website uses Google Analytics, a reporting service provided by Google, Inc. (‘Google’) and its subsidiaries. Google Analytics uses ‘cookies’ to help us analyse how users navigate the website. The information generated by cookies about your use of the website (including your 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 evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and providing other services relating to website activity.

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 your IP address with any other data held by Google. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser. Please note, whoever, if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website.

By using this website, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above. For more details visit Google Analytics Terms of Service.

Meta pixel use

The NSW Police Force uses Facebook remarketing pixels to aid in customised, targeted follow-up advertising. The NSWP Force may display interest-based ads to you when you are using Facebook through Facebook’s Custom Audience Tool. These tools allow us to personalise our ads based on your interests, demographics, location and any previous interactions with us. This website, https://www.police.nsw.gov.au, and all the publicly-accessible web pages within, uses the Conversion Tracking Meta pixel to allow us to follow your actions once you have been redirected to the website via clicking on one of our Facebook ads. This assists us in recording the effectiveness of Facebook ads for reporting and market research purposes.

The data collected through the Meta pixel provided to us is aggregated and remains anonymous, meaning that we cannot see the personal information of the individual user. However, the collected data is also saved and processed by Facebook and it is used in accordance with their Data Use Policy.

The NSWPF may also share information about your use of this page and your interactions with our Facebook ads with our trusted social media, advertising and web analytics partners, including Google Analytics.

Facebook Conversion Tracking also allows Facebook and its partners to show you advertisements on and outside Facebook. A cookie will be saved onto your computer for these purposes.

You can change your Facebook Ad Preferences if you wish to revoke your permission for these services.

Use of Universal Pixel

This website also uses a single JavaScript universal remarketing pixel which captures data on every page of this site in order to test and monitor marketing campaign performance. The universal pixel is used to follow your actions on our website when you enter the site and engage with various recruitment campaigns, and allows us to personalise marketing initiatives, based on your interests, demographics, location and any previous interactions with us.

The data collected through the universal pixel is saved and processed in accordance with The Trade Desk data collection policy.

The Universal pixel provides us with anonymous and aggregated data reports that help us understand and report on the effectiveness of our online recruitment marketing campaigns. We may also share information about your use of this website and your interactions with various marketing campaigns for the purposes of recruitment, with our trusted media agency OMD and their Trade Desk.

You can change your tracking preferences if you wish to revoke your permission for these services.

Mobile applications