Privacy Policy

Purpose:

Ryde Baptist Church Inc. (“RBC”, “us”, “we”, “our”, “the church”) operates the https://rydebaptist.com.au website.  We believe that privacy is important, and that people have the right for their personal information to be kept private.  This document summarises how we will apply the relevant obligations to the

information we collect, and how we hold, use and disclose that information.

Related Policies:  

• Safe Church Policy
• RBC Code of Conduct
• Cyber Security Policy

Related Legislation & Documents:

Under the Privacy Act, 1988 (the Act) Ryde Baptist Church is currently a small business operator, and therefore not bound by the Act. Notwithstanding this, we are committed to maintaining an environment and processes that protect the privacy of individuals associated with our church.  We have chosen to protect your privacy and manage your information in a manner consistent with the Act and the Australian Privacy Principles (https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/).

 1. What Is Your Personal Information?

We use the meaning of “personal information” that is in the Privacy Act. In general terms, ”personal information” is any information or an opinion about you that can be used to personally identify you. If the information we collect personally identifies you, or you are reasonably identifiable from it, the information will be considered personal information.

“Sensitive Information” is a type of personal information and is also defined under the Privacy Act. It includes things like your health information, ethnic origin, sexual orientation and criminal history.

2. Collection of Information

• Ryde Baptist Church collects personal information about people during the course of their association with the church, primarily for administration, duty of care, pastoral care, ministry, and related activities, and in support of achieving our objectives as a community of faith.
• We may collect personal information during the course of communications with you. When practicable, the purpose for which we collect personal information will be made clear at the time of collection. Providing us with certain information will ensure we are able to provide you with access to the relevant services or the assistance you have requested.

3. Types of information we collect

We may collect the following types of personal information:

• Contact information (Phone/Mobile; Email; Address);
• Date of birth, or birth year;
• Church or Ministry details;
• Volunteer roles with us;
• Expertise and interests;
• Family circumstances;
• Financial information that you provide to us including your credit card and debit card details;
• Attendance at Ryde Baptist Church and related ministries and events;
• Sensitive information (such as your health information, family and personal circumstances, criminal records check, WWCC and other information required to ascertain suitability for volunteer roles) that you provide to us, including but not limited to information shared during pastoral visits, prayer, and when completing our forms. We will only collect the sensitive information that is necessary for us to provide you with the relevant care and services, and to fulfil requirements of our safe church policy and compliance with government or denominational requirements;
• Photographs and or video of you at our events, or that you provide to us;
• Any additional information relating to you that you provide to us directly through our websites or indirectly through use of our websites or online presence;
• Information that is available online;
• Any other information you provide to us.

4. How we collect your information

a) Direct Collection of Information

We collect your personal information directly from you unless it is unreasonable or impracticable to do so. When collecting personal information from you, we may collect in ways including:

• When you complete paper and electronic forms, including but not limited to church database, event registration, volunteer and membership applications and forms;
• When you give or donate through various methods, including but not limited to our website, direct debits, bank transfers, telephone and post;
• When you sign up to and use our church management system Elvanto (see Paragraph 11);
• When you subscribe to our e-newsletter (Mailchimp);
• When you access and use our website to make an enquiry;
• When you post comments on our social media, including but not limited to YouTube, Instagram, Vimeo and Facebook;
• When you access our services, events and programs;
• When you email or telephone us;
• When you visit our website;
• When you voluntarily provide us with your details for us to add you to our mailing lists or database;
• During conversations or prayer times, in person or on the telephone, between you and our staff members and/or volunteers;
• During interviews, meetings and discussions, formal and informal, with our staff members and/or volunteers; and
• When you attend our services, gatherings, celebrations, events, courses and our other programs.

b) Collection of Information from Third Party

We may also collect your personal information from third parties including:

• From the Australian Federal Police regarding police checks that are required for you to volunteer or work with us in particular areas;
• From the Department of Child Protection (or the equivalent agency or authority) regarding Working with Children Checks that are required for you to volunteer or work with us in particular areas; and
• From any other agencies and other government entities as and when required.
• From reference checks, including from other churches, that are required for you to volunteer or work with us in particular areas.

We will take reasonable steps to ensure that you are aware of any collection of data and the purposes for which we collected your personal information from a third party.

We may also collect personal information from you about someone else for the purpose of pastoral care. However, you must ensure that you are authorised to disclose that information to us. You must take reasonable steps to ensure that the individual concerned is aware of and / or consents to the matters detailed in this privacy policy, including the fact that their personal information is being collected, the purposes for which that information is being collected, the intended recipients of that information, the individual’s right to obtain access to that information, our identity and how to contact us.

c) Collection of Information when You Visit our Website

We have a public web site at rydebaptist.com.au. There is no personal data stored on this site, although you may choose to provide information via this website that will be used according to this policy. If you provide personal information via public social media conversations, such as our Facebook page, this information may be visible to other users of the social media sites. Please keep in mind that if you directly disclose personally identifiable information or personally sensitive data through our social media platforms, this information may be collected and used by others.

When you come to our website we may collect certain information and usage data such as IP address, browser type, operating system, website visited immediately before coming to our site, and the duration of visit. This information is used in an aggregated manner to analyse how people use our site, such that we can improve our service.

We may from time to time use cookies on our website to identify you when you come back to the site and to store details about your use of the site. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies but you can choose to reject cookies by changing your browser settings. However, this may prevent you from taking full advantage of our website. Our website may from time to time use cookies to analyse website traffic and help us provide a better website visitor experience.

d) Unsolicited Information

We may receive unsolicited personal information where we did not request the information. We reserve the right to assess all unsolicited personal information received and to de-identify or destroy it within a reasonable time period in accordance with Australian Privacy Principle 4.

5. Sensitive Information

We will only use or disclose sensitive information for the purpose for which we collected it, or for a directly related secondary purpose, unless you give your consent to another use, or we are required or permitted by law to use or disclose the sensitive information.

As part of our activities, we may collect health information (such as your medical history and allergies in order to determine your eligibility to participate in certain initiatives or assist with ensuring your wellbeing). When collecting health information from you, we will obtain your consent to such collection and explain how the information will be used and disclosed.

6. How we use your information

By providing us with personal information, you consent to the terms of this Privacy Policy and the types of disclosure covered by this Policy.

We use information only for the purposes we have disclosed at the time of collection, or otherwise as set out in this Privacy Policy.

We share some of your personal data with trusted third parties to allow us to better provide our services to you. When we do share your data with these third parties we only provide the information they need to perform the service. These parties include, but may not be limited to: Elvanto, Mailchimp, and Eventbrite. See Paragraph 12 for more details of the privacy arrangements with Elvanto.

We will not use or disclose your personal information for any other purpose without seeking your consent, unless authorised or required by law.

We will not disclose any “sensitive information” provided to us, without your approval or the approval of the person responsible for you.

Generally, we will only use and disclose your personal information as follows:

• to maintain contact and keep you informed about developments and activities which may be of interest to you;
• to establish and maintain a record of your involvement and attendance at services, gatherings, celebrations, events, courses and our other programs or groups;
• to provide the services you have requested from the church;
• to answer your inquiry;
• to care for you pastorally;
• to assist you in volunteering or ministering on behalf of the church;
• to maintain an online database of contact details of congregation members which is only accessible by congregation members, and to publish a directory of participating congregation members. Your contact details will only be available to other congregation members if you specifically agree to your details being disclosed. The details of anyone under the age of 18 years will not be disclosed in the published directory without the expressed permission of their parents or guardian (Seen Paragraph 11 for specific details).

7. Disclosure of Information

We may at times disclose your personal information to the following groups:

• other Baptist churches and Baptist-affiliated organisations;
• related organisations;
• ministry partners;
• insurance companies and insurance-related entities e.g. claim providers, insurers etc;
• the community at large by way of images in promotional material, in print and digital form including online;
• anyone you authorised; or
• anyone to whom we are required to by law.

8. Video and Image Recording

The Church may record video or images of services and activities (including a live video stream broadcast and stored on YouTube and Facebook) for teaching, ministry, information, and promotional purposes. By attending these services and activities you consent to the Church taking video and images and using for such purposes, unless you advise us otherwise. 

To increase security for people and the Church’s property and facilities, CCTV cameras may be operating in some public areas. Any data collected will only be used for legitimate security reasons and in accordance with this Policy.

9. Storage of Information

We take reasonable steps to ensure the security of personal and sensitive information we hold and to protect it against loss, misuse or unauthorised access, destruction, use, modification or disclosure. Information is kept in our database as:

• filed as forms kept in secure premises;
• digitally on a local server and/or devices;
• digitally by third parties including by not limited to: Elvanto, Mailchimp, Eventbrite, and Google.

All files and papers containing private information are disposed of securely.

If we become aware of any unauthorised access or disclosure of your personal information, we will advise you.

10. Access and Correction

We will endeavour to keep personal information complete, accurate and up to date.

We may provide you with a secure login to access the Elvanto database, with the relevant access permissions.  This will allow you to update your contact details.

Your individual information can also be accessed, updated or corrected by contacting the church office:

PO Box 80
Ryde NSW 1680
Phone: 02 9809 4977
Email: admin@rydebaptist.com.au

11. Questions and Complaints

If you have any questions or if you believe the management of your personal information is inconsistent with this policy please contact the church office:

PO Box 80
Ryde NSW 1680
Phone: 02 9809 4977
Email: admin@rydebaptist.com.au

Whenever you are sent promotional and fundraising information, you will also be provided with an opportunity to opt-out from receiving such material.

12. Elvanto

Elvanto is used by the office and ministry staff, pastoral team, and church volunteers who may require personal information such as life group leaders or ministry leaders.  Information is accessible to the relevant persons through password protected access. All personal information can be changed, corrected and updated by the relevant person, or church staff.

Personal information stored through Elvanto is only obtained, collected and used for the furtherance of church ministry, communication, reporting and analyses and for the purposes set out in this policy.  This information is accessible through the Elvanto website and/or application via personal log-in and password according to the levels of access outlined below.

To ensure privacy is maintained through Elvanto, these are different levels of access established for Elvanto, determined by the role and leadership position of different congregation members:

• Church admin and ministry staff and the pastoral team have access to all personal information of church contacts, congregants and members;
• Congregants, members and volunteers have access to their personal information and information regarding their volunteer roles within RBC Community.
• Congregants will only have access to church Directory provided they have consented to their information being made available within the online directory.  Personal information will only be available in the directory if that person, or a person responsible for them has given consent.
• Life group leaders have access to information of the groups and individuals within those groups for whom they are responsible.
• Ministry leaders have access to their ministry team members as well as rostering and contacting permissions.

Elvanto’s Privacy Policy can be found here: elvanto.com/privacy-policy