Privacy

Privacy

The National Library of Australia (Library or we) is committed to protecting your privacy. We are bound by the Australian Privacy Principles outlined in Schedule 1 of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act).

The purpose of this notice is to let you know how the Library:

1.    manages the privacy and personal information of Trove users in accordance with the Privacy Act; 
2.    promote the management of personal information of Trove users in an open and transparent way
3.    manages and resolves privacy concerns relating to library material that is accessible to the public through Trove.

The Library’s Privacy Policy contains more information about the way we manage your personal information. Amongst other things, the Library’s Privacy Policy contains more information on how you can contract the Library to:

  • access your personal information and seek correction of such information
  • query how personal information is collected, stored, used or disclosed (including requesting the Library not contact you for certain purposes, e.g. fundraising)

You may contact us at privacy@nla.gov.au with any questions or privacy related complaints.

1. Trove users

Trove user accounts

The Library collects and holds your personal information when you register for a Trove user account, such as name, title, address, telephone number, email address, user name, password and ORCID iD. We may also collect and record other personal information, such as user history, using cookies, your IP address and your browser settings, when you use certain Trove features, such as text correcting, creating and sharing lists, add comments and download the Trove API.

We also collect data relating to Trove interactions using Google Analytics for the purpose of improving Trove user experience. Certain analytics data may be shared with Library partners (for example, libraries that supply digital materials and collections, and other organisations that support our digitisation projects) in a de-identified and non-attributable basis to assist in improving our services. Further information about how Google Analytics uses information from sites that use their services can be found here.

Purpose of using or disclosing personal information

The personal information we collect may be used or disclosed:

  • to manage and administer your Trove user account;
  • to research, assess, monitor and analyse Trove for the purpose of enhancing our products and services;
  • to identify your location (using your IP address and browser settings) to assist us to block disruptive use or use that breaches the Terms of Use; 
  • to provide you with information about Trove activities, products, services and events that may be of interest to you;
  • to distribute information about Library events, activities and fundraising opportunities, including by email;
  • to inform and facilitate philanthropic and fundraising activities of the Library
  • to maintain membership and donor lists.

Where is personal information held

The Library holds personal information it collects from Trove users in:

  • searchable electronic data bases;
  • Excel and Access applications;
  • user management systems;
  • software as a service;
  • electronic and paper files;
  • storage or holdings by third parties where the Library retains the right to deal with the information, including to access and amend the information.

The majority of the personal information collected from Trove users will be stored on servers held and managed by the Library that are located within Australia. However, we use some third party service providers to provide services that include web-based marketing, customer support and relations management and surveys. Some of these third-party service providers have servers located overseas including, but not limited to, the United States of America. We require that our service providers have appropriate controls to protect your personal information in a manner that is consistent with the Privacy Act and our Privacy Policy, and that our service providers only use your information for authorised purposes. 

To whom may personal information be disclosed

We may disclose your personal information:

  • to our employees, contractors, lawyers, Trove Partners and other service providers who we engage to assist us undertake the above activities;
  • to the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications and other Commonwealth agencies for audit and/or Commonwealth reporting purposes;
  • to the Australian Securities Exchange or courts and tribunals to other government agencies as required or authorised by law.

We will only collect, hold, use or disclose your personal information as described in this notice and in the Library’s Privacy Policy.

By registering for a Trove user account and using Trove, you consent to your personal information being used and disclosed in accordance with this notice and the Library’s Privacy Policy.

If you do not provide us with the above personal information, you may not be able to use some features of Trove, such as creating private tags, comments and lists or accessing the Trove API.

When registering as a Trove user and using Trove, you should also be aware of Trove’s Terms of Use, Copyright and Disclaimer.

In particular, you should note:

  • As explained in our Terms of Use, Trove users contribute content, such as tags, comments and lists, under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
  • Search engines index the content of Trove, so any public content you provide, including your username, could be searched and found. For this reason, we advise you to carefully consider the public username you choose when registering.
  • Trove logs and displays recent searches; however, we do not record the details of users who conducted those searches.
  • The Trove People and Organisations category provides information about many individuals and organisations. Much of this information is contributed by other institutions under the Trove Collaborative Services Agreement (TSAC) that allows the Library to make it available through Trove.
  • As mentioned in our Terms of Use, you should not post information about any other person to Trove without obtaining the consent of the person to whom the information pertains.

Trove profile and Trove contributions

Your Trove profile allows personal information to be collected by the Library, such as your Facebook and/or Twitter account, ORCID iD, website, as well as your Trove contributions in the form of text corrections, notes, tags and/or lists. Your profile will default to private, however, you may choose to allow information to become public. If you do this, other Trove users may find your personal information. Your Trove contributions will be visible to authorised Trove staff even if your profile remains private. Overseas disclosure of personal information may occur when information is published on Trove or if you request to join a collaborative list in Trove.

You should be aware that information published on this site is accessible to millions of users from all over the world, that it will be indexed by search engines such as Google, and that it may be copied and used by any web user. This means that, once the information is published on this site, we will have no control over its subsequent use and disclosure.

2. Trove content and collection material

Under the National Library Act 1960 (Cth), the Library is responsible for:

  • Collecting, preserving and making accessible resources of national significance relating to Australia and the Australian people (as well as significant non-Australian library materials); and
  • Making available services relating to library material, including online services such as Trove.

The Privacy Act does not apply to library material that is held, managed and made accessible by the Library, including collections made available through Trove.

Please read the Disclaimer for more information on Trove content.

2.1 Privacy in collection material

The Library has endorsed the National and State Libraries Australia (NSLA) position statement on requests to take down access to content from our collections.

The NSLA position statement expresses commitment to freedom of expression and universal access to information. It notes that libraries are responding to community expectations for greater access to online collections. It states that NSLA libraries will take down online content or impose other access restrictions only in extraordinary circumstances.

NSLA libraries recognise that there may be occasions when material made available online breaches copyright or other relevant law, or contains information that is culturally sensitive.

Read the NSLA Position Statement

If you find material in Trove which you believe infringes your rights, or, for example, contravenes privacy law, is defamatory, or in breach of copyright, you may submit a takedown request. Further information about how to submit a takedown request and how the Library responds to takedown requests can be found on the Library’s website.