ASERNIP-S privacy policy and website disclaimer
Australian Safety and Efficacy Register of New Interventional
Procedures - Surgical
The Australian Safety and Efficacy Register of New
Interventional Procedures - Surgical (ASERNIP-S) has developed a
policy to protect your privacy in compliance with privacy
legislation. Our statement is to inform you of the following:
- what personal information is being collected
- who is collecting your personal information
- how your personal information is being used
- to whom your personal information is being disclosed
- how your personal information is being stored.
Introduction
The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons ASERNIP-S Program is
committed to ensuring the privacy of individuals. As of 21 December
2001, ASERNIP-S is bound by the National Privacy Principles which
are set out in the Australian Privacy Act 1998. This policy details
the information handling practices of ASERNIP-S.
Collection
ASERNIP-S will only collect information from individuals when it
is necessary for the performance of its activities.
The ASERNIP-S mission is to provide quality and timely
assessments of new and emerging surgical technologies and
techniques. Services provided include systematic and accelerated
systematic reviews of the peer-reviewed literature, the
establishment and facilitation of clinical and research audits, the
identification and assessment of new and emerging techniques and
technologies by horizon scanning and the production of clinical
practice guidelines. Our ultimate aim is to improve the quality of
health care through the wide dissemination of our evidence-based
research to surgeons, health care providers and consumers, both
nationally and internationally. We collect, use and disclose
information for these purposes.
Use
ASERNIP-S only uses personal information for the purpose for which
it was collected, having regard to the functions and activities of
ASERNIP-S, and as required by law.
Consent
By participating in ASERNIP-S activities you consent to the
collection, disclosure and use of your information in accordance
with this statement.
Disclosure
ASERNIP-S does not sell any of the personal information it
collects, and will only disclose personal information for the
purpose for which it was collected. This may include disclosure, on
a de-identified basis, or where necessary and in accordance with
the purpose for which it was collected, on an identifying basis to
ASERNIP-S staff, researchers, contractors and participants in
ASERNIP-S activities. Disclosure may also be required by law, where
applicable although many ASERNIP-S activities are registered under
state or federal qualified privilege legislation which may limit or
prohibit disclosure.
Access
You may contact the Privacy Officer on +61 8 8363 7513 or at privacy.asernip@surgeons.org
at any time to discuss access to personal information we hold about
you. We may require you to fill out a form to access this
information. Access with be provided unless the request is
unreasonable or is not possible for legal reasons. As permitted by
law, a fee may be requested to cover the cost of access.
Security
ASERNIP-S endeavours to protect your personal information from
unauthorised use, access, disclosure and alteration. Employees are
only provided with access to personal information that is relevant
to their roles and responsibilities, and we seek to ensure that
staff comply with ASERNIP-S policy on the handling of personal
information. We will hold your information until there is no longer
a business or legal need to retain it.
Correction
ASERNIP-S seeks to maintain the accuracy of your personal
information. We encourage you to contact us if the information we
hold about you is incorrect or to notify us if your personal
information has changed.
Complaints and Concerns
If you have any concerns about the way ASERNIP-S handles your
personal information, please contact the Privacy Officer on +61 8
8363 7513 or at privacy.asernip@surgeons.org.
We may ask that you put your request in writing and will seek to
resolve your concern as promptly as possible.
All privacy enquiries will be taken seriously and we will
endeavour to deal with them promptly. In most cases, we may require
that your concerns be put in writing.
If you would like to access or update personal information, or
exercise your rights under the privacy legislation, please contact
our Privacy Officer. It is our policy that all requests for access
be made in writing. Our Privacy Officer will arrange for an access
form to be sent to you, and can assist with any enquiries you may
have about the process. We will respond to all requests for access
within 30 days; in most cases we will be able to respond well
before that time.
Changes to ASERNIP-S Privacy Policy
ASERNIP-S reserves the right to modify or amend this privacy
policy at any time, provided that those modifications or amendments
comply with the Privacy Act.
Issues
relating to the ASERNIP-S website
Information collected -
De-identified
The usage analysis software used by the College
records:
- Unique visitors and sessions
- Requested pages, downloads, search terms used, posted forms,
status and errors, hits and bytes downloaded per directory, file,
and file type
- Entrance pages, exit pages, click paths, click to and click
from and length of session
- Domains, Countries, and IP addresses
- Browsers, platforms, and robots
The statistics are de-identified at the time of recording. This
information is used to monitor usage patterns on our site in order
to improve navigation and design features - helping you to get
information more easily.
Information Collected - Identifiable
ASERNIP-S may collect identifiable information, such as contact
details for use in our mailing list. You will only be added to the
mailing list that you have agreed to by checking the appropriate
box on forms submitted through this website.
Access to Information Collected
ASERNIP-S will not make an attempt to identify users or their
browsing activities. However, in the unlikely event of an
investigation, a law enforcement agency or other government agency
may exercise its legal authority to inspect our Internet Service
Provider's logs, and thus gain information about users and their
activities.
Use and Disclosure of Information
Collected
Any information you provide will only be used for the purposes for
which you have provided it. It will not be disclosed to third
parties without your consent.
Cookies
A cookie is a file created by an Internet site in order
to store information on your computer. This website does use
cookies.
Issues relating to
audits
ASERNIP-S audits surgical procedures in order to increase
knowledge relating to safety and efficacy and surgical practice in
Australia. Information obtained in the course of an audit may
contain patient information that is identifiable, semi-identifiable
or non-identifiable. Identifiable information includes the
collection of patient name, address and hospital. Semi-identifiable
information may include patient initials, date of birth and
hospital; non-identifiable information is where the patient's name
is replaced by a coded number known only to the submitting
surgeon.
As of September 2003 ASERNIP-S is undertaking three audits:
- Endoluminal repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms
- Trans-urethral Needle Ablation for urinary outflow
obstruction
- National Breast Cancer Audit for the treatment of early breast
cancer.
Ethics approval has been obtained for all audits from the Royal
Australasian College of Surgeons Ethics Committee. Patient
information sheets and consent forms for the audits are made
available to patients by their surgeons and are also available on
the ASERNIP-S website.
Information Collected - Identifiable
For the audit of Endoluminal Repair of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms,
surgeons submit the name, date of birth, postal address and
hospital number of each patient, in addition to providing
information relating to the procedure and its outcomes. Copies of
the blank data sets can be downloaded from the Audits
section of the ASERNIP-S website.
The Bi-National Colorectal Cancer Audit collects information
relating to the treatment of colorectal cancer. For this audit
surgeons submit the name, date of birth, postal address, hospital
number and Medicare number or DVA of each patient, in addition to
providing information relating to the procedure and its outcomes.
Copies of the blank data sets can be downloaded from the Audits
section of the ASERNIP-S website.
Information Collected - Semi-Identifiable
The National Breast Cancer Audit collects information relating to
the surgical treatment of early breast cancer. For this audit
surgeons send the patient initials, date of birth and hospital. The
audit of Trans-urethral Needle Ablation also requires that the
surgeon submit patient initials, date of birth and hospital at
which the procedure took place.
Use of Information
ASERNIP-S collects identifiable personal information where there
is a long-term requirement to collect follow-up information.
ASERNIP-S does not use personal details for any other purpose than
that intended by the collection. Audit results are submitted in
summary form (i.e. in a non-identifiable form) to the Australian
Government Department of Health and Ageing at regular intervals. No
identifiable information is submitted, with respect to patients or
surgeons. Copies of the reports are available from the ASERNIP-S
website.
Contact Details
ASERNIP-S welcomes your comments about our Privacy Policy and any
questions can be directed to:
The Privacy Officer
PO Box 553
Stepney SA 5069
Telephone: +61 8 8363 7513
Email: privacy.asernip@surgeons.org
Website disclaimer
1. Disclaimer
Please read carefully and completely the terms of the agreement
which follows. By accessing the ASERNIP-S website you agree to be
bound by the terms of this agreement. If you do not wish to be
bound to the terms of this agreement, you must not access the
site.
ASERNIP-S accepts no liability or responsibility to any person
as a consequence of any reliance upon the information contained in
this Website.
2. Legal Disclaimers
2.1 Accuracy
Every effort is made to provide information that is accurate.
However, materials contained in this website are subject change at
any time by appropriate action of ASERNIP-S.
We give no assurance or warranty that information on this site
is current, and take no responsibility for matters arising from
changed circumstances or other information or material which may
affect the accuracy or currency of information on this site.
2.2 Copyright
Copyright in this website rests with ASERNIP-S unless otherwise
stated.
We authorise you to print, copy, reproduce, download and view
materials on the website, subject to:
- The material being used in the intended manner;
- The material being used exclusively for personal and
educational use; and
- The material not being modified in any manner.
2.3 No Warranties
This website is provided on an "as is", "as available" basis
without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including, but
not limited to, those of TITLE, MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE or NON-INFRINGEMENT or any warranty arising from
a course of dealing, usage, or trade practice. No oral advice or
written information provided shall create a warranty; nor shall
members or visitors to the site rely on any such information or
advice. This publication is not intended to be a contract, explicit
or implied, and ASERNIP-S reserves the right to make changes in the
information contained.
2.4 Disclaimer of Liability
The user assumes all responsibility and risk for the use of this
website and the Internet generally. We accept no liability or
responsibility to any person as a consequence of any reliance upon
the information contained in this site. Under no circumstances,
including negligence, shall anyone involved in creating or
maintaining this website be liable for any direct, indirect,
incidental, special or consequential damages, or loss profits that
result from the use or inability to use the website and/or any
other websites which are linked to this site. Nor shall they be
liable for any such damages including, but not limited to, reliance
by a member or visitor on any information obtained via the website;
or that result from mistakes, omissions, interruptions, deletion of
files, viruses, errors, defects, or failure of performance,
communications failure, theft, destruction or unauthorized access.
States or Countries which do not allow some or all of the above
limitations of liability, liability shall be limited to the
greatest extent allowed by law.
2.5 Online Conduct
Visitors agree to use the website only for lawful purposes and are
prohibited from posting on the website any unlawful, harmful,
threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, or obscene material of
any kind, including, but not limited to, any material which
encourages conduct that would constitute a criminal offence, give
rise to civil liability or otherwise violate any applicable local,
state, national or international law. Although in the absence of a
specific complaint the postings are monitored for compliance with
this provision, in an effort to discourage such conduct, please
note that all postings in a forum area will list the author's name
and institution - no anonymous postings are permitted.
2.6 Third Party Content
We are distributors (not publishers) of the content supplied by
visitors and other third parties. Accordingly, we have no more
editorial control over this content than does a public library. Any
opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information
or content made available by members, visitors and other third
parties are those of the respective author(s) and we are not
responsible for any material posted by third parties. We cannot and
do not endorse it in any way, we expressly disclaim any liability
associated with material posted by third parties.
2.7 Disclaimer of Endorsement
Reference to any products, services, hypertext link to the third
parties or other information by trade name, trademark, supplier or
otherwise does not constitute or imply its endorsement, sponsorship
or recommendation by us. Nor is endorsement of us implied by such
links. They are for convenience only, as an index in a public
library.
2.8 Information Subject to Change
Any information on this website may include technical inaccuracies
or typographical errors. Furthermore, the information may change
from time to time without any notice.
2.9 Links to Other Sites
The Site may contain links to other sites on the internet ("Linked
Sites"). We are not responsible for the accuracy, legality, decency
of material or copyright compliance of any Linked Site or services
or information provided via any Linked Site.
2.10 Security of Information
No data transmission over the internet can be guaranteed as
totally secure. Whilst we strive to protect such information we do
not warrant and cannot ensure the security of information which you
transmit to us. Accordingly, any information which you transmit to
us is transmitted at your own risk.
2.11 Governing Law
These terms and conditions will be constructed according to and
are governed by the laws of Victoria, Australia.
This webpage was modified on 18 October 2005
Last Updated : Thursday, February 03, 2011
© Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. All rights reserved.