Protecting Information Rights – Advancing Information Policy

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Site Changes

On 1 November 2010 the Office of the Privacy Commissioner was integrated into the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC). An interim website for the OAIC is available at www.oaic.gov.au. This site (privacy.gov.au), which only contains information related to the OAIC's privacy function, will be maintained until a combined site is established.
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I have a privacy-related complaint about a social networking site. Who can I complain to?

There are a number of steps you can take.

Contact the site

Generally it is best to complain to the social networking site first. Send them a message explaining the problem and how you would like them to fix it.

Separate organisation

If a separate organisation has misused information about you that they collected from your MySpace or Facebook page (FAQ 5 has more information), you should complain to that organisation.

Complain to the trust-mark issuer

Some social networking websites have a privacy ‘trust-mark’. For example, Bebo and Facebook have the ‘TRUSTe’ trust-mark.

A trust-mark is a symbol that a business displays on its privacy policy which says that its information handling practices meet with certain standards set out by the trust-mark organisation. (It’s a bit like the Heart Foundation tick that is displayed on some food products.)

If you have a privacy-related complaint and the site hasn’t adequately dealt with it, you can complain to the trust-mark organisation, and it may be able to investigate further on your behalf.

Call our Privacy Enquiries Line – we may be able to help

If an organisation doesn’t adequately resolve your complaint and it’s covered by the Privacy Act, you can make a complaint to our Office.

Call our Privacy Enquiries Line (1300 363 992) for more information or send us an email at privacy@privacy.gov.au.

Is your complaint about another user of the site?

If another user of a social networking site is using your personal information to harass, bully or defame you, FAQ 8 or 9 may help.

Back to Social Networking FAQs