Understanding use of DataLab and TableBuilder Collection Notice

The ABS is consulting with DataLab and TableBuilder users to receive feedback on what is driving individuals and organisations to access ABS data platforms, with the aim of improving our communication to maximise benefits and make decisions on service enhancements for the Australian public. This is to ensure we can continue to provide high quality data services that are important to our users. The consultation comprises a survey and a series of individual in-depth interviews.

Participation is voluntary and by invitation from the ABS to currently registered DataLab and TableBuilder users and the open period for survey submissions is 28 October 2024 and 29 November 2024.

Your personal information is being collected by the ABS and the ABS’s technology service provider for the consultation, Delib. Delib is a third party platform used by the ABS by way of the technology known as Citizen Space. The Privacy Notice for the Consultation Hub explains how the ABS use Delib and Citizen Space and how Delib will collect, safeguard, and process your data on behalf of the ABS. The ABS is the data controller and Delib is the data processor.   

Interviews by authorised ABS staff will be conducted online using Microsoft Teams (MS Teams), in which the ABS will collect your personal information including to your name, email address, voice, image and opinions.

The collected information will be stored in secure data centres in Australia.  The hosting provider for Delib is Amazon Web Services (AWS) and meets all Australian Government privacy and data storage requirements.  

The ABS will also extract a copy of your submission from the Consultation Hub and store this in the secure ABS environment. Authorised ABS staff will then remove your personal information and store a de-identified version of your submission in the secure ABS environment for record keeping purposes. 

Recorded sessions and notes scribed from ABS staff members present in the interview will be restricted with access to only relevant authorised ABS staff and stored in secure data centres in Australia. 

As the technology service provider, Delib will only access your personal information when requested to do so by the ABS, if necessary, and only for the purposes of assisting with the administration of the site. 

The ABS will use your submission to inform changes to future developments of the DataLab and TableBuilder platforms. The personal information on your submission will be de-identified during analysis and not shared with other third parties, unless required by law. We reserve the right to edit (for example, remove defamatory material or, where appropriate, de-identify personal or sensitive information) where necessary. 

If you have provided a submission on behalf of an organisation, the ABS may share the information in your submission to an alternative contact within your organisation if there is a legitimate reason to do so. The ABS may publish summaries of submissions in the ABS Consultation Hub, however these will not contain any details to identify the submitter. 

Except for Delib in their data processing role, the ABS will not: 

• share information in a way that would identify you or your organisation(s) without your consent. 
• share information with private organisations, such as direct marketing companies. 
• share information with other government agencies for compliance or regulation activities. 

Unless required or authorised by or under an Australian law. 

The survey submission will be deleted from the Delib data stores not later than 28 February 2025. A copy of your deidentified survey submission, the MS Teams video recording of your interview and scribed notes from the interview will be deleted ABS systems no later than 30 June 2025.

We comply with the Privacy Act 1988 and the Archives Act 1983 in the storage, collection, access, use, disclosure, retention and destruction of your personal information. 

Contact the ABS Privacy Officer using the details provided below if you need to access or correct your personal information.  

A survey submission cannot be edited in the Consultation Hub once it has been submitted. If the consultation is still open (see above), you can provide a new survey submission. Please contact microdata.access@abs.gov.au to request removal of your original survey submission.

The ABS Privacy Policy for Managing and Operating Our Business has information about how you can make a complaint if you feel we have not adequately protected your privacy. The Policy describes how we will respond to your complaint, and what you can do if you are not satisfied with our response. 

You can contact the ABS Privacy Officer (details below) who will respond to enquiries or assist with complaints. 

By email: privacy@abs.gov.au 

By post: 

ABS Privacy Officer 
Australian Bureau of Statistics 
Locked Bag 10, Belconnen ACT 2617