About this privacy notice
The Department of Home Affairs (the department) is bound by the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) in Schedule 1 of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act). The APPs regulate how we collect, use, store and disclose personal information, and how you may seek access to, or correction of, the personal information that we hold about you.
This notice explains why we collect your personal information for the Global Entry program and how we will manage it. You can read more about our privacy practices in the department’s privacy policy(Opens in a new tab/window).
The AusCheck Act 2007 (AusCheck Act) and the AusCheck Regulations 2017 authorise and require the department to collect certain personal information for the purpose of conducting background checks.
Why we collect your personal information
We collect your personal information to verify your identity and conduct background checks on you which allows the United States to determine your eligibility for the Global Entry program.
We can only verify your identity and conduct a background check if you provide all the required personal information. If we do not collect your personal information, we will be unable to verify your identity and conduct a background check on you and you will not be eligible for the Global Entry program.
The United States Customs and Border Protection (USCBP) will make a final determination on your eligibility for the Global Entry program and advise AusCheck of the outcome. If you are eligible for Global Entry, AusCheck will conduct further background checks on you each year during your 5-year membership in the program, and we will notify the USCBP if any annual background check results in a ‘fail’.
What personal information we collect
When you apply to the USCBP for entry to the Global Entry program, we will collect your personal information from the USCBP. This includes:
- citizenship details
- name(s)
- address history
- date and place of birth
- gender
- contact details
- legal guardian information
- details from your identity documents (such as document type, issuing country and document number)
- Australian Defence Force (ADF) service information (if applicable)
- employment status.
We will also collect your personal information from you when you lodge an application to AusCheck for a background check for the Global Entry program. If you lodge your application online, AusCheck will collect your biographic information and information about the strength of your digital identity (through the Australian Government Digital ID System).
The personal information we will collect as part of your application for a background check includes:
- your full name, including any previous or alternate names you have used or are known by
- your residential address history for the past 10 years
- your date and place of birth
- your gender
- your email address and phone number
- your citizenship(s)
- legal guardian information (if applicable)
- ADF service details (if applicable), including start and end dates of service in the ADF and your ADF number or service number.
- identity document details such as document type, issuing country, expiry date and document number
- photographs contained within the identity documents.
We also collect your personal information from other Commonwealth Government agencies or entities that conduct background checks on our behalf. This includes:
- AusCheck collecting a copy of your criminal record from the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC)
- details from the ADF about relevant offences under the Defence Force Discipline Act 1982 (Cth).
How we use, disclose and store your personal information
Your personal information will be used, disclosed and stored securely in accordance with the APPs and the AusCheck Act.
We will disclose your name, email address and postal address to the department’s payment system to process your payment for Australian background checks as part of your Global Entry program application.
We use and disclose your personal information for purposes permitted by law, including:
- verifying your identity documents using the Document Verification Service
- determining whether a background check is required or permitted
- conducting background checks and advising you of outcomes
- updating information about an individual previously checked
- providing updated advice on the outcome of a background check if the original background check advice was inaccurate or incomplete (this may involve further background checking)
- responding to a national security incident
- the performance of functions relating to law enforcement or national security by the Commonwealth, a Commonwealth authority, or a state or territory authority.
We may also contact you through the details provided in your application.
We will also disclose your personal information to the following Commonwealth Government agencies or entities to conduct background checks on our behalf:
- ACIC: We will disclose your personal information to the ACIC who will conduct a check on your criminal record in the databases of all Australian legal jurisdictions and provide that information to us. ACIC may store and use your personal information for law enforcement purposes, including those purposes set out in the Australian Crime Commission Act 2002.
- ADF: We will disclose your personal information to the ADF who will review your service records for relevant convictions under the Defence Force Discipline Act 1982. We will collect information from the ADF about whether a court martial or a Defence Force magistrate has convicted you of a service offence (other than a Schedule 1A offence); or has convicted you of a Schedule 1A offence and imposed a punishment of imprisonment on you.
Your personal information is stored securely in the AusCheck database. Only authorised staff can access it on a need-to-know basis.
The collection, use and disclosure of personal information for the purposes of the Global Entry program is authorised by the AusCheck Act and the AusCheck Regulations 2017. The department may also use information collected for the Global Entry program for other purposes authorised by the AusCheck Act.
Disclosure of personal information to overseas recipients
We will disclose to the USCBP:
- your United States personal identifier
- the United States application identifier
- your background check result.
If you withdraw your application for a background check, we will provide the United States with your personal identifier, your name and date of birth, and that you have withdrawn from the Global Entry program.
The result of your background check will lead to the department providing a ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ result to the USCBP. If the United States approves your membership to the Global Entry program, the Australian Government will be required to conduct further annual background checks on you each year during your 5-year term in the program.
In the event an annual background check result determines that you fail the background check, the department will disclose to the USCBP your personal information including:
- your name
- your date of birth
- the ‘fail’ result.
No other personal information that we have collected about you as part of our background check processes will be disclosed to the USCBP.
Your personal information will otherwise not be disclosed to an overseas recipient without your consent or unless permitted by the AusCheck and Privacy Acts.
Consent
You will be asked in the portal or on the application form to provide consent to have your identity verified and to undergo a background check when you apply. You may also be asked to consent to ongoing checks as required or permitted by the AusCheck Act or other legislation. If you do not provide this consent, or if you withdraw this consent, your application cannot proceed.
How you can access or correct your personal information
You can request access to your personal information, or ask us to correct it, under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) and the Privacy Act.
The department’s privacy policy explains how you can seek access to the personal information that we hold about you, or how can you seek to have this information corrected.
Concerns and complaints
The department is committed to protecting your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act. If you believe we have handled your personal information in a way that breaches our obligations in the APPs, you can make a complaint. Our privacy policy explains how we manage and respond to complaints.
How you can contact us
Full contact details can be found on the department’s website: www.homeaffairs.gov.au(Opens in a new tab/window)
Alternatively, you can provide feedback:
- through the online feedback form(Opens in a new tab/window)
- by writing to:
The Manager
Global Feedback Unit
GPO Box 241
Melbourne VIC 3001 Australia.