This Privacy Collection Statement is to advise you of the personal information and health information Service NSW will collect as a result of your use of the COVID-19 vaccine certificate in the Service NSW app.
We are collecting your personal information and health information so that you can use your Service NSW app to more easily show proof that you are vaccinated against COVID-19.
Your COVID-19 vaccine certificate information
Your COVID-19 vaccine certificate information is held by Services Australia on the Australian Immunisation Register that it maintains with input from health providers for the Commonwealth Department of Health.
You can access your COVID-19 vaccine certificate through the Medicare Express Plus App or myGov. You can also ask Services Australia to send you a paper copy in the mail if you prefer a hard copy of your COVID-19 vaccine certificate. There is information about accessing the COVID-19 vaccine certificate on the Services Australia website.
If you choose to share your COVID-19 vaccine certificate with Service NSW, you can do this through the Medicare Express Plus App or myGov.
Service NSW’s collection of your COVID-19 vaccine certificate
If you elect to share your COVID-19 vaccine certificate with Service NSW through the Medicare Express Plus App or myGov, Service NSW will collect your COVID-19 vaccine certificate information from Services Australia. Service NSW will not collect your COVID-19 vaccine certificate information from Services Australia without your consent.
Your COVID-19 vaccine certificate information includes:
- your personal information such as your name and date of birth; and
- the ‘Valid From’ date of your COVID-19 vaccine certificate.
Service NSW will check that the name and date of birth on your COVID-19 vaccine certificate is the same as the name and date of birth attached to your MyServiceNSW account. This is to ensure that the correct COVID-19 vaccine certificate is linked to your device.
Service NSW’s use of your COVID-19 vaccine certificate
Service NSW will use your COVID-19 vaccine certificate information, including your ongoing vaccination status, to create a digital copy of your COVID-19 vaccine certificate in the Service NSW app on your device.
When you log in to your MyServiceNSW account via the Service NSW app on your device you will be able to access the digital copy of your COVID-19 vaccine certificate. You will be able to present this digital certificate to any person, including if you are required to do so under the Public Health Orders.
You will be able to control who can access the digital copy of your COVID-19 vaccine certificate through the ServiceNSW app. If you do not want to show your COVID-19 vaccine certificate, then you can elect not to. However, you will still need to comply with the requirements of the Public Health Orders.
COVID-19 vaccine certificate – QR Code
If you wish to, or are required to, show evidence of your COVID-19 vaccination status you may present the digital copy of your COVID-19 vaccine certificate in the Service NSW app. The person can use a mobile or tablet device to check your COVID-19 vaccination status. They do this by scanning the QR code attached to the digital copy of your COVID-19 vaccine certificate in the Service NSW app. Service NSW will then temporarily display your COVID-19 vaccine certificate information on that person’s mobile or tablet device, until the confirmation page times out and the checker is returned to the Service NSW app home screen.
Removing your COVID-19 vaccine certificate
Service NSW may remove your COVID-19 vaccine certificate information from the Service NSW app at any time, including if Services Australia ceases to provide your COVID-19 vaccine certificate information to Service NSW, or if the NSW Government determines that it is no longer necessary for the citizens of NSW to be able to access their COVID-19 vaccine certificate information via the Service NSW app.
You may also choose to remove your COVID-19 vaccine certificate from your Service NSW app at any time. Once it's removed, it will no longer appear in your MyServiceNSW account or on your mobile app, and it will be removed as proof of vaccination from the COVID Safe Check-in tool. Removing your COVID-19 vaccine certificate will not cancel or change your information held by Services Australia or the Express Plus Medicare app. You can add your COVID-19 vaccine certificate to your app again at any time if you need to.
For more information about removing your COVID-19 vaccine certificate, please see the COVID-19 digital certificate page.
Disclosure to Services Australia
We may disclose your personal information and health information to Services Australia to prevent, or otherwise in connection with any investigation in relation to, fraud or misuse of vaccination certificates.
For more information on how Services Australia handles your personal information and health information, please see their Privacy Statement.
We will not disclose your personal information and health information to any other person unless we are required by law to do so.
Additional information
We may collect anonymous use data, such as how you interact with the Service NSW app, to support improvements to our services and the Service NSW app. Anonymous and de-identified statistical data (such as number of people using the app, average time spent using, proportion who have added their proof-of-vaccination, etc.) is analysed by Service NSW and may be disclosed to the Department of Customer Service and/or the Data Analytics Centre to support the NSW Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This will not contain information about you, because the information is de-identified and will be grouped together so no individual is identifiable.
You may ask for access to the personal information we hold about you at any time and request to update, correct or amend your personal information using the contact details set out in the Service NSW privacy policy.
However, Service NSW is not able to update or amend the COVID-19 vaccine information it collects from Services Australia. For more information on how Services Australia handles your personal information, please see their Privacy Statement.
We may update or modify this Privacy Collection Statement from time to time. The amended Privacy Collection Statement will be available via the Service NSW app and will operate from the time it is posted.
If you are concerned about an alleged breach of privacy law or any other regulation, please contact Service NSW using the details set out in the Service NSW privacy policy.
For further information about how we protect your privacy, to make a privacy complaint or to seek to amend the personal information we hold about you, please see the Service NSW privacy policy.