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AIG web site logins and passwords – why do I have more than one?

 

AIG’s on–line services to members: the Membership Portal; and the event registration system, on-line shop and QGIS portal; accessed via the Institute web site (www.aig.org.au) require separate usernames and passwords for several reasons.

The Membership Portal is provided to AIG by a third party provider who specialise in on-line association management systems. The membership database is managed using highly secure servers and encrypted communication links established by our provider to ensure that members’ personal information is managed in the most secure manner possible and protected from unauthorised access.

The Membership Portal pages have been designed to have a similar “look and feel” to the AIG web site, but that’s where the similarities end.

AIG is committed to maintaining the privacy of members but needed a membership data management solution where members are able to securely access and maintain their own contact information.

The event registration and booking system, AIG’s on-line shop and QGIS resources portal are part of the main AIG web site and are based on the same underlying technology, allowing them to share a common subscriber database. Though the QGIS resources portal are members only, both the events registration system and the on-line shop are able to be used by members and non-members, whereas the Membership Portal is a strictly members-only system.  A username and password is required to use the event registration system, shop and QGIS portal because both:

  • Employ user-provided data to make second and subsequent visits to either site easier;
  • Personal information collected is used to identify event attendees and for the delivery of purchasers;
  • Both systems keep a record of event attendance and purchases to enable registered users to obtain summaries for end of year tax return preparation and tracking CPD activities.

Linking the two systems may well be technically possible but, it was feared, would create an unacceptable risk of inadvertently exposing members’ information.

Additionally:

  • Credit card details provided during event registration or purchasing publications is managed using secure e-commerce systems provided to AIG by the Institute’s bank.
  • All personal data collected by AIG is held securely and in strict compliance with relevant Australian laws.
  • AIG’s auditors also require that records of all transactions conducted by the Institute are collected and retained for a period of time specified by relevant laws and regulations. Again, this information is held securely and the username and password helps to ensure that only you have access to your personal data.

If you use a password manager, such as Apple’s Keychain or the password manager included in Google Chrome, these browsers will recognise the Membership Portal and the event registration system/bookshop/QGIS portal as being separate to one another and allow different usernames and passwords to be held for them and made available to your authorised devices. This means that you don’t need to remember your username and password when you need to login to either if you opt to make use of these capabilities It is important, however, that anyone using Internet-based services ensure that their computer is appropriately secured against unauthorized, malicious intrusion.

Both the Membership Portal and events registration/bookshop/QGIS portal will also send a link to your registered email address if you forget your password at any time, allowing them to be reset quickly and conveniently. Look for the password reset link on the login page.

The AIG web site is tested using Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and Apple’s Firefox web browsers. We are aware of an issue affecting use of the event registration, on-line shop and QGIS portal affecting Firefox browser users. Regrettably, we’re unable to support Firefox and suggest that users opt for one of the supported browsers to make use of the secure services of the AIG web site.

When you make use of both the Membership Portal and the events registration/bookshop/QGIS portal systems you are helping to reduce the workload of AIG’s service providers and volunteers, which in turn minimises the Institute’s costs and ensures we can maintain low membership, event registration and publication fees and costs while securely delivering services to members and non-members supporting AIG by attending events or purchasing publications.