PRIVACY POLICY
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 NZ House & Land (referred to as “we”, “our” or “us”) recognises the importance of protecting the privacy and rights of individuals in relation to their personal information. This Privacy Policy describes what personal information or data we collect, and how we use, store and disclose the personal information we collect, to ensure we comply with our obligations under the Privacy Act 2020 (Act).
1.2 By providing your personal information or using our services, you agree to this Privacy Policy. If you provide information about any other person, then you must be authorised by that person to provide such data to us. Please read our Privacy Policy carefully.
1.3 This Privacy Policy may change at any time, and we will tell you about any changes by posting an updated policy on our website. These changes will take effect from the date we post it, so please ensure you review our Privacy Policy from time to time. By using our services/website, you will be accepting these changes.
1.4 This Privacy Policy applies exclusively to NZ House & Land and does not cover privacy practices of any third-party entities or affiliates.
2. WHAT IS PERSONAL INFORMATION
2.1 “Personal information” refers to any information that can identify you or be used to identify you, such as your name, address, email address, phone number, and other details about your interactions with us.
3. INFORMATION WE COLLECT
3.1 The types of personal information we may collect through your general interactions with us include:
(a) Full name;
(b) Physical and mailing address;
(c) Email address;
(d) Telephone number;
(e) Age or birth date;
(f) IP address, device ID, memory information, browser type and version, connection speed, network information, geographical location and device identifiers;
(g) Number of visits to our websites;
(h) Use of our social media platforms;
(i) Service-related information including enquiries, transactions and preferences;
(j) Communications with our representatives via phone, in-person, or via email; and
(k) Any other information that is reasonably necessary for us to run our business and provide our services.
3.2 If you apply for a job or professional relationship with us, we may also collect:
(a) Qualifications and licensing details (e.g., real estate licence);
(b) Business name, NZBN, and director/shareholder information;
(c) Bank account information for direct debits; and
(d) anonymous or aggregated data (e.g., website analytics).
3.3 We will take reasonable steps to ensure the personal information we hold is accurate, up to date, complete, relevant, and not misleading.
4. HOW WE COLLECT INFORMATION
4.1 We collect your personal information directly from you when you:
(a) Enquire about or use our services;
(b) Visit our website;
(c) Communicate with us via phone, email, or in person;
(d) Apply for employment or contracting opportunities with us; or
(e) Subscribe to newsletters or updates.
4.2 Cookies and similar tracking technologies may collect personal information such as IP addresses and browsing data. We use cookies to enable efficient navigation of our websites, however you may disable cookies by changing the settings on your browser, although this may mean that you cannot use all of the features of the website.
4.3 We may also collect personal information:
(a) When you submit your personal details to participate in competitions and promotions;
(b) From our business partners that sell you products or services; and
(c) From publicly available sources of information, such as telephone directories and websites.
4.4 When we receive personal information from a third party, we will inform you and will process that data in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
4.5 At or before the time of collection, we will take reasonable steps to ensure you are aware of:
(a) The fact your information is being collected;
(b) The purpose of collection;
(c) Intended recipients;
(d) Your rights of access and correction; and
(e) Our contact details.
5. WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU DON’T PROVIDE YOUR INFORMATION
5.1 Without your personal information:
(a) We may not be able to provide our services effectively;
(b) We may not be able to respond to your requests;
(c) You may miss out on updates or service-related communications; and
(d) Your experience on our website may be limited or less personalised.
6. WHY WE COLLECT AND USE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
6.1 We, and any third parties in accordance with this Privacy Policy, may use your personal information for the purpose for which it was collected or for directly related purposes unless otherwise permitted by the Act, including but not limited to:
(a) Improve our website and customer experience and to help us develop, market, improve, manage or review our services;
(b) provide, administer and communicate with you on our services;
(c) conduct client surveys in order to improve our services;
(d) tailor experiences to you;
(e) Perform administrative and business functions;
(f) Send marketing and service-related communications;
(g) Comply with applicable legal requirements, industry standards and regulatory requirements;
(h) Update our records and contact details; and
(i) Respond to queries, complaints or disputes.
6.2 We may use your personal information for additional purposes related to the purposes listed above, where we reasonably believe that the purpose for which the information is to be used is directly related to the purpose in connection with which the information was obtained, or where an exception under the Act applies.
7. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION
7.1 We may share information with our staff, related companies, advisers or third parties contracted to us in accordance with the Act, however personal information will only be shared with our personnel if it is necessary for them to carry out their work for us and to meet your request for services.
7.2 We may disclose information about you to law enforcement authorities or other government official:
(a) if we are required to do so by law;
(b) if we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to prevent physical harm or financial loss; or
(c) in connection with an investigation of suspected fraudulent or illegal activity.
7.3 We also reserve the right to disclose personal information we have about you if we sell or transfer all, or a portion of, our business or assets or subsidiaries or related companies. If such a sale or transfer occurs:
(a) we will use reasonable efforts to direct the purchaser to use personal information you have provided to us in a manner that is consistent with our Privacy Policy; and
(b) following such a sale or transfer, you may contact the entity to which we transferred your personal information with any enquiries concerning the processing of that information.
7.4 Your personal information may be disclosed offshore where this is necessary for us to run our business and provide our services. For example, we may use third party data managers based here or overseas (such as cloud-based database companies). However, your personal information will only be disclosed offshore where we reasonably believe the recipient is subject to comparable privacy safeguards or where we obtain your express permission.
7.5 We will not disclose personal information to any other agency or to any other person unless we believe on reasonable grounds that the disclosure of the information is for one of the purposes in connection with which the information was obtained or is directly related to one of those purposes, or if we believe another exception under the Act applies.
8. DIRECT MARKETING
8.1 We may send you marketing communications about services we believe are relevant to you. These may be sent via email, SMS, or post. You can opt out at any time via the communication itself or by contacting us at info@nzhal.nz.
8.2 We do not provide your personal information to third parties for their own marketing purposes.
9. OVERSEAS DISCLOSURE
9.1 We generally retain and manage your personal information within New Zealand. If any personal data is shared outside New Zealand (e.g., via cloud-based service providers), we take reasonable steps to ensure it is handled in accordance with NZ privacy laws.
10. DATA SECURITY AND STORAGE
10.1 We implement and maintain appropriate administrative, technical and physical safeguards designed to protect the personal information you provide against accidental, unlawful or unauthorised destruction, loss, alteration, access, disclosure or use. We use encryption on our websites from which we transfer certain personal information.
10.2 We will take reasonable steps to ensure that where we use unique identifiers (i.e. individual numbers, references or other forms of identification in relation to an identifiable individual), the risk of misuse is minimised.
10.3 Communications over the internet are not secure unless they have been encrypted. We cannot guarantee the security of any transmission to us by email or our online customer response form.
10.4 We only keep your identifiable personal information for as long as and to the extent that we need it to reasonably meet the purposes for which we collect it (as set out in this Privacy Policy).
10.5 When we no longer require your personal information for the reasons outlined above, we will destroy, delete or permanently anonymise it.
10.6 Our site may include links to external websites. We are not responsible for their privacy practices and recommend reviewing their policies independently.
11. ACCESS AND CORRECTION
11.1 We offer you certain choices about what personal information we collect from you, how we use that information, and how we communicate with you. You also have certain rights, including the rights to:
(a) not provide personal information to us;
(b) refrain from submitting information directly to us;
(c) ask us not to share your personal information with third parties;
(d) request that we edit any personal information we hold about you;
(e) request that we correct any personal information we hold about you;
(f) request access to your personal information;
(g) withdraw any consent you previously provided to us; or
(h) object at any time on legitimate grounds to the processing of your personal information.
11.2 In some circumstances, taking these actions may mean that you cannot take advantage of our products and services. You do not need to provide us with some information that we automatically collect (e.g. some cookies), but we may need this information to provide you with full functionality of our products and services.
11.3 You can request access to, and correction of your personal information held by us. We will process all requests for access, correction or deletion as soon as reasonably practicable and within the timeframes required by the Act. If you would like to ask for a copy of your information, or to have it corrected, please contact us on info@nzhal.nz. There is no fee for requesting corrections, but a reasonable fee may apply for providing access.
11.4 The right to access personal information may be limited in some circumstances by legal requirements or statutory (or other legal) exceptions. In order for us to process your request, we will need to verify your identity. If we refuse you access to your personal information, we will provide you with an explanation for that refusal.
11.5 Subject to the provisions of the Act, we will notify you as soon as practicable if there is a privacy breach which involves your personal information, and where we believe that breach is likely to cause you serious harm. We will also notify the Privacy Commissioner in accordance with the requirements of the Act.
12. QUESTIONS AND COMPLAINTS
12.1 If, at any time, you have questions, concerns or comments about this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us our Privacy Officer by email on info@nzhal.nz.
12.2 If you wish to complain about any breach or potential breach of this Privacy Policy, please contact us via email and we will make every effort to resolve your complaint internally. If we do not resolve the complaint to your satisfaction, you may apply to the Privacy Commissioner.
12.3 For more information on how you may lodge a complaint with the Privacy Commissioner, please contact the Commissioner on 04-474-7590 or at https://www.privacy.org.nz/about-us/contact/.