Privacy Policy

Introduction
The Privacy Act 2020 is overseen by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner and regulates how each
organisation collects, uses, stores and safely disposes of all personal information. This policy relates to
SociaLink Tūhono Pāpori (SociaLink) and its divisions and is provided for your information and does not
limit or exclude your rights under the Privacy Act 2020.

Purpose
In order for SociaLink to provide services, including administering accounts, it needs to hold and process
personal information. SociaLink will:
● Be dedicated to preserving privacy.
● Only collect information that is necessary for its performance and primary functions.
● Notify stakeholders about why the information is collected and how it is administered.
● Notify stakeholders that this information is accessible to them.

Privacy Statement
SociaLink has a public facing privacy statement that will be displayed in appropriate situations, such as
but not limited to:
● Data collection points
● Consent forms
● Employment agreements
● Volunteer agreements
● Staff email signature

‘This privacy statement explains how SociaLink collects, stores, uses and shares your personal
information. Openness and transparency are important to us. The Privacy Act 2020 requires us to tell you
certain things about the personal information we need to carry out our functions. We will handle your
information with care and respect.
● We only collect personal information where this is necessary to carry out our functions.
● We may collect personal information about you either directly from you or from other people or
agencies, and we may generate personal information about you when we carry out our functions.
● We store all our data (including your personal information) on a secure platform and we use
Microsoft Office 365 applications and Google Workspace. We protect our data with all reasonable
technical and process controls.
● You can ask us for a copy of your personal information at any time. We will be as open as we can
with you but must also ensure we meet our privacy obligations.
● We will only use and share personal information where necessary to carry out the functions for
which we collected it, or if required by law.

If you cannot find the information you need, or you have concerns about the way SociaLink are managing
your personal information, then please contact our Privacy Officer at info@socialink.co.nz’

Security
SociaLink takes its data storage and website security seriously and endeavours to provide a safe platform
on which to conduct online transactions. No data transmission over the internet can be guaranteed to be
fully secure. We will take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information we collect, use or
disclose about you is accurate, complete, up to date and stored in a secure environment protected from
unauthorised access, use, modification or disclosure.

How information is collected

General
We may collect information from you through your use of our website when you request information
from us or engage our services. Personal information is collected when users register for regular
newsletters, book an event, make a payment, use SociaLink services, complete a survey or contact
SociaLink about services. You can ask to be removed or unsubscribe from our newsletter mailing list
at any time.

Registration Forms
In order to use certain services, users may need to create and register on the website by completing
registration forms that require submission of their contact information, such as name, email, and
postal address.

Surveys and Subscriptions
The website may contain online surveys requesting contact information, such as name, email, and
postal address.

How information is used

Personal information provided to SociaLink, will be used for the purposes of providing SociaLink services
as requested. We generally do not share your personal information with others unless this is necessary
for the purpose for which you gave us the information. It includes:

a. registering and managing organisation or individual details on our Customer Management
Relationship system;
b. communicating with service users, including in relation to the services SociaLink provides, or any
associated matters;
c. for general administrative and business purposes;
d. marketing and business analytics;
e. settling accounts with those who provide related services to SociaLink;
f. dealing with requests, enquiries or complaints and other customer care related activities;
g. service user information is shared with other SociaLink employees and contractors and IT service
providers that SociaLink uses to support its services;
h. content that service users and others post on the website, including any comments posted and
associated contact details, can be viewed by the public at large;
i. There may also be circumstances where SociaLink is required to disclose personal information by
law, for example, to Governmental or regulatory authorities.

By using any of our services, including our website, and providing us with any personal information, you
are consenting to the use of your personal information as set out in this policy. Please do not send us any
personal information if you do not want it to be used in this way.

Special Relationships
SociaLink provides an open and collaborative sharing environment for all community and social sector
parties who use SociaLink services. In this regard, SociaLink may provide your contact details to other
participating organisations in the event that such contact could enhance opportunities for collaboration.
SociaLink runs divisions called The Kollective, Volunteering Services and Community Insights, who are all
part of the SociaLink group.

Privacy of Trustees and Staff
SociaLink Trustees and staff members will be advised when private information about them is being
collected and held. They have the right to access personal information held about them.

Private information is kept electronically and is password protected. The General Manager and Financial
Advisor and, if necessary legal and employment advisors, may have access to private information about
trustees and staff for the purpose of contractual matters, reviewing performance, paying and reviewing
salaries, maintaining leave records and paying trustee expenses. Private information will not be disclosed
to anybody else without the express permission of the member concerned.

Staff should not store private information on their work computers, since trustees and other staff have
access to staff computers, including access to email.

Any health information about identifiable individuals such as health and medical histories or information
about disability will be kept according to the Health Information Privacy Code.

Website
The purpose of this website is to provide information about SociaLink Tūhono Pāpori and its divisions.
SociaLink is not responsible for information provided by third parties that you may access on or through
this website, or for the privacy practices or the content of other websites.

The SociaLink website uses server logs and web analytic tools (such as cookies and other tracking
technologies). Cookies are small text files that are downloaded to your device by websites you visit.
When you use this website these tools collect information such as what browser and operating system you
use, the internet protocol address of the device you have used to access the website, search terms, your
location and what content you view when visiting our website. Cookies do not give us access to your
computer or any information about you other than the data you choose to share with us. You can set your
browser to block cookies but you may not be able to access all the features of the SociaLink website.

You consent to and understand that your personal information may be transferred, processed and stored
outside of New Zealand if our website is hosted outside New Zealand.

SociaLink will try to ensure the information contained within its website is accurate and does not accept
any responsibility for any errors or omissions. However, reasonable steps are taken to avoid or mitigate
these types of issues.

Copyright
SociaLink either owns the copyright in or has the right to use all text and images published on this
website, and its overall design, unless otherwise stated. You may download and print out any part of this
website for your own personal use.

Data Security and Retention
SociaLink will take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information that we collect is:
● Safeguarded and stored against misuse, loss, unauthorised access and modification.
● We may retain all personal information that we collect (on both our active systems and our archive
systems), for as long as is necessary for us to carry out the purposes for which the information was
collected.
● Only destroy records in accordance with best practice guidelines, including but not limited to, five
years for personnel records, seven years for financial records and ten years for insurance policy,
key contracts and leases. The Public Records Act 2005 requires SociaLink to retain ‘protected
records’ indefinitely. In some circumstances, your personal information may be included within a
protected record.

Confidentiality Disclaimer
The following disclaimer is used in circumstances where SociaLink staff are providing information or
guidance to organisations:

Confidentiality Disclaimer
As part of the proper performance of our roles, individual team members may seek peer mentoring or support
from other members of the SociaLink Tūhono Pāpori Team to ensure we are providing the best supports and to
develop our own abilities and practice.

Access to and Correction of Information
Service Users may request access to and correction of their personal information at any time by sending
an email to info@socialink.org.nz

Acceptance
By using SociaLink websites and/or related services, you agree to SociaLink collecting and using your
personal information as set out in this Privacy Policy.

Changes
When SociaLink materially changes this Privacy Statement, a notice will be posted on its website, and
may apply to previously collected information. Nothing in this policy prevents SociaLink from passing on
information gathered on this site to any successor organisations. It is also suggested that service users
routinely review the Policy Statement to ensure they understand how SociaLink collects and uses
personal information.

END

Privacy Policy V1 Nov 23