In this privacy policy, the terms “we”, “us” and “our” refer to Goodwin Realty Limited trading as Goodwins.

At the outset, we assure all users of www.goodwins.co.nz (this website) that we deeply respect your rights to privacy, and across our business we are committed to protecting the data of our clients and tenancy applicants.

This privacy policy duly explains how we may collect, store, use and disclose personal information that you provide to us.

By accessing or using this website, and/or completing tenancy applications/tenancy agreements with us you consent to our collecting, storing, using, and disclosing your personal information in a manner set out in this privacy policy.

For further information on the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020, please visit www.privacy.org.nz.

Confirming the information, we hold is collected in accordance with the guidelines of the Privacy Commissioner and in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020. The information is then held on file as required under the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (as amended).

We may collect personal information from you, including:

  • Name
  • Contact information
  • Home address
  • Investment property address
  • Photo ID, Drivers Licence or Passport for identification
  • Information relating to a tenancy application

We collect your personal information in order to:

  • verify your identity
  • provide services to you
  • market our services to you, including contacting you electronically (e.g., by text or email for this purpose)
  • improve the services that we provide to you
  • bill you and to collect money that you owe us, including authorising and processing credit card transactions
  • pay you for services that you provide to us
  • undertake credit checks of you (if necessary)
  • respond to communications from you, including complaints
  • conduct research and statistical analysis
  • protect and/or enforce our legal rights and interests, including defending any claim
  • for any other purpose authorised by you or the Act.

How you can access your personal information

Please be assured that we will take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information we collect, use, or disclose is accurate, complete, and up to date. If your personal details change, please contact us.

You have the right to ask for a copy of any personal information we hold about you, and to ask for it to be corrected if you think it is wrong. If you’d like to ask for a copy of your information, or to have it corrected, please contact our Compliance and Privacy Officer, Catherine Goodwin LLB AREINZ on e-mail catherine@goodwins.co.nz, by telephoning our office on 09 373 4400, or on mobile 021 437710.

If you have a privacy complaint

If you’re not satisfied with our response to any privacy-related concern you may have, you can contact the Privacy Commissioner.

Contact details for the Office of the Privacy Commissioner are: https://www.privacy.org.nz/about-us/contact/

What is personal information?

Personal information is information about an identifiable individual. It includes information that could be used to identify you, such as your name and contact details. If the information we collect personally identifies you, or you are reasonably identifiable from it, the information will be considered personal information.

Disclosure of personal information

We will not disclose your personal information to third parties except in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020 and as set out in this privacy policy. We will only use or disclose personal information that you have provided to us, or which we have obtained about you:

  • For the above-mentioned purposes; or
  • For other purposes authorised by you, including purposes outlined in any form you have completed; or
  • If we believe that the use or disclosure is reasonably necessary to assist a law enforcement agency or an agency responsible for national security in the performance of their functions; or
  • If we believe that the use or disclosure is reasonably necessary to enforce any legal rights we may have, or is reasonably necessary to protect the rights, property and safety of us, our customers, or others; or
  • Professional advisors such as lawyers, accountants, bankers, and other consultants as it relates to the services provided to you: or
  • External dispute resolution schemes: or
  • Suppliers and services that may be required to administer our relationship with you such as IT systems administrators, mailing houses, couriers, payment processors, debt collectors: or
  • If we are required or permitted by law to disclose such information.

Storage and security

We may hold your personal information in electronic formats or in hard copy, at our offices or at premises outside our offices, including data storage facilities or online storage located within or outside New Zealand, which may be operated by independent service contractors.

Where your personal information is transferred outside New Zealand, we will ensure the intended recipient has provided appropriate safeguards and that requisite rights and remedies in relation to the personal information remain available, or we will obtain your explicit consent for the transfer.

Management of personal information

We take reasonable steps to securely store your personal information to ensure it is protected from unauthorised access, modification, and disclosure, and from other types of misuse, interference, and loss. This includes electronic and physical security measures and procedures, staff training and use of password protection software.

We will take reasonable steps to destroy or permanently de-identify your personal information when we no longer require it for any purpose for which it was collected. We may retain your personal information for as long as necessary to comply with any applicable law, for legal, insurance and corporate governance purposes, for the prevention of fraud and to resolve disputes. Your personal information may also be retained in our IT system back-up records.

The transfer of data over the Internet is inherently insecure. We cannot guarantee the security, during transmission, of any personal information provided to us via our websites. Please bear this in mind when transmitting information by this means to us.

Statistical Information and Cookies

When you visit this website, we may use automated tools and methods (such as cookies and sessions) to collect certain information about your visit, including, without limitation:

  • The internet protocol address and domain name used by your computer to connect to the Internet;
  • The operating system and the browser your computer uses, and any search engine or inbound hyperlink used to reach this website;
  • The date, time, and duration of your visit; and
  • The pages viewed by you.

This information may be used in aggregate form to analyse how this website is being used (for example to analyse usage patterns in order to improve this website). Except as set out in this privacy policy, we will not disclose any such information except in aggregate form.

We may gather more extensive information if we are concerned, for example, about abnormal website usage patterns or website security breaches.

Links to Other Sites

Our website may contain links to other sites. If you click on a third-party link, you will be directed to that site. Please note that these external sites are not operated by us. Therefore, we strongly advise you to review the Privacy Policy of those websites. We have no control over, and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party sites or services.

Changes

We reserve the right, at our discretion, to update this privacy policy from time to time in order to reflect, for example, changes to our practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons.  Changes to this policy will take effect immediately once they are published on our website.