Privacy

Purpose

The purpose of this privacy statement is to let people who interact or correspond with New Zealand Petroleum & Minerals (NZP&M) and users of the www.nzpam.govt.nz website know when we collect personal information and what we do with it. NZP&M is a branch of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

NZP&M does not use, share or disclose personal information it collects or receives except as set out in this statement.

Scope

This privacy statement applies to all personal information collected by NZP&M through the NZP&M website, online databases and permitting systems. It also covers personal information collected through our interactions or correspondence with you including via our contact centre, by phone or email or if meeting with you in person.

Collection, storage and use

You can use the NZP&M website without disclosing any personal information.

Voluntary disclosure of personal information

You may choose to voluntarily provide personal information to us (e.g. in comments, questions or feedback). This information will be viewable by site administrators, NZP&M staff (as appropriate) and sometimes third-party contractors who administer or work on the site.

Collection of personal information

NZP&M may ask or require you (including where required by the Crown Minerals Act 1991 and the Regulations under that Act) to provide personal information when you complete an online form (e.g. by submitting personal information to NZP&M to apply for a minerals permit or to register or use an online database).

Types of personal information we may collect includes names, e-mail addresses, postal addresses, job titles and telephone numbers. If you choose not to provide information where it is required by law, you may not be entitled to the service or benefit offered or could be in breach of statutory obligations.

Holding of information

When you provide personal information, it will be held by NZP&M. It may be stored or accessed on behalf of NZP&M by authorised third parties (such as third-party contractors) to the extent that is necessary, for example for them to administer or work on the website. We will store and keep it secure in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020 and third parties will be subject to NZP&M's information security and privacy requirements. We hold personal information when it is necessary for business purposes.

Use of personal information

We will generally only use personal information provided to us through this website or through correspondence or interactions with you, for the purpose you provided it (e.g. by submitting personal information to NZP&M to apply for a minerals permit, to register for an online database or for promotional purposes). We may also use personal information provided to us through this website for other reasons permitted under the Privacy Act 2020 (e.g. with your consent, for a directly related purpose, or where the law permits or requires it).

Records and retention of personal information

NZP&M will only retain personal information as long as it is required for the purposes for which the information may lawfully be used.

Public Records

Where any information provided (which may include personal information) to or through this site constitute public records, it will be retained to the extent required by the Public Records Act 2005. NZP&M may also be required to disclose information under the Official Information Act 1982 or to a Parliamentary Select Committee or Parliament in response to a Parliamentary Question.

Registered users

When you become a registered user of this website, online database or permitting system, personal information will be collected from you. This information is collected for:

• the management of your account with us;
• determining the usage of this website;
• marketing and newsletters to keep you informed;
• to analyse trends in our stakeholders and their engagement with us; and
• may be used to notify you of industry opportunities in New Zealand.

If you do not provide the information requested when you attempt to register, you cannot become a registered user of this website and may also be prevented from accessing our online databases.

Rights of access and correction

Your rights

You have the right to:

• find out from us whether we hold personal information about you;
• access that information; and, if applicable
• request corrections to that information.

If NZP&M has a good reason for refusing a request for correction, you are entitled to request that a statement be attached to the information of the correction that was sought but not made.

If you want to check personal information that we hold, please email the request to nzpam@mbie.govt.nz or write to:

New Zealand Petroleum & Minerals
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
PO Box 5488
Wellington 6011.

For more information on the privacy laws in New Zealand and contact details for the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, please visit the Privacy Commissioner's website.

Call recording

As part of our commitment to providing the best possible service to our customers we record all telephone calls answered in our contact centre. This helps us to identify ways that we can provide you with a better service.

We record calls:

• for staff training purposes, helping us to improve the quality of our customer service and to ensure the information we provide is consistent and accurate;
• so we can find ways to simplify our service to you; and
• to ensure we have an accurate record of your call, which may be needed to support any transactions that take place over the phone and/or if there is a dispute.

We understand your personal information is important to you, and we are committed to protecting your privacy. We store the recordings securely for 2 years and destroy them after this period.

You can request access to your personal information contacting oia@mbie.govt.nz and asking for the Privacy Officer. We will provide this information to you unless we have a lawful reason for withholding this information.

Statistical information and cookies

Statistical information

We may collect statistical information about your visit to help us improve the NZP&M website. This information is aggregated and non-personally identifying. It includes:

• your IP address;
• the search terms you used;
• the pages you accessed on our site and the links you clicked on;
• the date and time you visited the site;
• the referring site (if any) through which you clicked through to this site;
• the device you used to access the site;
• your operating system (e.g. Windows XP, Mac OSX);
• the type of web browser you use (e.g. Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox); and
• their incidental matters such as screen resolution, the release of your installed Flash version and the language setting of your browser.

The statistical information referred to above will be viewable by site administrators and certain other NZP&M staff. It may also be shared with other government agencies.

Cookies

Browser or 'web' cookies are small text files that are sent by a website and stored on your computer's hard drive. Cookies are generally used to improve your experience of a website (e.g., by remembering preferences you have set) and to track site usage.

NZP&M generally does not use cookies on this website to gather any personally identifiable information. Where cookies are used to gather data about trends in site usage, we use a tool called Google Analytics.

In instances where Google Analytics is not used we may use other tools, or internal logging as part of our online database host software.

You can read Google's privacy statement, and access a Google Analytics opt-out tool, at the Google Privacy Centre.

You can manually disable cookies at any time - check your browser's 'Help' to find out how (disabling cookies will not affect your ability to use this website).

Storage of information in cloud systems

NZP&M may store personal information within services provided by offshore cloud service providers (CSP). NZP&M will use the services of CSP who are able to store personal information safely and provide security level acceptable by New Zealand government information security standards.

Security

NZP&M websites have security measures in place to prevent the loss, misuse and alteration of information under our control. In order to maintain the cyber security of NZP&M systems and information, NZP&M systems are subject to ongoing monitoring (including activity logging), analysis and auditing. We may use information about your use of our websites and other IT systems to prevent unauthorised access or attacks on these systems or to resolve such events. We may use this information even if you are not involved in such activity. NZP&M may use services from one or more third party suppliers to monitor or maintain the cyber security of its systems and information. These third party suppliers will have access to monitoring and logging information as well as information processed on NZP&M websites and other IT systems.