Privacy Policy

We are committed to complying with the Privacy Act 2020 (Privacy Act) (New Zealand), and any other applicable privacy laws and regulations, when collecting, using or dealing with any of your personal information.

This Te Pūkenga Privacy Policy (Policy) describes how Te Pūkenga maintains your privacy when handling your personal information.

Like many organisations, we collect information about our users for the purposes of:

• Providing you with the services that we offer.
• Improving our digital platforms, marketing material and strategies, and to provide you with a better experience when you use our digital platforms and when we provide you our services.
• Giving you a personalised user experience.

We collect information about you when you communicate with us, register [via], visit or use the website (the Website) or any other online platform, service, application, website or messaging service that we subscribe to or use and make available to you (each being a Digital Platform).

What personal information do we collect about you? 

If you provide us with your personal information through any Digital Platform, we may collect personal information about you including your name, email address, date of birth, gender, nationality, country of residence, qualifications, your intended study plans and preferences, if you are a member of a priority audience (Māori, Pacific or with disabilities) what education agent you are working with (if any) and information relating to your visa applications or enrolment status.  

Where you have authorised us to do so, we may collect information relating to the existence, status and outcome of your visa applications directly from Immigration New Zealand. The results and/or information we receive may also include visa decisions pre-post the student visa application process (such as a work visa post study). 

Where you have authorised us to do so, we may also collect personal information about you relating to your application and/or enrolment status at a specific subsidiary or education provider directly from that education provider, such as a transitional industry training organisation. 

We may also collect information relevant to our Digital Platforms, our marketing strategies and our services, including information on:

• IP addresses
• Search terms
• Pages accessed and links clicked
• Dates and times of visits
• The immediate previous site visited
• Operating systems (e.g., Windows, Mac)
• Web browsers
• Internet activity, whether on the Website or any other

Where we use the information solely for statistical purposes, all users are anonymous and not personally identifiable from the information.

How do we use your personal information?

Personal information collected through any Digital Platform, including through the 'Subscribe' and 'Contact Us' forms on the Website, will be collected by Te Pūkenga and will be used for the purposes of:

• Providing your personal information to Te Pūkenga subsidiaries, agents and education providers to facilitate communications between you and Te Pūkenga, its subsidiaries, agents and/or education providers where you have authorised us to share your personal information with such third party or parties.
• Te Pūkenga communications and distributing marketing and promotional information and materials about Te Pūkenga, its programmes and activities, and those of its subsidiaries, agents and education providers (subject to your express consent to receiving such communications).
• Allowing Te Pūkenga to better understand what converts prospective learners into a learner validly enrolled in a course of study at a subsidiary or education provider, and enabling Te Pūkenga (and, where applicable, its subsidiaries and education providers) to optimise and improve future marketing and promotional strategies relating to vocational education in New Zealand. 
• Providing your personal information to Immigration New Zealand to in order to (where you have authorised us to do so) request and receive updates directly from Immigration New Zealand on the existence, status and outcome of any student visa applications you have submitted so that we can provide you a more personalised digital experience and undertake research and analytical studies associated with our functions. 
• Where you have authorised us to do so, providing your student visa application details and status updates to specific subsidiaries and/or education providers to enable them to complete the enrolment process with You in a more timely and efficient manner.
• Contacting you with information relevant to you or your study plans including important updates and deadlines.

Use of cookies

A cookie is a small amount of data that is sent to your browser from a web server and stored on your computer's hard drive, then sent back to the server by your browser each time you access certain sections of our Digital Platforms.  Please refer to our Website Terms of Use to read about how we use cookies.

Who will we share your personal information with 

We may share information that we collect about you in accordance with, and for the purposes set out in, this Policy, with the following third parties:

• Education New Zealand (ENZ), Te Pūkenga subsidiaries, agents, and education providers if you have completed any forms or submitted any enquiries connected to that third party and have authorised us to provide your personal information to them for the purpose of enabling the subsidiary, agent, and / or education provider (as applicable) to contact you about their services or study options. Information we share with these organisations will be stored and secured by the relevant organisation in accordance with their own privacy policy.
• Our service providers that we have engaged to provide a service to us in relation to the Website or any service that we have agreed to provide you including NetValue, SpeakData, OMD, Voyage, UMS and StudySpy. For example, we may share information about you with a service provider that we have engaged to provide technology services or customer support services.  These service providers may be located in countries outside New Zealand and not subject to New Zealand privacy laws. However, we will take such steps as are reasonable in the circumstances to confirm that these service providers are required to protect the information in a way that, overall, provides comparable safeguards to those under the Privacy Act. By accessing or using the Website or our services, you authorise overseas disclosure on this basis.  
• Immigration New Zealand for the purposes of requesting and receiving updates on the existence, status and outcome of any visa applications you have submitted.
• Any other organisation or person that you have authorised us to disclose your personal information to.

We will only share your personal information with these third parties:

• For the purpose for which it was collected (or a purpose that is directly related to the purpose in connection with which the information was obtained).
• For any other purpose which you have authorised.
• Otherwise where we are permitted or required to do so by law. 

How we store data

Your personal information will be stored in servers owned by Te Pūkenga, its subsidiaries, ENZ or their service providers, which may include service providers in countries other than New Zealand.    

Security 

We have in place reasonable security safeguards to protect your personal information from loss, unauthorised access, use, modification, disclosure or other misuse. However, given the nature of the internet, we do not make any warranties in relation to the security of any information you disclose or transmit to us and we are not responsible for the theft, destruction, or inadvertent disclosure of your personal information where our security measures have been breached. 

Retention of personal information

We only keep your personal information for as long as required to provide you with the services you have requested, for the purposes outlined in this Policy, and for any legal purposes for which we are required to keep the information (i.e. audit purposes).

Your acceptance of these terms

By submitting personal information to Te Pūkenga (including through the 'Subscribe' and 'Contact Us' forms or by completing or submitting an enquiry form through the Website) or by using, or communicating with us through, any other Digital Platform you authorise the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information as described above.

If you have provided your child or dependent’s personal information to us, you confirm that you are authorised to do so.   

If you do not agree to the terms of this Policy, Te Pūkenga will not accept your form or enquiry, and your information will not be processed or referred on to Te Pūkenga's subsidiaries, agents, and education providers.

Your rights

You are entitled to access the personal information Te Pūkenga holds about you, and to request that we amend it if it is incorrect. For clarity, where you have provided your consent to the sharing of information between

Te Pūkenga and any subsidiary, agent, or education provider, you have the right to withdraw such consent at any time by contacting us (at the contact details below) or the relevant subsidiary, agent, or education provider. 

Information will be held on or behalf of Te Pūkenga. Under the Privacy Act, you may request access to and correction of your personal information held by Te Pūkenga by writing to Te Pūkenga at the above address, or by contacting 0800 VOCATION in New Zealand.

If there is a reason under the Privacy Act, or other applicable law for us not to comply with your request, we will notify you in writing setting out the reasons for the refusal (except to the extent it would be unreasonable or unlawful to do so) and advise you of the mechanisms available to you to complain about our response.

For more information about your rights or to make a complaint about our privacy practices, you may contact either the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (New Zealand) or your local supervisory authority.

In case of any discrepancy between a translated version of this policy and an English language version of this Policy, the English language version will prevail.

Amendments to this Policy

Te Pūkenga may, from time to time, amend this Policy as Te Pūkenga deems necessary. Any modifications to this Policy will be notified to you by a pop-up box when you enter, and Te Pūkenga posting an updated version on the Website, provided, however, that Te Pūkenga will seek your consent to any amendments which require consent under applicable laws and regulations.

Immigration New Zealand Data Agreement

If you are not a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident, personal information collected through any Digital Platform will be collected by ENZ and will be used for the purposes of providing your personal information to Immigration New Zealand to request and receive updates on the existence, status and outcome of any student visa applications you have submitted. This will enable us to provide a more personalised digital experience.