Privacy Statement

Our privacy commitment

We understand that privacy is important to you – it is to us too. That’s why we respect your personal information and are committed to protecting it when providing products and services to you.

This policy will explain:

  • What personal information we collect
  • Why we collect your personal information
  • How we use your personal information
  • When we can share your personal information
  • Why we can share your personal information
  • How we protect your personal information
  • How you can manage or access your personal information

Meeting our privacy obligations

NZ Post complies with:

NZ Privacy Act 1993
NZ Privacy Act 2020 (from 1 December 2020)

If you have any questions not addressed in this statement, please feel free to contact us using the methods at the end of this statement under the heading “How to Contact Us”.

Our Legal statements

We take your privacy seriously and we are committed to adhering to our obligations under the NZ Privacy Act 2020. This statement describes the personal information that may be collected by NZ Post (‘we’, ‘our’ or ‘us’).  
It is important that you understand this Privacy Statement because it describes the personal information that we collect from you in connection with this website, or our products and services.

It is important that you understand this Statement and that by using our website, app, products, or services, you are acknowledging, agreeing and consenting to the terms of this Statement, which among other things includes consenting to us sharing your information with third parties or agencies, but only to the extent of providing our products or services to you.
 
If you do not agree, then you must stop using our website and products and services immediately.

The choices you can make about your personal information and how we protect your information is also described within this Statement.

If you would like a printed version of this Statement, you can print this page using your browser, or contact us for a copy. Our contact details are listed at the end of this Statement. 

Your acknowledgment of our privacy policy

You acknowledge that you’ve had the opportunity to read and understand this Statement. This Statement is intended to explain how we comply with the law not to expand your rights with us or our obligations to you beyond the laws listed above. If anything in this statement does not match the law (e.g. the law or the interpretation of the law changes) this Statement should always be interpreted to reflect and comply with the current law.

This statement includes examples but is not intended to be restricted in its application to such examples. Where the word 'including' is used, it means 'including without limitation'.

Our websites may contain links to other non-NZ Post websites. We are not responsible for the privacy policies of those other websites. We recommend you review the privacy policies of each site you visit.

We have responsibilities under New Zealand laws relating to privacy and information that governs how we collect, store, secure, correct, use and share your information. These laws include:

Depending on the product or service, if you choose to not provide your personal information when requested, we may not be able to deliver the product or service that you have requested. We will endeavour to make this as clear as possible for each product and service.

Storing your Personal Information

We may store your personal information in any of the following locations:

  • On premise Databases 
  • Cloud Services for Government Services in New Zealand (DCSG)
  • AWS Cloud located in Sydney, Australia region
  • Azure Cloud located in Sydney, Australia region

Storage of your personal information

We store your information securely and in compliance with our obligations under the Privacy Act 1993.  
The type of information that we collect will depend on the information you provide to us through our website or app, when using our products and services, over the phone, in person in our stores, or third parties such as an overseas postal or courier service.

Information security

At NZ Post, we are committed to protecting and securing your personal information.

Website security and privacy

We understand that you may be concerned about the security of the personal information we collect from you online.

Accordingly, we have systems in place to ensure our online dealings with you are as secure as your dealings with us in person, or on the telephone.

Collection of personal information 

Personal information is information that can personally identify you. This includes things like your name, date or birth, address or email address. Sometimes we need to collect your personally identifiable information in order to assist you.

We may collect your personal information when you:

  • Fill in an application form
  • Deal with us through our Customer Care Centre over the telephone
  • Purchase a product or service in one of our retail Post Stores
  • Have an article sent to you by someone who uses our services or receive a delivery from us
  • Register for, or use, our online products and services
  • Email us
  • Create an account with us
  • Participate in our online promotion
  • Provide us with feedback
  • Complete an online survey
  • Contact, register with, post to, like or follow any of our social media websites, pages, forums or blogs
  • Ask us to contact you

Domestic and International Parcels

When you send a parcel with us or someone else sends a parcel addressed to you, we will capture the details of the parcel including shipping activities (for tracking purposes), the weight and dimensions of the parcel, and the sender and receiver details. Usually, this information will be provided by the sender or receiver on either our domestic parcel or international parcel forms (International Customs Declaration Forms known as CN22 and CN23). This information allows us to track the package, provide updates on the delivery, and respond to queries from both the sender and the receiver. These services are often performed on behalf of, or in conjunction with, other organisations and agencies and we may need to share the personal information in order to send or deliver the mail item.

The personal information collected for domestic parcels for both sender and receiver:

  • Surname
  • First Name
  • Physical Address

The personal information collected for International Parcels on the CN22 and CN23 forms is:

  • The full name and postal address of the sender 
  • The name and postal address of the intended receiver

The CN23 forms also may include the following information:

  • Sender's telephone number 
  • Sender's email address 
  • Sender signature 
  • Receiver's telephone number 
  • Receiver’s email address 
  • Receiver's signature 
  • Delivery point address

The information collected on the Customs Declarations forms is shared with Overseas Postal Delivery Operators via electronic messaging known as ITMATT Messages. This information is also shared with NZ Customs and MBIE.

Mail Redirection and Holding Mail

When we redirect your mail, we collect your personal information to redirect your mail to you. We may also use this information if we need to contact you in the event of issues with your redirection or with promotional offers if you request them.

The personal information we collect for Mail Redirection and Holding Mail includes:

  • Applicant Contact Details
  • Surname
  • First Name
  • Contact Phone Number
  • Email Address
  • Physical Address – From and To
  • Addressee Details 
  • Surname
  • First Name
  • Middle Initial
  • Title
  • Form of ID sighted (one of the following)
  • Passport
  • Driver’s License
  • HANZ 18+Card
  • Community Services Card
  • Super Gold Card

 

PO Boxes, DX Mail, Box Bag 1 and Box Bag 2

The information is collected so we can provide you with our PO Box and Private Bag and mail delivery services as well as providing you with information about our other products and services. This information may also be published in a directory and/or made available to businesses and organisations who wish to market products and services to you in the form of a marketing list. Other than set out above, or where required by law, this information is not disclosed to third parties.

The personal information collected on the Application for PO Box/Private Bag is:

  • Surname
  • First Name
  • Title
  • Physical Address
  • Billing Address
  • Contact phone details
  • Email Address

You have a right to access and correct this information by completing the online request form or writing to the Privacy Officer, Box/Bag services centre, New Zealand Post, PO Box 4340, Private Bag 39990, Wellington Mail Centre, Lower Hutt 5045, Palmerston North, 4442.

Bill Payment and Purchase Connect: When you pay your bills at NZ Post, we only capture enough information to facilitate the payment. Generally, this includes a reference number for the bill, but does not include your personal information.

Identity and Document Services: We provide a range of identity and document services that allow our customers to apply for identity cards or other official documentation such as a passport or drivers licence. These services, which are often performed on behalf of other organisations and agencies, often require the collection of your personal information. We typically pass this information to the service provider and retain a copy in case there are problems with the processing of the documentation, and to meet our legal obligations. After the retention period is over, your personal information is deleted.

  • IRD Numbers
  • Kiwi Access Card
  • Fingerprinting services
  • Vehicle services

Paxsters

The forward-facing camera is used to record visual images for use in investigating accidents and incidents threatening the security of our employees. We collect images but do not record audio. We may capture your personal image but these are only stored for 24 hours and then overwritten.

YouShop

We may share your personal information with a provider of YouShop related services that is located in a country other than New Zealand, where we have made a business decision to use a trusted overseas based service provider that is in the business of providing data storage and/or data processing services (for example, the service provider that hosts our YouShop email marketing platform).

We ensure that any time we share personal information with YouShop service providers we do so securely and we take steps to ensure that all our service providers with whom we share personal information agree to protect the privacy and security of your personal information, destroy that data when it is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was supplied to them and use that data only for the purposes for which it is disclosed.

OCR Video Coding

We use video-coding of images taken when our sorting machines cannot read addresses printed on mail or parcel items. We send these images to an overseas third party to manually enter address into our system.

Contact Centre Audio Recording

We record calls for training purposes.

Authority to Leave

We provide an authority to leave service where you authorise us to sign for and leave items addressed to people at an address without obtaining a signature at the time of delivery.

Card to Call: ID sighting. We note your ID when you collect on behalf of someone else.
Request for Information: We will request proof of identity prior to releasing personal information.  

Letters to Santa

We collect your name, home address and email address via an online form (on behalf of Santa) for the purpose of sending you a ‘thank you’ letter from Santa, so you know he has received your Christmas letter.

Your personal information is collected and stored by NZ Post. After receiving your personal address information, NZ Post (with help from Santa) will only use your personal address information to send a reply ‘thank you’ letter. The information will be held no longer than 13 months and will be then be deleted 

All Other Information We Collect

There will be times when we collect personal information over the phone, directly (for example when you visit one of our stores), or when it is shared with us by third-parties i.e. overseas postal or courier services, customs agencies or agencies that look after biosecurity and border control. We also use CCTV which we use when you enter our retail stores or use any of our onsite services such as a PO Box mail.

Other Information we may collect from you include, but is not limited to:

  • Your name
  • Postal address
  • Delivery and collection addresses 
  • Fax numbers 
  • Phone number
  • New Zealand Business Number (NZBN)
  • IRD number 
  • e-mail address

This personal information may also include details of the products and services which you have purchased from us, including the date that you purchased these and the nature of any deliveries.

If you provide financial information to us to establish a credit or other account with us to pay the fees we charge, we will collect some additional that is necessary for that service, for example:

  • Your billing address
  • Credit card number, expiration date, name on the card, financial institution account details

Information collected through our website and app

Cookies

A cookie is a file that enables us to store information related to your device as well as you whilst visiting our webpage. We collect cookies because they help us to determine how the frequency of visits on our webpages and they help us tailor your experience when using our website. We may collect non-personal information from you such as browser type, operating system, and web pages visited to help us manage our web site.

Uses and sharing 

The primary reason we collect, use and share your personal information is to enable the delivery of our products and services to you and to conduct analysis to assist the design and improvement of our products and services.

Parcel notifications and service messages

We may contact you periodically to advise you of new or enhanced functionality which is available in connection with our products and services. You will not be obliged to adopt any such functionality. Where your personal information has been previously obtained by us through the course of providing you with our products or services (including when you make a purchase from a merchant who uses our services to deliver your order), we may:

  • Keep and use this information to provide you with service messages (e.g. tracking messaging telling you and merchants where your order is and where and when to expect delivery)
  • In the course of improving our processes, products and services
  • In keeping our people, you and the community safe.

We will only use this information to communicate directly with you where that communication is reasonably expected or necessary (such as to let you know about a delivery or a missed delivery waiting for collection).

Product design, development and improvement

We are always seeking to improve the way our products and services are delivered and developed. We may use your personal information to help us:

  • Conduct market research to ensure we are and continue to meet your needs
  • Providing you with the information, products and services which are relevant and tailored to you

Direct marketing 

From time to time we may use the personal information we collect from you to identify NZ Post products and services which we believe may be of interest to you. We may contact you to let you know about these products and services and how they may benefit you.

You may give us your consent in several ways including by selecting a box on a form where we seek your permission to send you marketing information, or sometimes your consent is implied from your interactions or relationship with us. Where your consent is implied, it is on the basis that you would have a reasonable expectation of receiving a marketing communication based on your interactions or relationship with us.

Direct Marketing generally takes the form of electronic marketing or telemarketing but may also include other less traditional or emerging channels. 

You can ask us to remove or amend any previous consent you provided by directing your request via the channels provided under ‘How to contact us’.

We use your Personal Information in order to perform our services and/or supply our products to you. We also use it to administer and manage those services or products for you, for example:

  • Inform you of ways that our products and/or services provided to you could be improved or let you know about updates, special offers or other promotions to our products or services that we think you might be interested in knowing about
  • Send you a tracking-text message or email to let you know when to expect delivery of your item
  • Update our records to make sure that your contact details are up to date
  • Required by law
  • Keeping you safe, for example CCTV
  • Maintain and develop our business systems and infrastructure, including testing and upgrading of these systems, planning, product or service development, quality control and research purposes
  • Verify your identity

We believe in being transparent in how we collect, store, use and delete personal information we hold about you. In order to provide our products and services we may need to disclose your personal information to third parties, which includes organisations outside of New Zealand for example: when we deliver an intentional parcel for you.

We will only disclose information:

  • With your consent and your consent may be implied, express, written or verbal
  • Required by law
  • As a matter of contractual obligation to the extent of supplying services or products to you
  • Billing and debt-recovery functions
  • Enhance your experience when visiting our website

Third party disclosure

When we temporarily make your personal information available to companies who perform services for us - such as specialist information technology companies, cloud service providers, mail houses or other contractors to New Zealand Post - we require those companies to protect your personal information as diligently as we do. Strict contractual and other quality assurance measures are used to ensure your personal information is protected.

We have a duty to maintain the privacy of all personal information we hold about you. However, certain exceptions apply - for example, where disclosure of your personal information is:

We may also use the information you have provided us for a range of other purposes including:

  • Authorised or required by law (e.g. disclosure to various government agencies such as the Inland Revenue Department, NZ Customs or disclosure to courts under subpoena).
  • In the public interest (e.g. where a crime, fraud or misdemeanour is committed or suspected and disclosure in the circumstances is justified). 
  • With your consent - your consent may be implied or express and may be verbal or written.

Overseas use and disclosure

We may facilitate the transfer personal information to countries outside New Zealand (for example when you send letters or parcels overseas). We will only do so in compliance with all applicable New Zealand privacy laws. Where you engage in interactions with foreign jurisdictions, resulting in delivery of articles within New Zealand, the border to last mile delivery is pursuant to New Zealand Privacy law.

We will take reasonable steps to protect your personal information no matter what country it is stored in or transferred to. We have procedures and data transfer arrangements in place as appropriate to help ensure this.

We use service providers in other countries including the Philippines.

Exceptions

Your right to access your personal information is not absolute. In some circumstances, the law permits us to refuse your request to provide you with access to your personal information. For example, where giving access to your information would have an unreasonable impact on the privacy of other individuals, or would pose a serious threat to the life, health or safety of any individual or to public health or public safety.

Updating your information 

It is inevitable that some personal information which we hold will become out of date. We will take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information which we hold remains accurate and, if you advise us of a change of details, we will amend our records accordingly.

Where your information has been disclosed to a third party, NZ Post will take reasonable steps to notify the third party of the correction.

Where we are unable to update your information, we will provide an explanation in writing as to why the information cannot be corrected.

Loss of personal information

Despite our every effort to protect your personal information, there remains the possibility that a privacy related incident could occur. In the event of loss of personal information NZ Post will:

  • Seek to rapidly identify and secure the breach to prevent any ongoing breaches
  • Assess the nature and severity of the breach including the type of personal information involved and the risk of serious harm to affected individuals
  • Notify the affected individuals directly
  • Follow the Mandatory Breach Notification Process
  • Engage the appropriate authorities where criminal activity is suspected
  • If appropriate, put a notice on our website advising our customers of the breach

Our services are aimed at adults over 18 years of age but in the circumstances where children can access we aim to ensure that our privacy policies are written so that they are easy for any age to understand.

NZ Post is committed to working with our customers to ensure fair resolution of any privacy requests, concerns or compliments.

You can request your personal information at any time by contacting our Privacy Officer at [email protected] or write to us at Private Bag 39990, Wellington Mail Centre, Lower Hutt 5045, New Zealand. We reserve the right to charge you a fee for supplying this information to you.

Accessing your personal information

You can ask us to give you access to your personal information other than where there is an exception at law.
NZ Post will, upon your request, and subject to applicable privacy laws, provide you with access to your personal information that is held by us. However, we ask that you identify, as clearly as possible, the type (or types) of information requested. The Privacy Officer will deal with your request within 20 working days.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may change this Privacy Statement from time to time. If this is required. we will post changes to the Privacy Statement and publish the effective date when this statement is updated. We recommend that you periodically check this page for changes.

The one you are reading now was updated in November 2020.

06 November 2020 update

The Privacy Statement was updated in November 2020 to refresh content in preparation for the upcoming NZ Privacy Act 2020.

Further information on privacy

You can obtain further general information about your privacy rights from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner by:

  • Visiting their web site at www.privacy.org.nz
  • Searching their knowledge base
  • Using their online enquiry form
  • Or calling their contact centre 0800 803 909 (Monday to Friday, 10:00 am to 3:00 pm)

Questions about personal information and privacy?

For questions about your personal information that may be held by NZ Post, you should contact the relevant part of the business. To report a privacy issue please contact our [email protected].