Smart Christchurch privacy statement

Last updated 25 June 2019.

Your privacy is important to us. Christchurch City Council (referred to in this Privacy Statement as the Council, we, our or us) provides the Smart Christchurch website. We have created the following Privacy Statement to ensure you understand how and why we collect and store your personal information and what we will use it for, and who we can share it with. The terms used in this Privacy Statement have the same meaning as the terms used in the Smart Christchurch Terms of Use.

We take our obligations under the Privacy Act 1993 (the Privacy Act) and the privacy principles therein seriously. This Privacy Statement has been prepared in accordance with our obligations and your rights set out in the Privacy Act. Note that where specific laws govern our obligations about personal information, we have to apply those. Personal information is collected, held and used in accordance with the principles set out in the Privacy Act. In particular, we will:

  • use personal information only for the purpose for which it is collected;
  • retain personal information only for as long as is necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected; and
  • release personal information to a third party only when required to or permitted to by law, if you have authorised the release or where disclosure is related to the purpose for which the information was collected.

This Privacy Statement only applies to personal and other information collected through or in connection with your use of the Smart Christchurch website, and does not apply to any of our other websites or online services (which may have their own privacy policies).

To ensure we keep up with changes to our business, the Council may update this Privacy Statement occasionally. We will keep an updated version of this Privacy Statement on the Smart Christchurch website. You should check this Privacy Statement from time to time to check for any amendments. If you continue to use the Smart Christchurch website after the amendment, you will be considered to have accepted the amended Privacy Statement.

What personal information does the Council collect?

We need to collect personal information for a number of reasons. This information may include your name, image, mailing address, email address, telephone number, contact preference, and other information where these are relevant to any of our interactions with you, including responding to your requests for information or providing you with our services and/or use of the Smart Christchurch website. 

We may also collect personal information in relation to a service we provide, your communication with us, or how you interact with us. Your personal information will be collected from you or anyone you authorise to provide us with your personal information.

When we collect personal information

  1. When you or someone acting on your behalf provides information to us directly. For example, when you:
    • Communicate with us in person, by letter, phone or electronically. 
    • Complete and submit forms or applications, including (but not limited to) submissions made via the 'Contact us' page, or applications to be a potential exhibitor or sponsor for the Innovation Events.
    • Subscribe to any services available on or through the Smart Christchurch website, including newsletters, or news/service updates about current Smart Christchurch projects and initiatives.
    • Submit a written submission, request, challenges (for which innovative solutions are being sought), solutions (to the challenges), or other feedback.
    • Follow or post comments in response to our social media or other online communications.
    • Create a profile on the Innovation Hub, which provides access to additional functions such as the ability to update and or edit your posts. Any such updates or edits to your posts will be reviewed by us prior to being published.
  2. We may keep a record of any information you acquire from us.
  3. We may also obtain personal information from third parties with your consent, and where permitted by law. For example, feedback about the Smart Christchurch website, responses to challenges and solutions, or responses to your queries or requests on the ‘Contact us’ page, which requires us to seek feedback from third parties.
  4. When you visit the Smart Christchurch website, we may use technology solutions such as cookies to provide you with better access to tailored information and services on the websites and to better serve you when you return to them. A cookie is a small data file that a website or app sends to your device, which may be stored for later retrieval by the website or app. Some cookies we use last only for the duration of your website or app session and expire when you close your browser or exit the app. Other cookies are used to remember you when you return and will last longer.
  5. We use Google Analytics and Acquia Web Governance (services that provide aggregated reports on website activity) to further understand how some of our services may be improved. These services rely on the use of cookies. For details on what information is collected via the use of cookies, and how it is stored and used, see Google’s privacy policy or Acquia Web Governance's privacy policy.
  6. We use Google reCAPTCHA on the Smart Christchurch website. This service is provided by Google Inc. reCAPTCHA is used to check whether the data entered on the Smart Christchurch website (such as on a contact form) has been entered by a human or by an automated program. This analysis happens as soon as you visit the website, and occurs completely in the background. You will not be advised that this is taking place. For more information about Google reCAPTCHA and Google's privacy policy, see Google’s privacy policy and Google reCAPTCHA.
  7. Non-personalised statistics. We may use non-personalised statistics to monitor site traffic, to analyse trends, to gather demographic information about our user base as a whole, to improve our services and to improve user experience. These anonymised and/or amalgamated statistics do not comprise personal information.

How we use personal information

The personal information we collect from you, or someone acting on your behalf, may be used for any of the following purposes:

  • To provide you with services – including those you have requested and those our related organisations provide to you.
  • To confirm your identity – this is to ensure we provide you with appropriate and relevant services and information, and to avoid inappropriate release or use of your information.
  • To process any forms or applications, including (but not limited to) submissions made via the 'Contact us' page, applications to be a potential exhibitor or sponsor for the Innovation Events, submissions made for challenges and/or submissions made for solutions, or any other feedback.
  • To process your application to use or register for any of our services, including our online services and to provide you with the services you have applied or subscribed to use, including (but not limited to) newsletters, or news/service updates about current Smart Christchurch projects and initiatives.
  • To respond to your correspondence, requests, enquiries, submissions to challenges and solutions, feedback, or for Smart Christchurch-related activities.
  • To update any information that we currently hold about you, or in connection with you, in our existing records, database or systems.
  • To assist us in analysing, further developing and improving our products and services.
  • To comply with relevant laws and regulations. 
  • For any specific purpose that we notify you of at the time your personal information is collected.
  • To provide you with information about our (or our related organisations') events, news, services, or facilities that we consider may be of interest to you.
  • For general administrative and business purposes and to carry out activities connected with the running of our business or operations, such as testing and maintenance of computer and other systems.

Sharing your information

We may disclose personal information about you to: 

  • Any person engaged by us to provide products or services to you on our behalf, where your personal information is necessary for the provision of those products or services.
  • Our related organisations, in order to assist with the functions and services they provide.
  • A third party, if we are required to do so under laws or regulations, or in the course of legal proceedings or other investigations.
  • Any person we may notify you of at the time we collect your information, and any person you authorise us to disclose your personal information to.
  • You acknowledge that some information we hold about you or in relation to you may be intended to be made available to the public, such as:
    • information you have submitted to be a potential exhibitor or sponsor for the Innovation events
    • submissions made for challenges
    • submissions made for solutions
    • any other feedback or information provided by you in your interaction with the Smart Christchurch website

How long we hold personal information

We may retain personal information we collect (on both our active systems and our archives) for as long as required by law and/or is required for the purposes for which the information may lawfully be used.

The Public Records Act 2005 requires us to retain protected records indefinitely. In some circumstances, your personal information may be included within a protected record.

What if you do not provide us with the personal information requested?

If you do not provide us with all of the personal information about you that we request from you, we may not be able to adequately respond to your correspondence, process any applications or submissions you have made, provide the services you have requested or registered for, or otherwise deal with any of your requests or enquiries. Please note that in some circumstances, you are legally obligated to provide information, and we are fulfilling a statutory requirement.

How we store your information

Your information that is collected and retained by us may be stored by us or by our service providers on our behalf. We have entered into appropriate arrangements requiring our hosting provider to keep the hosted information secure and confidential. Where we store the information itself, we have implemented reasonable measures designed to keep your information safe and secure.

Contacting us

You may inquire about, and seek access to, personal information we hold about you that can be readily retrieved by contacting us – you can contact the Council at www.ccc.govt.nz/contact-us.

You may request that the personal information we hold about you be corrected by contacting the Council. If we do not agree to your request for correction, you may then request that we take reasonable steps to attach to the information a statement of the correction sought but not made.

Questions or complaints

If you feel we have breached any of the principles set out in the Privacy Act or have a privacy issue you wish to discuss, please contact us using the following details:

Website: ccc.govt.nz/contact-us
Email: privacy@ccc.govt.nz
Phone: 03 941 8999

If you think that the Council has breached the Privacy Act and has not addressed your concerns to your satisfaction, or if you would like to find out more about the Council’s obligations, you can contact the Privacy Commissioner's privacy hotline 0800 803 909.