The purpose of this privacy statement is to let users of business.govt.nz know when we collect personal information and what we do with it. We do not use, share or disclose personal information collected or received through this website except as set out in this statement.
Your personal information
You can use business.govt.nz without disclosing any personal information. You can also choose to set up a business.govt.nz account which will let you:
- save your progress and results in the Climate Action Toolbox so that you can return later and continue where you left off
- register for training and events
- receive information tailored to you through newsletters and alerts.
You will not be able to register for training or events if you do not have a business.govt.nz account. When you register for an event not run by business.govt.nz, we may direct you to an external registration page which will have its own privacy policy.
Saving information to your business.govt.nz account
With a business.govt.nz account, you can save your progress and results in the Climate Action Toolbox so that you can return later and continue where you left off.
Voluntary disclosure of personal information
You may choose to voluntarily provide personal information through this website – for example, in comments, questions, registration or feedback. This information will be viewable by:
- site administrators
- MBIE staff, as appropriate
- third-party contractors who administer or work on the site.
Electronic alerts and newsletters
When you subscribe to one of our alerts or newsletters, we store the details you provide in a secure third-party database in the Ubiquity marketing automation platform. We will ask you to provide your name and email address so we can send you future electronic alerts and newsletters. When you unsubscribe from an alert or newsletter, your subscription status is automatically updated and we will no longer send you any more alerts or newsletters.
Privacy Policy — Ubiquity
Collection of personal information
We may ask or require you (including where required by legislation administered by MBIE) to provide some personal information when you complete an online form, for example, by submitting information through an online service.
Holding information
When you provide personal information, it will be held by us. It may be stored or accessed on behalf of us by authorised third parties (such as third-party contractors) to the extent that is necessary, for example to administer or work on the site. We will store and keep it secure in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020. Any third parties will be subject to our information security and privacy requirements.
Privacy Act 2020 — New Zealand Legislation
Disclosure of information
We will generally not share personal information provided or collected through this website, unless it is necessary to do so for the purpose for which you gave us the information, for example:
- to investigate a complaint, or
- where you give consent for the information to be shared.
We will not otherwise disclose personal information provided or collected through this website unless required or otherwise permitted by law.
Use of personal information
We may use personal information provided to us through this website or our contact centre for other reasons permitted under the Privacy Act 2020 (for example, with your consent, for a directly related purpose, or where the law permits it).
Privacy Act 2020 — New Zealand Legislation
Records and retention of personal information
We will only retain personal information as long as it is required for the purposes for which it may lawfully be used.
Public records
Where any information (including personal information) provided to or through this site constitute public records, it will be retained to the extent required by the Public Records Act 2005. We may also be required to disclose information:
- under the Official Information Act 1982
- to a Parliamentary Select Committee or Parliament in response to a Parliamentary Question.
Security
MBIE websites have security measures in place to prevent the loss, misuse and alteration of information under our control. To maintain the cyber security of MBIE systems and information, MBIE systems are subject to ongoing monitoring. This includes 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. We may utilise services from one or more third-party suppliers to monitor or maintain the cyber security of our systems and information.
These third-party suppliers will have access to:
- monitoring and logging information
- information processed on our websites and other IT systems.
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 identify how we can provide you with better service.
We record calls:
- for staff training purposes (this helps us improve the quality of our customer service and ensure the information we provide is consistent and accurate)
- so that we can find ways to simplify our service to you
- 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 two years and destroy them after this period.
Rights of access and correction
You have the right to:
- find out from us if we hold personal information about you
- access that information, and
- request corrections to that information.
If we have a good reason for refusing a request for correction, you can ask that a statement be attached to the information, noting that a correction was sought but not made.
If you want to check the personal information that we hold, access it and/or request the correction of it, you can:
- visit our Contact us webpage to find out how to get in touch
- write to us at:
Privacy Officer
Companies Office
Northern Business Centre
Private Bag 92061
Victoria Street West
Auckland 1142
For more information on privacy laws in New Zealand and contact details for the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, visit the Office of the Privacy Commissioner website.
business.govt.nz tools
Climate Action Toolbox
The Climate Action Toolbox requires you to select answers to several questions before showing your results. The completion of the tool can take some time, and you may want to save your progress and return later to complete it. To do this, you have to save your results.
To save results and come back later, you need to have a business.govt.nz account. You can also choose to subscribe to updates about the Climate Action Tool, and to the business.govt.nz newsletter.
Cash Flow Forecaster
The Cash Flow Forecaster requires you to enter financial information about your business before it will display your cash flow forecasts. You can save the information by exporting it in CSV or XLS format for your records.
Compliance Matters
The Compliance Matters tool requires you to provide an email address to be sent a PDF of the action list. Business.govt.nz does not collect or store these email addresses, unless you subscribe to our newsletter.
We collect statistics on the items added to saved lists. This information is anonymised and cannot be traced back to an email address used to export a saved list.
Employee Cost Calculator
The Employee Cost Calculator tool requires you to provide an email address to email the calculation results. Business.govt.nz does not collect or store these email addresses.
Self-assessment tools
You can email yourself the results of your assessments. We do not store your email address, unless you subscribe to our newsletters.
Employment Agreement Builder
The Employment Agreement Builder (EAB) tool requires you to send your completed agreement(s) to an email address. You will also be asked for an email address if you start an employment agreement and intend to finish it at a later date. Your email address is stored alongside your draft agreement until either the draft expires, or you complete the agreement. Stored email addresses are only accessible by a system administrator and used to resolve issues where a user has not received an email sent to them.
Your email address will be deleted when you complete your employment agreement, unless you subscribe to receive our newsletters.
All private information such as names and email addresses are deleted when the agreement is completed, or if a draft agreement is not reopened within 90 days.
Workplace Policy Builder
The Workplace Policy Builder (WPB) tool requires you to send your completed workplace policy to a secure email address. You will also be asked for an email address if you start a workplace policy and intend to finish it at a later date. These email addresses are stored within the WPB tool and used to send you a link to return to your draft policy. Stored email addresses are only accessible by a system administrator and used to resolve issues where a user has not received an email sent to them.
The tool will store this email address until the workplace policy has been completed. Once you complete your workplace policy, your email address will be deleted from the tool and business.govt.nz. These email addresses will not be used for marketing purposes unless you opt-in to receive marketing emails.
In the event that you do not complete your workplace policy you will have to retype these fields when you return to your draft workplace policy. Any draft workplace policy not reopened in 90 days will be deleted, along with your email address.
Once you have completed your workplace policy, all information will be deleted from the tool and business.govt.nz.
ONECheck
The ONECheck tool requires you to enter a business name to see if that business name, and related web domains, trade marks and social media usernames are available.
ONECheck uses Application Programming Interfaces (API) via a Domain Search company called Whoxy to see if a domain name is available for purchase. ONECheck uses MBIE’s APIs to search the New Zealand Companies Office, New Zealand Business Number (NZBN) and Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand’s (IPONZ) for information.
ONECheck also uses the API services of the following social media platforms; Meta, Google, YouTube and X for information such as usernames and channel names. By using ONECheck, users acknowledge and agree to be bound by all API terms of service of these social media platforms.
ONECheck does not access, collect, or process any personal or private user data from social media accounts. ONECheck does not store or retain social media account data beyond the duration necessary to deliver the service during an active user session. No long-term storage or archival of social media API data occurs. ONECheck does not disclose, share, or transmit social media API data to any third parties.