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Privacy Statement

Privacy Statement

Foundation North does not collect a large amount of Personal Information about individuals. However, we recognise that all Personal Information is sensitive, and where we do collect it, we treat it with care and respect, and in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020.

The following statement sets out our practices regarding the collection, use, storage and disclosure of your Personal Information in compliance with the Privacy Act 2020. This statement relates to the collection of Personal Information via our website or any other ways we collect Personal Information, during our interactions with you.

Scope

In this Privacy Statement, the terms ‘we’, ‘us’, and ‘our’ refer to Foundation North and the terms ‘you’ and ‘your’ refer to you as a website user, or applicant.

‘Personal Information’ means any information about an individual that allows an individual to be identified.

GUIDELINES

Collection of Personal Information

In order to conduct our business, we may collect your Personal Information – including your email address, name, phone number and mailing address – in the following circumstances:

  • when you complete forms on our website or elsewhere (including registration forms, application forms and other forms);
  • when you use the conversational AI chatbot;
  • when you create, modify, or use any accounts or registered user facilities available through our website;
  • in the course of receiving questions, comments or other communications from you.

We will usually only collect Personal Information directly from you. We may also collect Personal Information from third parties where it is unreasonable or impractical to collect Personal Information from you directly, where you have authorised collection from such third parties or from publicly available resources.

Cookies and Website Analytics

When you visit our website, we may collect certain information automatically using cookies and similar tracking technologies. Cookies are small text files stored on your device to help us understand how people use our website and to improve the user experience.

We use cookies to:

  • analyse website traffic and usage patterns (e.g., pages visited, time on site)
  • understand how visitors interact with our content
  • improve site performance and functionality
  • remember your preferences for future visits

You can choose to accept or decline cookies through your browser settings. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can modify your browser settings to decline cookies if you prefer. Please note that disabling cookies may affect how our website functions for you.

We may use third-party services (such as Google Analytics) to collect and analyse this information. These services may store data outside of New Zealand. We ensure that any data collected is handled in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020 and is not used to personally identify individuals unless explicitly stated.

Use of Conversational AI Chatbot

Our website includes a conversational AI chatbot designed to help you find information and answer questions about our services. Any information you choose to enter into the chatbot may be recorded for the purpose of improving the accuracy and relevance of responses, monitoring service quality, and ensuring your queries are addressed appropriately.

We do not use the information you provide to the chatbot to train the AI model or for any unrelated purposes. The chatbot does not access or store Personal Information unless you voluntarily provide it. We encourage you to avoid entering sensitive Personal Information into the chatbot.

All data collected through the chatbot is handled in accordance with this Privacy Statement and the Privacy Act 2020.

Information About Children:

We do not knowingly collect Personal Information from children under the age of 16 without parental consent. Where we do collect such information as part of funding applications or projects involving young people, we ensure it is handled with heightened sensitivity and in line with applicable laws.

Use of Personal Information

The Personal Information we collect will be used to provide services you have authorised or requested. We may also use the Personal Information we collect to:

  • assess, fulfil and monitor your organisation’s application for funding;
  • communicate with your organisation in respect of your application;
  • carry out internal research and development, including planning for future funding;
  • prepare communications in respect of funding outcomes and case studies (where possible, we will anonymise Personal Information for this purpose);
  • verify your identity and assist you in case you forget your password or login details;
  • respond to any questions or correspondence from you;
  • manage and improve our website and any related services;
  • provide you with information about a service that you are using (including critical updates and announcements);
  • reduce the need for you to repeatedly enter the same information;
  • customise our website to suit your particular preferences and interests;
  • where you create a message using our website (for the purpose of sending that message to us, or to any other recipient specified by you), send that message;
  • analyse website usage, trends and statistics;
  • with your explicit consent, we may send you information about our services or updates that we think may be of interest to you; or
  • carry out any other use that is authorised by you or is notified to you at the time of collection.

Disclosure of Personal Information

We may need to disclose your Personal Information in order to meet the purposes set out above. We will not disclose your Personal Information except in accordance with this Privacy Statement and the Privacy Act 2020.

We may disclose your personal information to:

  • any third party you have authorised us to share your Personal Information with, or we have notified you that we may share your Personal Information with and you have not objected;
  • government or law enforcement agencies, where we believe that it is reasonably necessary to assist with the maintenance of the law;
  • appropriate third parties where necessary to protect your safety or the safety of others;
  • suppliers of outsourced functions such as our auditors, lawyers or data storage providers;
  • our stakeholders, such as community groups, charitable trusts or our trustees, for the purpose of assessing, fulfilling or monitoring funding applications or otherwise managing our business; or
  • any other agency where required or permitted by law.

We do not sell or rent your Personal Information to third parties.

Email Communications

You have the right to unsubscribe from our publications and newsletter at any time by clicking the ‘unsubscribe’ link in any email communication received. Once you have unsubscribed you will be removed from our mailing list as soon as is reasonably practicable.

Third Party Websites

Our website may contain hyperlinks to third party websites. We are not responsible for the content of such websites, or the manner in which those websites collect, store, use, and disclose any Personal Information you provide. When visiting a third-party website from hyperlinks displayed on our website, we encourage you to review the privacy statements of those websites so that you can understand how the Personal Information you provide will be collected, stored, used and disclosed.

Storage of Personal Information

Your Personal Information is held by Foundation North, 50 Ponsonby Road, Ponsonby, Auckland 1011.

While our website is hosted on servers within New Zealand, Personal Information may be stored in cloud services, which could include storage outside New Zealand. In such cases, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020.

We will not retain your Personal Information for any longer than we have a lawful purpose to use it.

Security

Whether your Personal Information is stored by us locally or with our data storage providers, we take all reasonable steps to ensure that it’s protected against loss, misuse and unauthorised access, use, modification, or disclosure.

We believe that privacy is everyone’s responsibility. Our employees have been trained to understand the Privacy Act 2020 and we all adhere to a number of policies and practices designed to ensure that your Personal Information is safe and secure. For example, we:

  • expect our employees to access and use Personal Information only for legitimate work purposes;
  • have clear policies in place to manage the transmission of Personal Information and the use of portable devices, such as smartphones and tablets;
  • ensure that all hardware we use is password protected and enabled with an auto lock function; and
  • have a clear procedure for responding to and managing any data breaches that affect the Personal Information we hold. In the unlikely event of a data breach that poses a risk of harm, we will notify the Office of the Privacy Commissioner and affected individuals, in line with our obligations under the Privacy Act 2020;
  • we will never input your Personal Information into public AI tools or platforms that retain user data for training or other purposes.

Right to access and correct your Personal Information

You have the right to access or correct any Personal Information Foundation North holds about you. You can do so by:

Whichever way you make your request, we must take steps to ensure that you’re authorised to do so. Please understand that we must do this in order to protect your privacy.

The Privacy Act permits us to withhold Personal Information from you in certain circumstances, such as where the information is commercially sensitive or legally privileged. We might also refuse to provide you with information that is also about other people if we think this would be unwarranted. If we withhold information from you, we’ll tell you why.

We’re required by the Privacy Act 2020 to make a decision on your request – and convey this to you – within 20 working days. Where we cannot make a decision within 20 working days, we’ll let you know and explain why.

Questions or Complaints

If you have a concern about the way we’ve handled your Personal Information, let us know. You can speak with our Privacy Officer using the contact details set out above and we’ll try to resolve your concerns.

If we can’t resolve your complaint for you, then you have the right to make a complaint to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner by:

  • completing an online complaint form at www.privacy.org.nz; or
  • writing to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, PO Box 10-094, The Terrace, Wellington 6143.

Click here for a full copy of our Privacy Statement.

Changes to our Privacy Statement

From time to time, we may change this Privacy Statement, to reflect the evolution of our business or changes in the law. Please check the Privacy Statement periodically for changes. Your continued use of our website or services following the posting of any changes to the Privacy Statement indicates your acceptance of those changes.

This Privacy Statement was last updated in April 2025.

Other Terms

Your use of our website is subject to our Terms and Conditions available on our website. We may also make reference to the use or disclosure of Personal Information in other forms or during your interactions with us.