What information do we collect?

We may collect personal information about you when you use the website. This includes:

• Information you give us.  We may collect information you give us such as your contact information (like your name or email address), information you upload to the website (like responses or feedback), or information you send us (like any questions you have).
• Information we collect automatically. We may automatically collect information about you when you use the website (for example, the pages you click on, how and when you navigate around the website, and your IP address). We may collect information about you through cookies (small text files stored on your device via your browser), which we anonymise so you can’t be identified. Most browsers also allow you to disable cookies (although this may limit your ability to use the website).
• Information we receive from third parties. We may collect personal information about you from third parties with your permission or in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020.

How do we use your information?

We may use your personal information to:

• Inform decision-making and design of the programme. For example, we may use your feedback and responses to surveys to help us to identify a preferred solution for the programme.
• Create and publish anonymous insights about the programme, the website and users. For example, we may gather statistics or publish data on a map about where users think improvements are needed. We may also publish comments and feedback in an anonymised form. Anything we publish will not include personal information unless you have given permission for this.
• Help you with our website.  For example, we may use your information to help you use the website, and to respond to any issues or questions you have.
• Help provide and improve the website. This includes to help us to upgrade, optimise, personalise or improve the website, to understand our users, and for research and development (including through our use of analytics and aggregated insights).
• Present your personal information to other users, with your permission. For example, we may present information about your responses to surveys to others if you have chosen to share this information.
• Comply with law, protect our users and exercise our rights. This may include using your personal information to help us comply with applicable laws (in New Zealand or overseas), to prevent fraud, security intrusions or misuse of the website, to protect our users, and to exercise and enforce our contractual or other legal rights.
• Send you promotional material or updates. This may include telling you about any competitions, promotions or updates connected with the programme or the website, and for the purpose of sending you advertising. However, we only want to contact you if you want to hear from us. You can opt out of receiving promotional information at any time, although we may still send you information relating to your relationship with us or use of the website.

Who can we share your information with?

We may share your personal information:

• With our partners. We may disclose your information to the partner organisations involved in the programme (Hutt City Council and Greater Wellington Regional Council, Waka Kotahi - NZ Transport Agency) for any of the purposes described above.
• With our agents. We may disclose your information to our professional advisors or others who have a reasonable need to access your information for any of the purposes described above.
• With our service providers. We may disclose your information to, for example, our contractors or third parties that help us provide the website or engagement and research activities (who may be based in New Zealand or overseas).
• With others to facilitate legal processes, to protect our users, and to exercise our legal rights. We may disclose your personal information to others if we reasonably believe disclosure is appropriate in order to comply with law, for law enforcement purposes (including to government agencies with statutory law enforcement responsibilities), to facilitate court proceedings, to enforce or apply our terms and conditions, or to protect our business, our users, or others.
• Where authorised by you or otherwise permitted. We may disclose your personal information to third parties as instructed by you or where otherwise permitted by the Privacy Act 2020.

When we share your personal information with a third party, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that the third party will protect your personal information at a level equivalent to us.

How do we store and protect your information?

We care about the security of your personal information and will take reasonable steps to keep your personal information safe. In particular:

• Safeguards: We will use reasonable safeguards to protect your personal information from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure, and from misuse, interference or loss.
• Limited use: Unless we need to keep your information to comply with laws, we will only hold your personal information for as long as we reasonably need it based on the purposes for which it was collected.

What other things are important?

There are some other things it’s important you understand:

• You can request access to, or correction of, your information. The Privacy Act 2020 allows you to ask what personal information we hold about you, to get a copy of that information, and/or to request corrections to that information. If you would like to do any of these things, or if you have any questions or suggestions about this privacy policy, please contact us at riverlink@gw.govt.nz. If you have any concerns about how we are using your personal information, you’re able to contact the Privacy Commissioner.
• We can update this policy. From time to time we may update this privacy policy by publishing a new version of the policy on one or more of our platforms. Each new version of this policy will be effective from the date of publication, and you should check this page regularly to ensure you remain familiar with our current policy.
• New Zealand law applies to this policy. New Zealand law applies to this privacy policy and the courts of New Zealand have non-exclusive jurisdiction.

What do the terms in this policy mean?

In this privacy policy:

• “personal information” means information about an identifiable individual (as defined in the Privacy Act 2020), including you;
• “programme” means the RiverLink Project, a joint initiative that is working with the people of Lower Hutt to support their aspirations for how their city looks, feels and functions while making it easier and safer for people to get around. It’s also about making sure people can get to regional services and facilities, including the hospital, port, and airport.
• “you” and “your” refers to an individual who uses one of our platforms; and
• “we”, “us”, and “our” refers to RiverLink.