Personal information we collect
We collect personal information when you interact with us or use our services.
This may include:
- your name and contact details
- information you provide in forms, emails, or phone calls
- details of your interactions with us
- information needed to provide a service or respond to you.
We usually collect this information directly from you. In some cases, we may collect it from other sources where allowed.
Sometimes we collect personal information about you from other organisations or people, rather than directly from you.
This may include information from:
- other government agencies
- organisations we work with
- service providers.
We do this to help us provide services, carry out our functions, and meet our legal obligations.
If we receive personal information from you or other organisations, but you choose not to access our services, the information we hold may still be used for statistical and reporting purposes.
If personal information is to be published, it will be done in a form where you could not reasonably expect to be identified (such as aggregated information).
Where required, we will take reasonable steps to let you know as soon as practicable:
- that we have collected your information
- why we collected it
- how we will use it
- who we may share it with.
In some cases, we may not notify you, for example if doing so is not practical or could affect certain activities required by law.
How we will use personal information
We generally only use your personal information for the purpose it was collected. We may also use your personal information for other lawful purposes where we are allowed or required to do so.
We use it to:
- respond to your enquiries
- process requests or applications
- deliver and improve our services
- meet our legal obligations.
These include:
- meeting our responsibilities under the National Civil Defence Emergency Management Plan Order 2015, including coordination of the provision of temporary accommodation for displaced people following an emergency event, including a natural disaster
- administering Temporary Accommodation Service functions, including the matching and placement of displaced people in available temporary accommodation, provision of temporary accommodation, decisions regarding payment amounts for temporary accommodation, collection of payment for temporary accommodation, and decisions regarding eligibility for – and provision of – financial assistance for private rental accommodation
- the enforcement of our legal rights
- improvements to our services.
Providing your personal information is usually voluntary. However, in some cases, we may need certain information to provide a service or meet our legal obligations.
If you choose not to provide the information we need, we may not be able to provide a service or respond to you.
Use of AI and personal information
We use Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools in some of our services to help improve how we work and the services we provide. This may involve processing your personal information.
We use these tools in a way that protects your privacy and ensures your information is handled safely. We also make sure there is appropriate human oversight when using AI, as outlined in the Public Service AI Framework.
Public Service AI Framework [PDF, 242 KB](external link) — Digital.govt.nz
AI tools and use cases are risk-assessed.
When we will disclose personal information
We only share your personal information when you have agreed, or when it is necessary to provide a service or respond to you.
We may also share your information where required or allowed by law, including under the Privacy Act 2020 or other legislation.
This may include sharing information with other agencies with responsibilities to provide assistance and services following an emergency event, such as:
- The Ministry of Social Development
- Civil Defence Emergency Management groups
- Kāinga Ora - Homes and Communities
- The Ministry of Education
- The Ministry of Health
- New Zealand Defence Force
- Te Puni Kōkiri
- The Salvation Army
- The New Zealand Red Cross
- New Zealand Police
- Local councils in areas affected by emergency events.
This may also include sharing information with organisations we work with, or service providers who support our work. These include but are not limited to:
- property managers
- accommodation providers
- other service providers (for example, transport and power / gas connection in the case of portable cabins).
We may also be required to disclose information under the Official Information Act 1982 or to a Parliamentary Select Committee or Parliament in response to a Parliamentary Question.
Your rights to access and correct your information
You have the right to:
- ask whether we hold personal information about you
- request access to your personal information
- request that we correct your information if it is wrong.
We may need to confirm your identity before we can provide access to your information. We respond to requests in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020 and aim to do so as is reasonably practicable.
If we do not agree to make a correction, you can ask us to attach a statement of the correction you requested.
To request access to or correction of your personal information, please contact us using the details below:
Privacy Officer
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
PO Box 5488
Wellington 6011
New Zealand
Complaints
You can find more information about how to raise a complaint here:
We aim to provide excellent service. If you are not satisfied with our service, processes, or decisions, you can use our complaints process.
If you are not satisfied with our response, you can contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner. If you choose to raise your complaint with an external body or regulator, such as the Ombudsman or the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, we may share your information with them to support their enquiries.
Privacy Commissioner(external link)
How we keep your personal information secure
We take steps to protect your personal information from loss, misuse, or unauthorised access.
Your information is held by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and may be stored or accessed by trusted third-party providers who support our services. This includes cloud service providers, some of which may be located outside New Zealand. We require these providers to meet our information security and privacy requirements.
We use security measures such as monitoring, logging, and auditing to help protect our systems and information. We may also use information about how our systems are used to help detect and prevent unauthorised access or security risks.
Records and retention of personal information
We will only retain personal information as long as it is required for the purposes for which the information may lawfully be used.
Where any information provided (which may include personal information) constitute public records, these will be retained to the extent required by the Public Records Act 2005.
Information we collect about website use
When you use our website, we may collect information about how you use it. This information helps us understand how the website is used so we can improve it.
This information does not identify you personally. It is combined with information from other users to provide overall statistics.
We use tools such as Google Analytics to collect this information. It may be accessed by authorised MBIE staff and trusted service providers and may be shared with other government agencies.
This information may include:
- the pages you visit and links you click
- the date and time of your visit
- how you reached our website (for example, from a search engine or another website)
- your device type, browser, and operating system
- general location information based on your IP address
- search terms you use on our website.
Cookies
We use cookies to collect information about how you use our website.
Cookies are small text files stored on your device that help us:
- understand how our website is used
- improve how it works
- remember your preferences (such as notifications you’ve seen).
You can disable cookies at any time through your browser settings. Disabling cookies will not affect your ability to use this website.
For more information, see Google’s privacy information at the Google Safety Center.
Google Safety Center(external link) — Google
