Whakatāne District Council is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. This Privacy Policy governs the collection, use and disclosure of your personal data by us in connection with this website and Council social media channels ('our websites'). It has been prepared in accordance with our obligations and your rights set out in the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020.
Whakatāne District Council reserves the right to modify or amend this policy at any time and for any reason. By using this website, you consent to Whakatāne District Council's use of your personal data in accordance with this Privacy Policy (as amended from time to time).
What kind of personal data we collect
Whakatāne District Council collects only the personal data you provide Whakatāne District Council (including your name, email address, and contact telephone numbers). Whakatāne District Council may also keep a record of any information that you acquire from Whakatāne District Council.
Where we collect personal data from
Whakatāne District Council collects personal data from the following sources:
- By you contacting us enquiring about information on Whakatāne District, Whakatāne District Council, Council services or anything on this website
- Directly from you when you register and request Whakatāne District Council to supply you with information or services in connection with this website
- By you conducting transactions through the website
- Indirectly through your use of this website and the services and functionality offered through it
How we use your personal data
Whakatāne District Council uses your personal data for the following purposes:
- Replying to your queries
- Processing your application for registration for use of Whakatāne District Council services or to gain access to information on this website made available only to registered users
- Providing you with information about Whakatāne District, Whakatāne District Council and Council services
- Providing you with services
- Complying with relevant legislation and regulations
- Any specific purpose which Whakatāne District Council notifies you of at the time personal data is collected
- Processing transactions that you may conduct through the website
Whakatāne District Council may disclose information about you (including your identity) to a third party if the Council is requested to do so in the course of a criminal or other legal investigation, or if the Council determines that disclosure is necessary in connection with any complaint regarding your use of this website.
How we store personal data
Whakatāne District Council stores personal data electronically and in paper form. The personal data is kept safe and secure using generally accepted standards of security.
How you can access/amend your personal data
You may access your personal data that Whakatāne District Council holds by emailing us at information@whakatane.govt.nz. Whakatāne District Council will provide you with a copy of the personal data Whakatāne District Council keeps about you.
You may request that the personal data Whakatāne District Council holds about you be corrected by emailing us at information@whakatane.govt.nz. If Whakatāne District Council agrees that your personal data is to be corrected, we will provide you with an amended record.
How long we hold personal data
Whakatāne District Council will keep your personal data only for as long as necessary to achieve the purpose for which it was collected.
Website use of cookies
When we provide services, we want to make them easy, useful and reliable. Where services are delivered on the internet, this sometimes involves placing small amounts of information on your device (for example, your computer or mobile phone). These include small files known as cookies. They cannot be used to identify you personally. These pieces of information are used to improve services for you.
There are two types of cookie you may encounter when using this site :
- First party cookies: these are our own cookies, controlled by us and used to provide information about usage of our site.
- Third party cookies: these are cookies found in other companies’ internet tools which we are using to enhance our site.
First party cookies
This site uses cookies in several places – we’ve listed each of them below with more details about why we use them and how long they will last.
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| _ga | Provides data about a user session to Google Analytics. This includes such data as time on site, operating system and device used, pages visited, IP address and location. No personal information is disclosed at any time. | 48 hours |
| _gat | Provides additional data about a user session to Google Analytics. No personal information is disclosed at any time. | 10 minutes |
| respimg | Helps handle refactoring the layout if you are browsing on a tablet or mobile device. | 24 hours |
| respimg_ratio | Helps handle refactoring the layout if you are browsing on a tablet or mobile device. | 24 hours |
| has_js | This cookie is set by the webserver when it checks to see whether JavaScript is turned on. The website makes extensive use of modern JavaScript libraries for the core user interface. | End of website session |
Some third-party tools used on this website, such as Google Maps, may set additional cookies. Whakatāne District Council has no control over cookies set by third parties and assumes no responsibility for them.
How to refuse or delete cookies
You may refuse the use of cookies and delete any cookies that are already stored on your computer by selecting the appropriate settings in your browser. However, if you select this setting you may be unable to access certain parts of our site. Unless you have adjusted your browser setting so that it will refuse cookies, our system will issue cookies when you visit our site.
Instructions on how to delete and refuse cookies for various web browsers are available at allaboutcookies.org. This is not part of our website, and Whakatāne District Council is not responsible for its content.
Newsletter subscriptions
When you subscribe to our newsletters, we will only use your personal information for managing your subscription and assessing newsletter effectiveness. You can unsubscribe from any newsletter at any time.
Our newsletters are managed using a third-party tool called Campaign Monitor.
Campaign Monitor provides analytics on how people interact with our newsletters (eg, how many subscribers have opened emails or clicked on links). This means that Whakatāne District Council and Campaign Monitor will be able to see your name, email and details about which links in our newsletters you have clicked on.
We only use this information to assess newsletter effectiveness.
Find out more
If you have any queries about this Privacy Policy or personal data Whakatāne District Council has collected, please contact us on 07 306 0500 or email information@whakatane.govt.nz.