Introduction
Point Home Loans Ltd (“we”, ”us” and “our”), acting through a Financial Adviser, Janet Harris, complies with the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020 (the Act) when dealing with personal information. Personal information is information about an identifiable individual (a natural person). This policy sets out how we will collect, use, disclose and protect your personal information.
Changes to our Privacy Policy
We may change this policy by uploading a revised policy onto the website. The change will apply from the date that we upload the revised policy. By continuing to engage us, or to use our website, you will be deemed to have accepted the updated Privacy Policy.
Your authorisation
By providing us with personal information, engaging us to provide you with services, or by using our website, you consent to the collection, use, storage and disclosure of personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
What is personal information?
Personal information is information that identifies, or is capable of identifying, you. It includes (but is not limited to) name, address, contact details, date of birth, account details and occupation.
If you engage us to provide services to you, we may collect personal information about your financial situation and/or goals in order to recommend mortgage or loan products that we are permitted to advise on (Products).
You are not required to provide any personal information to us. However, if you choose not to provide certain information that is requested, we may not be able to provide our services to you, or perform our legal obligations (including in relation to anti-money laundering and counter-finance of terrorism legislation).
In most circumstances it will be necessary for us to identify you in order to successfully do business with you.
How we use your personal information
We only collect your personal information to conduct our business, and to provide you with our services (if you are a client), or for the purposes of relevant third parties’ services (refer to the section below, “Disclosing your personal information”). We will use your personal information:
- To verify your identity
- To respond to your requests or inquiries
- To provide services and products to you
- To market our services and products to you, including contacting you electronically (e.g. by call, text or email for this purpose)
- To improve the services and products that we provide to you
- To respond to communications from you, including a complaint
- To protect and/or enforce our legal rights and interests, including defending any claim
- For any other purpose authorised by you or the Act.
If you do not wish to receive marketing information, you may ‘opt out’ at any time by notifying us.
Disclosing your personal information
We may disclose your personal information to:
- Product Providers and other prospective lenders, third parties or other intermediaries (such as your lawyer or accountant) in relation to your finance requirements;
- A company or individual who may assist us in providing services, or perform functions on our behalf, such as specialist consultants, administrators and legal advisers;
- Anyone who we are legally required or authorised to share your information with, including regulators and government agencies;
- Financial advisers and financial advice providers who may use our services;
- Other companies or individuals who perform checks (such as, but not limited to, compliance reviews and audits) that are necessary or desirable under law on our behalf;
- Other companies, agencies or individuals that maintain databases against which your identity may be verified, which may include (but is not limited to) the New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs, and New Zealand Transport Agency;
- Courts, tribunals and regulatory authorities (such as the Financial Markets Authority, and Ministry of Justice in New Zealand);
- Office of the Ombudsman, where a complaint relates to official information;
- Any person or agency we believe could assist in responding to a serious privacy breach.
- Office of the New Zealand Privacy Commissioner, where a complaint relates to breach of the Privacy Act 2020;
- Human Rights Commission, where a complaint relates to discrimination;
- CERT NZ, where appropriate to assist with the management of a voluntarily notified privacy breach
- Overseas privacy regulator, where a complaint relates to the actions of an overseas agency; and
- Anyone else to whom you authorise us to disclose it.
Except as described above, we will not disclose your personal information without your written or verbal consent, unless we are required to do so by applicable law.
Protecting your personal information
We will take reasonable steps to keep your personal information safe from loss, unauthorised activity, or other misuse. Our software is subject to audits to ensure it is continuing to meet security requirements. All data handled in our software is encrypted in transit and during storage and can only be accessed over secure network connections.
Storing your 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. All data stored online is backed up and can be retrieved in the event of data loss or corruption.
Accessing and correcting your personal information
Subject to certain grounds for refusal set out in the Act, you have the right to access your readily retrievable personal information that we hold and to request a correction to your personal information. Before you exercise this right, we will need evidence to confirm that you are the individual to whom the personal information relates.
In respect of a request for correction, if we think the correction is reasonable and we are reasonably able to change the personal information, we will make the correction. If we do not make the correction, we will take reasonable steps to note on the personal information that you requested the correction.
If you want to exercise either of the above rights, write or email us at the address below. Your email should provide evidence of who you are and set out the details of your request (e.g. the personal information, or the correction, that you are requesting).
Data Breaches
Our Privacy Officer has processes and systems in place in the unfortunate event of a data breach. If such an event occurs, we will promptly identify, report and examine a personal data breach.
Internet use
While we take reasonable steps to maintain secure internet connections, if you provide us with personal information over the internet, the provision of that information is at your own risk.
If you follow a link on our website to another site, the owner of that site will have its own privacy policy relating to your personal information. We suggest you review that site’s privacy policy before you provide personal information.
We may use cookies (an alphanumeric identifier that we transfer to your computer’s hard drive so that we can recognise your browser) to monitor your use of our website. You may disable cookies by changing the settings on your browser, although this may mean that you cannot use all of the features of the website.
We may use information about your use of our website and other IT systems to prevent unauthorised access or attacks on our software. We may utilise services from one or more third party suppliers to monitor use of our systems. These third-party suppliers will have access to monitoring and logging information as well as information processed on our websites and other IT systems.
Further information
This policy does not limit or exclude any of your rights under the Act. If you have any questions on our Privacy Policy or your personal information, please contact us by email to [email protected] or by sending a letter to:
The Privacy Officer, Point Home Loans Ltd
PO Box 44371
Pt Chevalier
Auckland 1246
This Privacy Policy was last updated November 2022
