Whitestone Group Limited (Whitestone Group, us, we, our), recognises the importance of protecting the privacy and the rights of individuals in relation to their personal information. This Privacy Policy explains how we will collect, use and disclose your personal information, and how you can exercise your rights in relation to your personal information. Personal information is information about an identifiable individual (a natural person), and includes personal data, personally identifiable information and equivalent information under applicable privacy and data protection laws. We may need to update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The current version of our Privacy Policy can be found on our website.

What personal information we collect

Personal information that we may collect may include (but it is not limited to) your name, mailing or street address, email address, telephone number, date of birth, profession, occupation or job title, photo ID, governmental identification details and any additional information relating to you that you provide to us directly through our websites or indirectly through use of our websites or online presence, through our representatives or otherwise and information you provide to us through our service centre, customer surveys or visits by our representatives from time to time.

How do we collect your personal information 

Normally, we collect your personal information directly from you unless it is unreasonable or impracticable to do so. We may collect personal information from you through our website (such as your IP address, web pages you viewed and links you clicked on, and some of this information is collected using cookies - text files saved on your device, and similar tracking technologies), by telephone, by email correspondences, during conversations between you and us or any of our representatives, by completing any surveys or providing feedback. We may also collect personal information from third parties such as your representative (for example your solicitors / lawyers, accountants and/or financial advisers), from publicly available sources, from any of your referees, third party companies such as credit reporting agencies, law enforcement agencies and government entities, your employer. If you provide us with personal information about a third party, you represent, and we collect it on the basis that, you have that person's consent for us to collect and handle their personal information in accordance with this privacy policy. Failure to provide necessary personal information when requested may result in certain services not being available to you.

Why we collect your personal information

We collect personal information about you for our business purposes and so that we can provide the best possible quality service, and as follows:  

• for sale and purchase of residential real estate, listing, facilitating agreement for sale and purchase;

• marketing, advertising and promoting our real estate services and current and future properties to clients, customers and potential customers including advertising, direct marketing, other promotions, and social media, and for maintaining a connection or relationships through the provision of market information, news, and/or events;

• to provide products and services to you and to send communications requested by you and to answer enquiries and provide information or advice about existing and new products or services;

• to update our records and keep your contact details up to date;

• to process and respond to any complaint made by you; and

• to comply with all relevant law, rules, or regulations, where these are require including requirements under the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing laws, maintain records for real estate agent code of conduct regulation and tax purposes, and to comply with any lawfully issued notice to provide information to a regulatory agency.

Who we share your personal information with                

We may disclose your personal information to:

• our employees, licensees, agents, contractors or service providers, related bodies corporate, for the purposes of operation of our website or our  business, fulfilling requests by you, and to otherwise provide products and services to you including, without limitation, web hosting providers, IT systems administrators, mailing houses, couriers, payment processors, data entry service providers, electronic network administrators, debt collectors, utilities providers, and professional advisors such as accountants, solicitors, business advisors and consultants;

• third parties with whom we have commercial relationships, for business, marketing, and related purposes;

• regulators, law enforcement bodies, government agencies, dispute resolution providers, or other third parties where we consider it is necessary to comply with applicable laws or regulations, or to exercise or defend our legal rights; and

• anyone else authorised by you.

 If you wish to access or correct your personal information

Subject to certain grounds for refusal set out in the Privacy Act 2020, you have the right to ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you, and to ask for your personal information to be corrected if you think it is wrong. You can contact us if you have any questions or complaints about, or if you wish to restrict or object to how we collect, use, disclose, manage or store your personal information.More information about your rights and our obligations in connection with your personal information are available from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner at www.privacy.org.nz

Security

We will take reasonable technical and organisational precautions to prevent the loss, misuse or unauthorised alteration of your personal information. However, due to the nature of email and the internet and cybercrime, we cannot guarantee the privacy or confidentiality of your personal information. We may store your information in cloud or other types of networked or electronic storage.

What is the process for complaining about a breach of privacy

If you believe that your privacy has been breached, please contact us using the contact information below and provide details of the incident so that we can investigate it and provide you with a response, as quickly as reasonably possible. You have the right to make a complaint to the New Zealand Privacy Commissioner. This can be done through the Privacy Commissioner online complaint form here: https://privacy.org.nz/your-rights/making-a-complaint/complaint-form/

Contacting us

If you have any questions about our privacy policy, or any other matter (including a complaint), please feel free to contact us. You can reach us in one of the following ways:

Email: accounts@whitestonegroup.co.nz

Phone: 0221234223