PRIVACY POLICY

1. Introduction

1.1. This is the privacy policy (Privacy Policy) for Family Drug Support Aotearoa New Zealand (FDS). In this Privacy Policy, FDS is also referred to as “we” and “us”.

1.2. When we refer to “Personal Information” throughout this Privacy Policy, we mean personal information as defined in the Privacy Act 2020 (Privacy Act), being any information about an identifiable individual.

1.3. FDS is committed to protecting Personal Information and privacy rights generally. Please read this Privacy Policy and find out how to contact us if you have concerns about the use of your Personal Information.

1.4. This Privacy Policy applies to all of your information held by FDS, whether provided by you or collected from you or another source in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

1.5. This Privacy Policy sets out how we will collect, use, disclose, and protect Personal Information. It also covers how we make the Personal Information that we hold available to you for access and/or correction by you.

1.6. When dealing with Personal Information, FDS will comply with this Privacy Policy and with the Privacy Act.

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2. Collection of Personal Information

2.1. We will collect and store any Personal Information that you provide or submit to us in the course of your interaction and/or engagement with us.

2.2. We will collect Personal Information when you contact us, visit our website, make an enquiry, request or use our services, apply to work or volunteer with us, or otherwise provide us with your personal information. This could include when you are a FDS service user, or inquire about, or apply for, a job vacancy.

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3. How we may use Personal Information

3.1. We may use your Personal Information:

a. to verify your identity;

b. to provide you with the services we offer;

c. to communicate with you;

d. to respond to your requests, enquiries, feedback, or other service related activities;

e. to consider you for volunteer and/or employment positions;

f. to assess or verify your skills, qualifications and/or experience, including to undertake checks to verify your work rights status, criminal history, complete worker safety checks, and any other background checks required for positions we may have available from time to time;

g. to enable us to contact you and keep you safe when working/volunteering for us;

h. to provide our website to you, and to analyse and improve our website from time to time;

i. to further our relationship with you, including for our support and fundraising purposes;

j. to conduct research and statistical analysis (on an anonymised basis);

k. to protect and/or enforce our legal rights and interests, including defending any claim; and

l. for any other purpose authorised by you or permitted by law.

3.2. You may choose not to provide any Personal Information to us. However, as a result we may not be able to provide our services to you, communicate with you, process your job or volunteer application, inform you of changes to our services, or respond to any related queries.

3.3. We may use aggregated information to improve and develop our services, undertake statistical analysis, and meet our legal obligations. This aggregated information is not associated with any individual person and will not be used in a manner that would identify any individual personally.

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4. Storage and security of Personal Information

4.1. We take the security of your Personal Information seriously and require our personnel to comply with their legal obligations to protect your Personal Information.

4.2. We store information in physical and electronic records, at our premises and the premises of our service providers, which may include storage on the cloud. We take reasonable steps to ensure the safety of your Personal Information stored in both electronic and hard copy format, to protect Personal Information against loss, unauthorised access, use, modification, disclosure, or other misuse.

4.3. Any organisations that provide us with support services are required to appropriately safeguard the privacy of any Personal Information provided to them. Without limiting the foregoing, we or our service providers may store your Personal Information using third party cloud-based services and storage subject to appropriate safeguards.

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5. Disclosing Personal Information

5.1. We will not sell, lend, or trade Personal Information to any third party.

5.2. We will not disclose Personal Information to any third party except for the purposes for which it was collected, and for directly related purposes, including:

a. providing our services to you;

b. communicating with you;

c. ensuring compliance with legal obligations or to enforce any legal rights or obligations we may have;

d. for internal purposes relating to maintaining and improving our services;

e. engaging any third party services or service providers required in connection with our services;

f. when you have authorised us to do so;

g. when we reasonably believe we are required or permitted to do so by law;

h. verifying your identity;

i. undertaking checks to verify your work rights status, worker safety checks, criminal history checks or obtaining criminal history records, medical history checks;

j. where it is necessary to do so to resolve a complaint; and

k. if, in an emergency situation, it is necessary or desirable to share your Personal Information with a civil defence or government organisation, or another emergency service.

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6. Accuracy and Retention of Personal Information

6.1. It is your responsibility to ensure that the Personal Information you provide us is accurate, complete, and up-to-date. If you believe your Personal Information held by us is not accurate, incomplete, or otherwise requires amendment, please contact us immediately (at the details provided in clause 10).

6.2. We will also take reasonable steps to ensure that your Personal Information is accurate, up to date, complete, relevant, and not misleading before using or disclosing it in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

6.3. We will only retain Personal Information for as long as is required for the purposes for which it may be lawfully used. Where the Personal Information we collect is no longer required, we will securely destroy or delete the information or permanently de-identify.

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7. Accessing and correcting Personal Information

7.1. You may request to access to the Personal Information we hold about you. You may also request the correction of any Personal Information we hold about you.

7.2. We will comply with the provisions of the Privacy Act in responding to your request. Where we decide not to make a requested correction to your Personal Information, you may ask us to attach a statement of your requested correction to the information.

7.3. In accordance with the Privacy Act, we have the right to, and may, charge a reasonable fee for processing or responding to any request to access or correct Personal Information.

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8. Mandatory reporting of Notifiable Privacy Breaches

8.1. If your Personal Information is involved in a privacy breach which we reasonably believe has caused or is likely to cause serious harm to you (a “Notifiable Privacy Breach”), we will comply with our obligations under the Privacy Act, which may involve informing you and recommending what steps you should take in response, and reporting the Notifiable Privacy Breach to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.

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9. Changes to our Privacy Policy

9.1. We may update or change our Privacy Policy at any time by providing notice, which will be displayed on our website.

9.2. If you have any questions about any changes to our Privacy Policy, please contact us.

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10. Contact Us

10.1. If you have any questions, concerns, or a complaint regarding privacy or information handling, please contact us at:

Phone: 03 2818 750

Email: office@fds.org.nz

10.2. We will respond to let you know who will be handling your matter and when you can expect a further response.

10.3. If you are not satisfied with how we have handled your complaint, you can contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner on 0800 803 909 or www.privacy.org.nz.