Privacy Policy for Whakaora Design
Last Updated: 20 June 2025
This Privacy Policy explains how Whakaora Design ("we," "our," or "us") collects, uses, stores, and discloses personal information in accordance with the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020. We are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring the security of your personal information.
By using our website,1 services, or otherwise providing us with your personal information, you consent to the practices described in this Privacy Policy.
1. What Personal Information Do We Collect?
We may collect various types of personal information, which may include:
Contact Information: Name, email address, phone number, physical address.
Business Information: Company name, business type, project details, design preferences.
Communication Data: Records of your correspondence with us (e.g., emails, messages, phone calls).
Website Usage Data: Information about how you use our website, such as your IP address, browser type, operating system, pages viewed, time spent on pages, and referring website addresses. This is typically collected through cookies and similar technologies (see Section 5).
Payment Information: If you make payments for our services, we may collect billing details. However, we typically use third-party payment processors, and we do not directly store your full credit card details.
2. How Do We Collect Personal Information?
We collect personal information in the following ways:
Directly from you: When you contact us2 via email, phone, or our website contact forms, request a quote, engage our design services, subscribe to our newsletter, or provide information during consultations.
Automatically through our website: When you browse our website, certain information is collected automatically through cookies and analytics tools (e.g., Google Analytics).
From publicly available sources: In some cases, we may collect publicly available business information to identify potential clients or to better understand a project's context.
3. Purpose for Collecting and Using Your Personal Information
We collect and use your personal information for the following lawful purposes:
To provide our design services: To understand your design needs, create and deliver design concepts, manage projects, and communicate with you about your projects.
To respond to your inquiries: To answer your questions, provide quotes, and offer support.
To manage our relationship with you: To send you invoices, updates about your projects, and other relevant communications.
To improve our website and services: By analysing website usage data to understand how visitors interact with our site and identify areas for improvement.
For marketing and promotional purposes: To send you information about our services, promotions, and news that we believe may be of interest to you, where you have consented to receive such communications. You can opt-out of marketing communications at any time.
To comply with legal obligations: To meet our legal and regulatory requirements in New Zealand.
4. Disclosure of Personal Information
We will not disclose your personal information to third parties except in the following circumstances:3
With your consent:4 Where you have given us explicit permission to do so.
To third-party service providers: We may share your information with trusted third-party service providers who assist us in operating our website, conducting our business, or providing services5 to you (e.g., website hosting, analytics providers, payment processors, project management tools). These third parties are obligated to protect your information and only use it for the purposes for which we engage them.
Where required by law: If we are legally required to do so by a New Zealand court, government agency, or other law enforcement body.
For business transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of all or a portion of our assets, your personal information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you if such a transfer occurs and6 if it results in a change to this Privacy Policy.
To protect our rights: Where we believe it is necessary to protect our rights, property, or safety, or the rights, property, or safety of others.
5. Cookies and Analytics
Our website uses cookies and similar tracking technologies (like Google Analytics) to collect information about your Browse behaviour.
Cookies: Small data files stored on your device that help us improve your website experience, remember your preferences, and track website usage.
Google Analytics: This service helps us understand website traffic and visitor behaviour. Google Analytics collects information anonymously and reports website trends without identifying individual visitors. You7 can opt-out of Google Analytics without affecting how you visit our site by installing the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on.
You can manage your cookie preferences through your browser settings. Please note that disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality8 of our website.
6. Storage and Security of Personal Information
We take reasonable steps to protect the personal information we hold from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction. This includes:
Implementing appropriate technical and organisational security measures.
Restricting access to personal information to authorised personnel only.
Using secure servers and data encryption where appropriate.
While we strive to protect your personal information, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. Therefore, we cannot guarantee9 absolute security.
We will retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, or as required10 by law.
7. Your Rights
Under the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020, you have the following rights regarding your personal information:
Right to Access: You have the right to request access to the personal information we hold about you.
Right to11 Correction: You have the right to request that we correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal information we hold about you.
Right to Erasure:12 In certain circumstances, you may have the right to13 request the deletion of your personal information.
Right to Object: You may have the right to object to the processing of your personal information in certain situations.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details provided14 below. We will respond to your request within15 20 working days. We may require proof of your identity before processing your request.
8. Overseas Disclosure
We may use third-party service providers (e.g., cloud storage, email marketing platforms) located outside of New Zealand. This may involve the disclosure of your personal information to countries that may not have privacy laws equivalent to those in New Zealand.
When we transfer your personal information overseas, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that the overseas recipient is required to protect your information in a way that provides comparable safeguards to those in the Privacy Act 2020, or that you have consented to the disclosure.
9. Privacy Breaches
In the event of a privacy breach that is likely to cause serious harm, we will notify the affected individuals and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner in New Zealand as required by the Privacy Act 2020.
10. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. We encourage you to review this policy periodically. The "Last Updated" date at the top of16 this policy indicates when it was last revised.
11. Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, our privacy practices, or if you wish to exercise your privacy rights, please contact17 us at:
Whakaora Design
info@whakaora.design
Disclaimer: This privacy policy is a general template and may need to be customised further to accurately reflect all specific data collection and processing activities of Whakaora Design. It is highly recommended to seek professional legal advice to ensure full compliance with the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020 and any other relevant regulations applicable to your specific business operations.