Privacy Statement

Ashburton District Council respects and protects the privacy of our website users. The privacy of your personal information is important to us.

Customer Privacy Policy

Our Customer Privacy Policy sets out how we collect, use, protect and share your personal information. It incorporates the requirements set out in the Privacy Act 2020.

Collection and use of personal information on this website

Personal information that is already held in public records may be accessible on this website and subsidiary websites. An example is minutes of council meetings which record submissions that are made by members of the public.

Submissions

Please note that by making a submission, your information will be used in the following ways:

• Submission material, including your name and organisation (if applicable) but excluding your contact details, will be included in material available to Council, media and the public at our office and on our website.
• The contact details you provide will be used for administration of the consultation process, including informing you of the outcome of the consultation.
• The information you have provided will be stored and held by Council. If you would like to request access to, or make a correction to your personal information, please contact the Council staff.

Consents

We need the information you provide on a building consent application form to process the application under the Building Act 2004.

We collate statistics relating to issued building consents and have a statutory obligation to regularly forward these to Statistics New Zealand.

We store the information on a public register. We must supply this information (as previously determined by the Office of the Ombudsmen) to whomsoever requests the information.

Under the Privacy Act 1993 you have the right to see and correct personal information we hold about you.

Storage and security of personal information

When any online services are provided which involve visitors sending personal financial information to this website and subsidiary websites, a secure transmission method will be used.

All Ashburton District Council employees and data processors who have access to, and are associated with the processing of, personal data are obliged to respect the confidentiality of our visitors' personal data.

Who you can contact for further information

If you have any queries or concerns about the Privacy Policy or personal data Ashburton District Council has collected, we are happy to respond or investigate. Council's Privacy Officer, or a nominated representative, will respond to your query.

The following Terms and Conditions govern the use of Our place - Tōtātou Wāhi (“the site”). The software platform is owned by Social Pinpoint Pty Ltd and operated by us, Ashburton District Council (“Council”).

By accessing and using this site, you are choosing to accept and comply with the Terms presented throughout this agreement as well as Council’s Customer Privacy Policy. These Terms apply to all visitors and users of this site. Linked sites, affiliated services or third party content or software have their own terms that you must comply with. If you disagree with any of the Terms presented in this agreement, you may discontinue using the site immediately.

If you are under 18 years old, please ensure that your parent or guardian understands and accepts these Terms and Conditions (including Council’s Customer Privacy Policy).

What are the conditions with a user’s account?

While using the site, you must not violate any applicable laws and regulations. It is our duty to protect the confidentiality of content you provide on our site in accordance with our Customer Privacy Policy and the Privacy Act 2020. When you create an account with us, you must always provide us with accurate information. Failure to provide accurate information violates the Terms, which may result in immediate termination of your account on our service. You are responsible for protecting your own password that you use for this site and for any activities done under that password. Unauthorised use of your password or account must be immediately reported to us. In some cases, we or our agents may require access to your user accounts to respond to technical issues.

We are not responsible for the content on the site that has been provided by the users of the site. Any content posted by you is subject to our moderation rules outlined in these Terms below. Your contribution to the site may be edited, removed or not published if we consider it inappropriate based on our moderation rules below. Contributors should also be aware that their posts may remain online indefinitely. Where practical, you may choose not to identify yourself, deal with us on an anonymous basis or use a pseudonym.

Moderation Rules

The following are Council’s moderation rules in relation to the site:

• Content may not contain personal attacks on other participants, staff or public figure;
• Content may not intentionally or inadvertently disclose sensitive personal and/or confidential information about any other participants, staff or public figures;
• Content may not contain discriminatory language relating to gender, race, religion, culture, sexual preference, appearance or background of a person;
• Content may not contain language perceived as threatening, inciting violence or encouraging, endorsing, approving or recommending the performance of dangerous of illegal acts;
• Content may not contain language perceived as offensive including profanity;
• Content is considered duplicate as it appears multiple times in a perceivably inappropriate way;
• Content is considered off-topic or SPAM;
• Content contains links to any advertising or illegal material; and
• Image content is considered graphic as it contains portrayals of (for example) acts of violence, hate speech, terrorism, pornography, racism and self-harm.

What do we require from our users?

You must understand and agree that, without limitation:

• all information, data, images and other materials are the sole responsibility of the person from whom the content originated;
• you are prohibited from advertising or offering to sell or buy any goods and service;
• you must not transmit content that contains software viruses or programs designed to change or destroy the functionality of any computer software or hardware;
• you must not collect or store personal data about other users of the site
• you must not impersonate any person or entity, including without limitation to a Council representative;
• you must not interrupt or interfere with the site or servers or networks connected to the site; or
• you must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to the site or other use accounts

Can your account be suspended or terminated?

We may terminate or suspend access to your site and/or account immediately, without prior notice, including without limitation if you breach the Terms. We may immediately deactivate or delete your account and all the related files and information in your account. After your account has been terminated, the content you have posted may also remain indefinitely on the site.

If you want to terminate your own account, please send an email to comms@adc.govt.nz

Governing Law

These Terms shall be governed in accordance with the laws of New Zealand, without regards to its conflict of law provisions.

Indemnification

Ashburton District Council, its affiliates, officers, agents, licensors and other partners are not responsible for any loss, liability, claim, or demand, including legal fees, made by any third party due to or arising from a breach of this agreement and/or any breach of your representations and warranties set forth above.

What content do we own?

This website contains the copyrighted material, trademarks, patents, trade secrets and other proprietary information (“Intellectual Property”) of Ashburton District Council and its suppliers and licensors. Council owns and retains all proprietary rights in the intellectual property. All intellectual property in the content of this site including without limitation to text, software, source code, pages, documents and online graphics, photographs, sounds, audio, video and other interactive features are owned by or licensed to us.

Any original content that you submit or post on our site may be made available to the public and allows users to share your content.

Except for Intellectual Property which is in the public domain or for which you have been given written permission, you may not copy, alter, transmit, sell, distribute any of the Intellectual Property on this site.

We are not responsible for your communications or dealings, including payment and delivery of goods or services, with a third party found via our website. Any loss or damage incurred from those communications or dealings are solely between the user and the third party.

Disclaimer and Warranties

Users must agree that you use of the site is at your own risk. We make no warranty that the site will meet your requirements or be uninterrupted or error-free. Any material that the user downloads through the site is done at their own risk and are responsible for any damages to their computer system or loss of data.

What happens if these Terms change?

We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to modify or replace these Terms at any time without notice. The most recent version of the Terms can be seen on this page. By continuing to access or use our site after those revisions become effective, you agree and will comply to the revised terms. If you do not agree to the revised terms, please discontinue using our site.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about these Terms, please contact us at comms@adc.govt.nz