Scope

This privacy policy outlines the way EECA collects, stores, and uses Personal Information. EECA complies with the Privacy Act 2020 and aims to actively protect the privacy of everyone we hold information about.

As part of our work under the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act 2000(external link) (the EEC Act), EECA also collects sales data and information required for compliance and enforcement purposes. This document also outlines how EECA collects, stores, and uses sales and compliance information.

Definitions

Personal Information — Any information about, or related to, a person.

Consent — Your approval/acceptance of personal information being stored by EECA if you voluntarily provide us with information for a purpose(s) or service(s).

Your/You — Anyone that is accessing EECAs website(s) and requesting information or services.

Collection of information

Collection of Personal Information

EECA will only collect information necessary, with your Consent, for us to deliver services, or information, or when required by law.

Personal information will only be collected directly from the person who it is about. 

If you are communicating with EECA about a service we provide, we may need to collect:

  • your first and last name.
  • email address.
  • full address or region.
  • phone number.
  • financial details required to process grants.
  • any information provided through correspondence with us.
  • any images you upload onto our website.

If you are an employee, contractor, business partner, service provider or job applicant, we may also need to collect additional Personal Information provided by you. This information may include:

  • educational qualifications and work history provided during an employment application
  • employees’ banking, tax, and superannuation details.
  • business bank account details.
  • contact details and any Personal Information provided when you commence a business or service relationship with us.

Collection of sales data

EECA is required by law (Energy Efficiency Regulations 2002(external link), Regulation 9) to collect information from people who import or manufacture products covered by the Regulations(external link). We may need to collect:

  • (if product class is listed in Schedule 1 and Schedule 2(external link)) registrations of new products to be sold, imported or assembled by the manufacturer/importer
  • the number of items (E3 record ID) sold in NZ each year
  • the number of items (E3 record ID) exported in NZ each year
  • the number of items (E3 record ID) imported in NZ each year
  • the number of items (E3 record ID) discontinued in NZ each year.

Collection of compliance information

EECA may collect information from the following sources to ensure compliance with the EEC Act:

  • import data disclosed under our agreement with the New Zealand Customs Service
  • surveys of product retailers and vehicle traders
  • monitoring of online trading
  • monitoring of online and print advertising and information
  • collecting data as part of joint compliance activity under the Trans-Tasman Equipment Energy Efficiency (E3) Programme
  • product testing and technical reports
  • onsite checks to determine compliance and the status of a particular retailer or trader.

Cookies

A cookie is a token that is stored on your computer and acts as a record-keeping device when you visit a website. When you visit any of EECA’s websites cookies collect data about:

  • the website you visited
  • how you found the website (ie google search, social media)
  • if you subscribed to newsletter, which campaign the newsletter was related to.

Most web browsers are set to accept cookies. If you do not wish to receive cookies from any of EECA’s websites, you can set your browser to refuse them or to warn you when you are about to receive one. Turning off cookies will not affect your ability to use this site.

How we use your information

Use of Personal Information

  • If you sign up to our newsletters, you will be added to our CRM (Customer Relationship Management) System. We will only send you the newsletters you sign up for.
  • If you use a hashtag and one of EECA’s marketing campaigns (such as #GenLess or #RightSideNZ) with an image on any social media account, or send us an email with an image, we may contact you to ask your permission to post your name and image on our social media accounts, website, and newsletters.
  • If you post an image onto our website, you agree to us using your image on our social media accounts, website, and newsletters.
  • We will use Personal Information only for the purpose(s) for which it was collected, unless there is good reason to use it for other purposes, and this is allowed by the Privacy Act.

Use of sales data

If you have provided EECA with sales data, the information is used to compile statistics on energy efficiency and conservation. 

Use of compliance information

Compliance information is collected for the purposes of establishing whether regulated parties are complying with the EEC Act and regulations. In collecting information for compliance and enforcement purposes, EECA considers core principles including proportionality, consistency, transparency, and fairness.

Cookies

EECA uses cookies to:

  • Improve and customise your browsing experience (when you interact with other media from us, including email, social media, and web pages)
  • Create internal marketing analytics and metrics, including site usage and campaign popularity.
  • Attribute newsletter subscribers to campaigns (we only capture this data if a user has cookies enabled). 

Disclosure of Personal Information

We will ensure that Personal Information about you is provided only to you or to other individuals or organisations that are involved in delivering on the purpose or service you are consuming from EECA. If we do need to disclose your Personal information, we will take all reasonable steps to ensure third parties protect your Personal Information with the same care and respect we do.

We may need to disclose your information to:

  • our business and service providers (such as IT providers and Warmer Kiwi Homes affiliated providers)
  • other government bodies for regulatory purposes when required or authorised by law
  • approved employees of EECA
  • our professional advisors (such as insurers and lawyers)
  • quality inspectors and auditors
  • research companies (in a form which does not identify you)
  • other people or agencies if required by law.

If you had a grant from Warmer Kiwi Homes, we may need to disclose the addresses of houses that have been insulated and/or had a heating appliance installed through the programme:

  • to other government agencies (such as the Ministry of Social Development) to ensure that, when carrying out their functions, those agencies are providing information about the programme to those who need it, and
  • on www.data.govt.nz(external link), which will enable relevant service providers and local councils to send information relating to the Warmer Kiwi Homes programme (and other services) to those addresses.

Disclosure of sales data

EECA cannot disclose sales data to anyone else, except for the purposes of prosecution. EECA may only publish statistical information if it is arranged in such a manner as to prevent that information from being identifiable as information relating to a particular person, save with that person's express Consent.

Access and correction of Personal Information

Anyone may request for us to provide them with access to the Personal Information we store that relates to them. We will make this information available in response to a request as quickly as possible. To find out more about more about your rights to correct personal information, see:

Your privacy rights — Office of the Privacy Commissioner(external link)

Any incorrect information we hold about you will be corrected as quickly as we can, once we are made aware of an inaccuracy.

Storage and security

We will store all Personal Information with reasonable safeguards to protect the privacy, integrity, and availability of your data.

  • Only approved personnel will have access to your Personal Information.
  • We keep Personal Information only for as long as it is needed and will destroy it securely when it is no longer needed. EECA will meet our legislative requirements, especially those under the Public Records Act 2005.
  • EECA complies with the NZISM where appropriate/possible (NZ Information Security Manual).

Accountability and responsibility

All staff and management of EECA are responsible for treating all Personal Information with care and respect, actively protecting the privacy of everyone we hold information about and complying with the Privacy Act.

  • All staff and management are responsible for bringing anything that is not consistent with this to the attention of the Privacy Officer.
  • The Privacy Officer is responsible for supporting management and staff to understand and deliver good privacy practice and how to comply with the Privacy Act.
  • EECA has privacy policies and supporting procedures in place to assist our staff and management in actively protecting the privacy of everyone we hold information about.

Who to contact about privacy

If you want to talk to us about privacy or your Personal Information, please contact us and we will respond as soon as possible to resolve the issue. We also welcome any questions and comments you may have about our privacy practices.

You can contact the Privacy Officer at:

Privacy Officer
Energy Efficiency & Conservation Authority
privacy@eeca.govt.nz

Making a complaint

If you are not satisfied with our response, you can contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner:

Complaining to the Privacy Commissioner — Office of the Privacy Commissioner(external link)