Privacy Policy

Who we are

The Karamū River Catchment Collective is a locally led network across the 14 catchments of Te Karamū and the Heretaunga Plains, Hawke's Bay.

Contact us about anything in this policy at info@karamucollective.nz

What we collect

We only collect information we need. Depending on how you interact with us, that may include:

• Membership. Your name, email address, phone number, the catchment you live or farm in, your property or business name, and the type of member you are, such as landowner, resident, school or business.

• Newsletter. Your name and email address.

• Enquiries. Your name, contact details and whatever you tell us in your message.

• Events, field days and planting days. Your name, contact details, emergency contact and any dietary or accessibility needs you share with us.

• Projects. Where you take part in a project on your land, we may collect property details, location information, site photos and project records.

• Volunteering and citizen science. Your name, contact details and the observations or monitoring data you contribute, such as trap catches, bird counts or water samples.

• Photographs and video. Images taken at our events and on project sites. See the section below.

• Website use. Information collected automatically, such as your IP address, browser type, pages visited and time on site.

You do not have to give us your information, but if you don't we may not be able to sign you up as a member, register you for an event or support your project.

Why we collect it

We use your information to:

• provide membership, events, projects and support

• answer your questions and keep in touch with you

• send you our newsletter and catchment updates, if you've asked for them

• coordinate work across catchments and connect you with other members, partners and experts

• apply for funding and report to our funders on what has been achieved

• keep records of our projects and environmental outcomes

• meet health and safety obligations at events and on project sites

• improve our website and understand what people find useful.

Photographs and video

We take photos and video at planting days, field days and project sites, and we use them on our website, in newsletters, on social media, and in funding applications and reports.

• We'll let you know when photography is happening at an event.

• If you'd rather not be photographed, tell the organiser on the day or email us and we'll respect that.

• Children. We seek consent from a parent, caregiver or the school before we photograph or identify any child. Schools manage consent for their own students under their own policies.

• If an image of you or your child is already published and you want it removed, email us and we will take it down.

Children and young people

Some of our programmes involve schools and young people. Where a school organises participation, we work through the school and rely on the consents it has in place. We do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children under 16 without the involvement of a parent, caregiver or school.

Who we share it with

We do not sell your information. We may share it with:

• Our team and committee so we can run the Collective.

• Project partners and technical advisors, such as Hawke's Bay Regional Council ecologists, where you are part of a project.

• Funders, including the Ministry for Primary Industries and other funding bodies, usually as aggregated reporting. We only share information that identifies you where a funding agreement requires it, and we'll tell you if that applies to your project.

• Service providers who help us run our website, email, forms and data tools. These include [Squarespace, Mailchimp, Google, TrapNZ, Wilderlab, and others as applicable]. Some of these providers store information overseas, which means it may be held under the laws of another country. We take reasonable steps to ensure they protect your information to a standard comparable to New Zealand law.

• Anyone else you have asked us to share with, or where we are required or permitted to by law.

Monitoring and environmental data

Data from monitoring and citizen science, such as trap catch records, water quality results, eDNA results and species observations, may be published or shared openly with researchers, councils and national databases. Where this happens we publish it [without personal details attached / with location but not landowner details], unless you've agreed otherwise. Property level information is not published without the landowner's permission.

Cookies and website analytics

Our website uses cookies and similar tools to keep the site working properly and to understand how it's used. We use [Google Analytics / other]. You can turn cookies off in your browser settings, though some parts of the site may not work as well. [If you add a cookie banner or advertising or remarketing pixels, this section needs to say so.]

How we store and protect it

Your information is held [in our secure systems and with the service providers listed above]. We limit access to the people who need it, and we take reasonable steps to protect it from loss, misuse and unauthorised access or disclosure.

We keep personal information only as long as we need it for the purposes above, or as long as the law or our funding agreements require. When we no longer need it, we securely delete or de-identify it.

If a privacy breach happens that is likely to cause you serious harm, we will notify you and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner as required by the Privacy Act 2020.

Your rights

You have the right to ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you, and to ask us to correct it if it's wrong. Email info@karamucollective.nz and we'll respond within 20 working days. If we can't give you what you've asked for, we'll explain why.

You can unsubscribe from our newsletter at any time using the link in the email, or by emailing us.

Links to other websites

Our website links to other organisations, such as funders, partners and mapping tools. We are not responsible for their privacy practices, so please read their policies.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The current version is always on this page, with the date it was last updated at the top.

Questions or complaints

Contact us first at info@karamucollective.nz and we'll do our best to sort it out. If you're not happy with our response, you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner at privacy.org.nz or 0800 803 909.