Privacy Policy
This site is owned and operated by Gisborne District Council using software licensed from Social Pinpoint. For details on how Gisborne District Council collects and protects your personal information, refer to their Privacy Policy below. For details of how Social Pinpoint may access personal information, please refer to Social Pinpoint’s Privacy Policy.
Privacy Statement for Participate Gisborne District Council
The Gisborne District Council referred to as “Council” is committed to protecting the privacy of your personal information.
This privacy statement tells you about our collection and use of your personal information through your use of the participate.gdc website.
We are subject to the Privacy Act 2020 (the “Privacy Act”) and the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (“LGOIMA”), which govern how personal information is collected, used, stored and accessed. This privacy statement has been prepared in accordance with our obligations and your rights under the Privacy Act and the LGOIMA.
By using Participate.gdc and providing us with your personal information, you consent to our use of your personal information in accordance with this privacy statement (as amended from time to time).
For personal information collected through any of our other platforms, please refer to Council's general privacy statement available at www.gdc.govt.nz/privacy
Why do we request personal information?
Gisborne District Council is requesting to collect your personal information for several reasons:
- to enable us to respond to you should you request that
- to enable us to include you in any future events on any specific topics that you request
- to provide us with the demographic information to determine the extent to which the feedback collected is representative of the community
- to allow us to gather participation data (such as numbers interacting from specified areas) with specific topics to better inform our feedback to Council
- to understand the reach and representation achieved and address any gaps to ensure diverse representational engagement across Tairāwhiti Gisborne community
- to ensure that any one participant or spammers and trolls are not unduly influencing the feedback results
What personal information do we collect?
Registered Participants
When you register for Participate.gdc or sign in to an existing account, the personal information we collect includes:
- name
- email address
- post code
- username (this will be published on the site alongside any public comments you make so you are welcome to use a pseudonym)
- sign up date
- last login date
- last contribution
- number of contributions
The optional information we encourage you to provide includes:
- ethnicity
- gender
- age (if you are under the age of 12 you must seek parental guidance before registering for and using our online engagement tool)
Participant Feedback
We collect comments, votes, posts and selections you contribute when interacting with the feedback mechanisms provided through Participate BOPRC which may include:
- forums
- interactive maps
- surveys
- quick polls
This information is analysed to inform Council’s decision makers in the creation of better projects, plans and policies.
Can you remain anonymous or withhold personal information?
Yes. You can access and participate in select Participate.gdc engagements anonymously, without disclosing any personal information. Some identified projects may require you to register and establish an account in order to participate. As stated above, users may choose to adopt a pseudonym for these projects.
Website Information
Participate.gdc is equipped with analytics services which assist us to collect and interpret information. The information collected may include your IP address, web browser, mobile network information, pages viewed, time spent on pages or in apps, links clicked and conversion information. This information is aggregated and all users are anonymous and not personally identifiable.
This statistical information will be viewable by website administrators and Social Pinpoint. This information may be used by us to analyse and track data, determine the popularity of certain content, and better understand online activity.
Email notifications
If you subscribe to receive notifications about upcoming projects or other engagement activities, the email address you provided will be used by us to send you that information. You can unsubscribe from these notifications at any time.
Sharing of your personal information
Access to your personal information is confined to authorised users only, which includes employees of Council on a need to know basis, our website administrators, and Social Pinpoint.
Council respects the privacy of your information and will take all reasonable measures to prevent unauthorised access to, or unlawful disclosure of, your personal information.
Publicly available information
When you sign up to and use Participate.gdc some of the information you provide will be publicly available.
Information that is available to the public is limited to your username and any comments you leave under that username in the forums or other feedback tools published to Participate.gdc. As above, you can use an anonymous user name if you do not want your full name attached to your comments.
Feedback (including overall results of polls and surveys, and in some instances, quotes from forums and surveys with the username referenced) may be published in publicly available reports at the end of the consultation period.
You may use Participate.gdc to make submissions to Council under the Local Government Act 2002 (for example, submissions on annual plans or long term plans). By taking part in the public submission process, submitters agree to any personal information (including names and contact details) in their submission being made available to the public and published on our website, and for the information collected to be held in accordance with Council's general Privacy Statement available at www.gdc.govt.nz/privacy
Storage of personal information
Information collected through Participate.gdc will be held by Social Pinpoint in accordance with its privacy policy. Social Pinpoint is an offshore service provider based on Australia so personal information collected will be stored in their server located in Sydney, Australia. The information will also be downloaded on Council servers with privacy protections in place. We comply with the requirements of the Privacy Act in relation to the transfer of personal information offshore.
Access and correction
If you would like to access, update, correct, or delete the personal information that Council is holding about you, you are welcome to make these requests by emailing service@gdc.govt.nz.
We will provide you with access to your personal information unless we are required or authorised to refuse such access by law.
You may also request a change or correction of personal information that we hold about you. When you are a registered user you will have the ability to correct your personal information at your discretion through the ‘edit profile’ function. You may also choose to contact us to request a change or correction of your personal information. We will take all necessary steps to accommodate your request unless we are required or authorised to refuse that request by law.
If you want to check personal information that we hold about you or have any other access or correction request, please contact us at service@gdc.govt.nz. Please quote your name and address and, if possible, provide brief details of what information you want a copy of (this helps us to more readily locate your information).
Links to external websites
Participate.gdc may contain links to other websites. Those links are provided for convenience only and may not be current or be maintained. Council is not responsible for the content, accuracy or privacy practices associated with the linked websites.
Any links to other websites should not be construed as any endorsement, approval, recommendation, or preference by Council of the owners or operators of those websites, or of any information, graphics, materials, products or services referred to on those websites.
Changes to this privacy statement
We reserve the right to amend this privacy statement from time to time by posting an updated privacy statement here on this website. We will collect, use, hold and disclose your personal information in accordance with our most recently updated version of the privacy statement. We recommend that you regularly review this privacy statement when you visit this website.
If you do not agree with any aspect of the updated privacy policy, you must promptly notify us using the contact details set out below.
Who can you contact?
If you have any questions, queries, or complaints about the handling of your personal information, please contact customer service in the first instance using the contact details set out below and we will do our best to assist.
Email address: service@gdc.govt.nz
Postal address: PO Box 747, Gisborne 4010, New Zealand
You can also make a complaint to the Privacy Commissioner. Further details on how to do this are available from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner website at www.privacy.org.nz.
Terms of Use
The following Terms and Conditions govern the use of participate.gdc (“the site”). The software platform is owned by Social Pinpoint Pty Ltd and operated by us, Gisborne District Council.
By accessing and using this site, you are choosing to accept and comply with the Terms presented throughout this agreement as well as the Privacy Policy and Moderation 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 the Privacy Policy and Moderation 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 Privacy Policy. 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 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 the rules of our Moderation Policy. Your contribution to the site may be edited, removed or not published if we consider it inappropriate (refer to Moderation Policy). 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.
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 services
- you cannot transmit Content that contains software viruses or programs designed to change or destroy the functionality of any computer software or hardware; or
- you cannot collect or store personal data about other users of the site
- you cannot impersonate any person or entity, including without limitation to a Gisborne District Council representative
- you cannot interrupt or interfere with the site or servers or networks connected to the site
- you cannot 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 feedback@gdc.govt.nz.
Governing Law
These Terms shall be governed in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020 and its amendments, without regards to its conflict of law provisions.
Indemnification
Gisborne District Council, its subsidiaries, 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 Gisborne District Council and its suppliers and licensors. Gisborne District 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 (with the end user acknowledging your contribution) under the Privacy Act.
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 service@gdc.govt.nz
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