We have implemented this Policy in order to be open and transparent about how we collect, use and share your personal information when you register at or visit our premises, www.labtec.net.nz (“Website”) or associated sites or pages, and engage with us to use the laboratory services (“Services”) that LABTEC provides. It also includes information about individuals whose personal information we may process in our association with third parties and individuals who apply to work for LABTEC.
We will comply with the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020 (as amended from time to time) (“Privacy Act”) and other requirements of New Zealand legislation to protect your privacy. Note, this Policy does not affect your rights under the Privacy Act, nor is it intended to limit or exclude your rights under that Act.
Where we are providing Services to you, this Policy should be read in conjunction with the agreement under which you engaged us to provide Services to you (“Terms”). In the event of any inconsistency, the Terms take precedence over this Policy.
Please also note that this Policy only applies to the use of your personal information obtained by us.
2. Collection of Personal Information
When used in this Policy, "personal information" has the meaning given in the Act. Generally, it means information about an identifiable individual. The type of personal information we collect depends upon your relationship with us. When doing business with us, you may need to prove your identity. In some circumstances, the law requires you to do so. We may also require your contact information, so that we can communicate with you directly as part of our service delivery.
Personally identifiable information may include, but is not limited to your name, telephone number, email address, business name and business address and various other employment information. At times we may also collect personal information for quality and improvement purposes, such as video and voice recordings and client satisfaction surveys. In these circumstances, information collected is intended for use in improvement in the types and quality of Services offered to you, and the manner those Services are offered to you.
3. How We Collect Personal Information
The personal information we collect and hold is what is reasonably necessary for our business functions and activities. The type of personal information we collect depends on the nature of our relationship with you. Our collection and holding of personal information occur during the following activities:
- Enquiries made directly over the phone to our client support services;
- Direct contact made in person, including a visit to our laboratory premises;
- You communicate with us online via email enquiries and / or by submitting the enquiry form;
- Other online interaction, including activity through our websites, mobile applications, links to other sites that are not operated by LABTEC, search engines (such as Bing Search and Google Search) and social media channels (such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+ and LinkedIn). These channels will also handle your personal information for their own purposes and have their own privacy policies. We are not responsible for the policies and practices of other companies;
- Through an on-going employment relationship;
- Promotions, competitions, testimonials, and your participation in surveys;
- Handling of feedback and complaints;
- Undertaking a payment or other transaction; and
- Creating an account.
4. Use and Disclosure of Personal Information
4.1 How We Use Your Personal Information
To deliver our Services, we use your personal information in the ways set out below. If we need to use information in a way not outlined below, we will only do so if required or permitted by law or with your authorisation. We use your personal information for:
- Fulfilling the delivery of Services;
- Verifying your identity details;
- Invoicing, or to receive payment from you for any of our services that require payment;
- Credit management activities, debt recovery purposes, which may include disclosing information to debt collectors;
- Carrying out our responsibility as an employer;
- Purchasing products and Services;
- Industry compliance and any legal obligations;
- Targeting or customising our marketing and advertising; and
- Communicating with clients, potential clients, suppliers, staff, contractors and others.
4.2 Collection of Information by Third Parties
Personal information provided to LABTEC may be shared with related companies within the organisation and other third parties, including overseas agencies based outside New Zealand. Related companies are specified as The Envirolab Group of Companies, including Envirolab Services Pty Ltd and Envirolab Services (WA) Pty Ltd.
Personal information will only be disclosed to third parties in accordance with this Policy. Information may be provided to third parties where any functions or services relating to the purpose for which the personal information is collected are being outsourced or you would reasonably expect us to disclose it to a third party for a particular purpose. For the purposes of this Policy, your personal information may be shared with LABTEC's related bodies corporate, professional service providers, promotional partners, and other trusted third parties (and their directors, servants and agents), either in New Zealand or overseas, including but not limited to Australia. For example, we may disclose your personal information to our:
- Independent consultants working with us to verify the security of our systems, including the review of the platform or system architecture, firewall configurations, network device security and web application security.
- Credit providers (disclosed and undisclosed).
- Data processing and payment providers.
- Financial services and banking providers.
- Professional indemnity or other relevant insurers.
- Auditors, lawyers and other professional service firms.
- Marketing/advertising agencies and other marketing services providers.
- Print/mail/digital/imaging/document management service providers.
- Third party postal or courier providers who assist us in delivery related to our Services.
Please note, this is a non-exhaustive list. There may be other examples where we need to share with other parties to deliver our Services as effectively as we can.
In the event of a restructure, merger or acquisition, or in the sale of all or a portion of assets, LABTEC may transfer any and all personal information we have collected from you to a relevant third party. However, personal information will always remain subject to this Policy.
LABTEC may also be required to disclose your personal information if:
- Required by law;
- Required for the investigation of an unlawful activity or other investigative activities; or
- Necessary to lessen or prevent a serious and imminent threat to an individual’s safety or serious threat to public health or public safety.
When we disclose personal information, it may be transferred to and used by overseas agencies. Some of these third parties may be located in countries where they are not required to protect personal information in the way that we are under the Privacy Act. To safeguard your privacy, we will impose requirements on these entities for handling personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act.
4.3 Collection of Information by Third Parties
Like many site operators, we collect information that your browser sends whenever you visit our Website (“Log Data”).
This Log Data may include information such as your computer's Internet Protocol ("IP") address, browser type, browser version, the pages of our Site that you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on those pages and other statistics.
Our Google Analytics product records these standard internet traffic details to optimise our search. We do not combine the anonymous information collected through Google Analytics with personally identifiable information.
4.4 Cookies and Other Technologies
LABTEC may also collect personal information and other data from you through the use of a cookie or other automated means, including server logs or proxy logs.
LABTEC uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google Inc. Google Analytics uses cookies and JavaScript code to enable the analysis on website usage and other online facilities.
Cookies are pieces of information that a website transfers to your computer’s hard disk for record keeping purposes. The content may be our own or may be the content of others in which we have an interest, such as banner advertisements. Most web browsers are set to accept cookies.
You can choose to disallow cookies by changing settings on your web browser. Please note, if you do this, you may not be able to access and use our website and other online facilities at their complete level of functionality. By using these websites and online facilities, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above.
4.5 Marketing and Communications
From time to time, LABTEC may use your personal information to contact you by mail, SMS, telephone, email or online to inform you about new Services, offerings, surveys, promotions and newsletters. We will give you the opportunity to opt-out of direct marketing communications.
LABTEC may use and disclose your personal information for the purpose for which it was initially collected, namely to arrange, conduct and promote LABTEC’s media communication activities (including but not limited to production, broadcasting and publishing) and provide you with requested products and Services, as well as all purposes necessary and incidental to the provision of our Services or by anyone on behalf of LABTEC.
At no time will LABTEC sell or rent your personal information to any third party or transfer your personal information to any third parties for their direct marketing use.
If you do not want to be contacted for marketing purposes, you can also advise by contacting us through one of the methods set out below. Upon receipt of notice, we will take immediate steps to ensure that you do not receive any such direct marketing information in future.
4.6 Recruitment
We will collect your name and email address for recruitment purposes. You might also provide us with contact details, such as your contact number your address and social media details, share with us the company you work for and your job title, or share your CV with us. If your application is successful, we will ask you to provide further personal information in connection with us taking steps at your request to enter a contract and to generally ensure that we make the best recruitment decisions.
5. Protection of Personal Information
5.1 Storage and Security
We are committed to keeping personal information provided to us secure and we have implemented appropriate information security policies, rules and technical measures to protect the personal information that we have under our control from unauthorised access, improper use or disclosure, unauthorised modification and unlawful destruction or accidental loss.
Electronic copies of your personal information are stored behind the enterprise firewall and the LABTEC website is configured to use Secure Sockets Layers (SSL) encryption. Multiple copies of your data are backed up daily and stored on-premises and in the cloud by third parties. We take all reasonable steps to protect hardcopies of your personal information by having appropriate physical security and restricted access measures in place. At all times, access to a file must be for a work-related purpose and comply with the provisions of the Privacy Act.
Our employees, related parties, consultants and other reputable third party service providers (i.e. any party who processes your personal information on our behalf, for the purposes listed in Section 4), who have access to and are associated with the processing of personal information, are obliged to respect the confidentiality of such personal information.
Whilst we attempt to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.
6. Accuracy and Quality of Personal Information
The accuracy of the personal information we have requested from you is important to us. Should you suspect, or become aware of, your personal information we hold is inaccurate, out-of-date, incomplete or misleading, please follow the instructions posted at Contact Us.
We will deal with all requests for correction of personal information as quickly as possible. Requests relating to a large amount of information, or information which is not currently in use, may require further time before a response can be given.
If we refuse to change the personal information as you request, we will provide you with reasons for our refusal, with the exception to unreasonable circumstances. We will also provide information of how you may make a complaint about our decision. Further, in case of our refusal, you may request that we take reasonable steps to associate with the relevant information, a statement that you view it as inaccurate, out of date, incomplete or misleading.
We will take all such steps as are reasonable in the circumstances to ensure that:
- All information collected from you is kept accurate, up to date and complete; and
- Personal information that we use or disclose is, having regard to the purpose of the use or disclosure, accurate, up-to-date, complete and relevant.
7. Changes to this Privacy Policy
We are obligated to regularly review and update this policy. We, therefore, may, from time to time, review and update this Policy, including taking account of new or amended laws, new technology and/or changes to our operations. All personal information held by us will be governed by the most recently updated Policy. Your privacy matters to us, so whether you are new to LABTEC or are a long-time user, please take the time to get to know our practices.
8. Data Breach Reporting
If we believe that there has been a privacy breach, we will identify the issue and take steps to minimise any harm.
If we believe the breach has caused, or is likely to cause serious harm, we will contact the Office of the New Zealand Privacy Commissioner. We will also contact individuals who may be affected by the breach.
If you believe there has been a privacy breach, please contact us as soon as possible.
9. Contacting Us
If you have questions or concerns about this Policy, wish to access your personal information or request that we not use your personal information for a particular purpose, please follow the instructions posted at Contact Us.
Last updated: May 2021