This privacy policy explains how Te Puawaitanga ki Otautahi Trust (Te Puawaitanga) collects, stores, uses, and shares personal information.
The Privacy Act 2020 requires us – like any other organisation in Aotearoa – to tell whaiora certain things about the personal information we need to carry out our functions.
We collect information to deliver health and social services. We also use information to communicate and engage with whaiora, for example through our pānui. Please read on to find out more about our processes in these two areas.
In short, here are a few key privacy messages to note:
lf whaiora cannot find the information needed, or have concerns about the way we are managing personal information, we encourage whaiora to contact us at any time either by email reception@tepuawaitanga.maori.nz or ring 0800 66 99 57 and ask for our General Manager Hauora.
We may update this privacy policy from time to time, for example to reflect changes to the Privacy Act.
How we use and share your information
We use client (whaiora) information to provide whaiora with health and social services. We do not use identifiable information for this purpose. Whaiora anonymised information is also used to report on the services we provide and to help improve our services. There are times when by law we are required to share information, for example when requested by government agencies.
lnformation is kept for as long as legally required and for our specific organisational purposes. Currently, we are legally required to keep whaiora information for seven years after the last time we provided whaiora with service.
Your Health Information
How we collect your health information
We collect information from whaiora directly or from someone whaiora have agreed we can speak to (for example whānau or a support person). We will talk to the whaiora first to collect information, unless there is a good reason not to, for example sickness.
To provide services to whaiora, information may also be collected from other health care providers (such as GP or midwife), if necessary. These providers have their own policies for sharing information with us. Te Puawaitanga will archive information on clients up to seven years post engagement with our services.
HealthOne
Please note that Te Puawaitanga contributes to, and accesses health care information from HealthOne. HealthOne is a South lsland based secure electronic record that allows registered health care providers directly involved in whaiora health care, to quickly access information such as test results, allergies, medications, GP summaries and hospital information.
HealthOne adheres to the principles of the Privacy Act 2020 as well as Rule 5 (Storage and Security of Health lnformation) set out in the Health lnformation Privacy Code 2020. Access is only possible via an approved highly secure health care information network which is regularly audited and tested. Privacy auditing is used to check that only those directly involved in whaiora care are accessing their information.
To find out more about HealthOne please visit https://healthone.org.nz. Whaiora are entitled to restrict the sharing of health care records by contacting 0508 837 872 or emailing healthone.privacy@pegasus.org.nz
Communication and Engagement
This section explains how we collect, use, and share personal information when we are engaging with the public and with agencies, including managing enquiries and otherwise engaging with the community through our website or communications activities (such as events, surveys, pānui, and focus groups).
The personal information we collect about whaiora
We will only use the personal information whaiora provide to us for the purposes of delivering the services whaiora have requested (such as registering for an event, responding to an enquiry or processing referral).
Effectively engaging with the public requires us to collect and use some personal information. However, we only collect the personal information whaiora choose to give us (for example, whaiora decide how much detail to provide us as a background to an enquiry or referral), and whaiora can opt out of our communications activities, such as receiving our pānui, at any time.
The information we may collect when whaiora engage with us includes:
The following information is automatically collected about whaiora use of our website (though please note we make no efforts to associate this with whaiora identity):
Use of cookies on our website
Cookies are small text files that are placed in browsers by the websites users visit. They are widely used to help users navigate websites efficiently, to perform certain functions on the sites, and/or to provide site owners with information about how their sites are used.
We use tracking cookies to analyse non-identifiable web traffic data to improve our reach. This data is aggregated and cannot personally identify users. Our web analytics will also respect any ‘do not track’ setting that whaiora may have set on their browser.
We use social media on some sections of our website to help communicate our messages and give whaiora the best experience (such as embedding YouTube videos). These social media services have their own privacy policies and may track whaiora use of our website on those pages where their links are displayed. They do this using persistent session cookies and their tracking may be associated with whaiora profile with them.
Most web browsers will enable whaiora to set some control over cookies in their browser settings. This includes deleting them from browsers or disabling them altogether. lf whaiora do choose to set their browser to disable all cookies, this may affect their ability to use some of the features on our site.
Third party providers
We use some third-party providers to manage some of our engagement processes and services, such as pānui (we use MailChimp to deliver our pānui). Where we do this, any personal information whaiora provide (such as email address) may also be collected and stored with this provider and whaiora should also check their privacy statements when using those services.
We use social networking services such as Facebook and YouTube to communicate about our mahi. When whaiora communicate with us using these services, the social networking service may collect whaiora personal information for its own purposes.
These services may track whaiora use of our website on those pages where their links are displayed. lf whaiora are logged in to those services (including any Google service) while using our site, their tracking will be associated with the whaiora profile with them. These services have their own privacy statements which are independent of ours. They do not have any access to the personal information we hold on our systems.
Third parties
We will only use the personal information you provide to us for the purposes of delivering the services whaiora have requested (such as registering for an event, responding to an enquiry or processing a referral) or carrying out our lawful functions.
We do not share whaiora personal information with third parties, except in the following circumstances:
Whaiora privacy rights and how to contact us
The Privacy Act gives whaiora rights to request access to and correction of the personal information we hold about them. Whaiora can take steps to control the ways we use their information (such as opting out of receiving pdnui). Whaiora can also complain to us at any time if they believe we misused their personal information.
We encourage whaiora to contact us to exercise any of these rights, including the right to complain about our privacy practices. Whaiora can make an information request to us in any form.
Whaiora requesting access to or correction of their information
Whaiora have the right to request a copy of the personal information we hold about them. They also have the right to ask us to correct their information if they think it is wrong.
We will process a whaiora request as soon as possible, and no later than 20 working days after we receive it. We will be as open as we can with whaiora but note that the whaiora right to request personal information is subject to section 206 of the Privacy Act, which requires that we maintain secrecy, in some instances even from the whaiora if appropriate and in accordance with the Act.
We may occasionally need to withhold personal information under sections 49-53 of the Privacy Act, for example where the information requested is legally privileged. However, we will only ever withhold information where necessary.
Opting out of certain uses of your information
Whaiora can opt out of receiving our pānui or being included in on any other subscription list by following the unsubscribe link at the end of the email or contacting us.
Complaining about our privacy practices
We want to know if whaiora have concerns about our privacy practices, whether these relate to the way we collect or share information about them, or our decision on whaiora request to access their information. This allows us to try and address concerns and helps us to identify and fix any problems with our systems or processes.
ln the first instance, we encourage whaiora to let us know about their concerns and we will try our best to resolve it. This could include escalating concerns to a member of our leadership team to ensure we have made the right decision and fully considered concerns. Whaiora can raise concerns with by contacting us.
Contact us either by reception@tepuawaitanga.maori.nz or ring 0800 66 99 57 and ask to speak to our General Manager Hauora.
