Privacy policy.
Last updated: 06.08.2024
This Privacy Policy outlines how we collect, use, disclose and protect your personal information. Please read this Privacy Policy carefully. By using and accessing any of the Services, you agree to the collection, use, and disclosure of your information as described in this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to this Privacy Policy, please do not use or access any of the Services. For further information about your privacy rights, please visit www.privacy.org.nz or call the Office of the Privacy Commissioner on 0800 803 909.
We may amend this Policy at any time by uploading a revised version to our website and updating the ‘Last Updated’ date. By continuing to provide information and use our services, you agree to any changes to this Privacy Policy.
Hearing & Balance (referred to in this Privacy Policy as "we", "our" or "us") aims to provide our customers with the best possible products and services. We acknowledge that the information you give us is done so in trust. The privacy and protection of your information are of absolute importance to us.
When handling personal and health information, we comply with the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020 (the Act) and the Health Information Privacy Code 2020 (the Code).
What is Personal Information?
Personal information is any information that identifies you, or by which your identity can reasonably be ascertained.
Health information, as defined by the Code, includes information about an identifiable individual's medical and treatment history, in relation to the services and communications we have provided to you.
How do we collect information?
We ordinarily collect information directly from our clients and suppliers. We collect information through website and email enquiries, phone calls, written communications, and face-to-face appointments.
The type of information we collect on our website depends on how you make use of the site.
When you visit the site, using cookies, our host records your server address, domain name, the date and time of the visit and the pages viewed. If you disable the use of cookies, your use of our site may be affected.
When visiting our site, you will only need to provide personal information if you contact us to request information, or place an order for a Hearing & Balance product or service, or respond to a Hearing & Balance competition or promotion. In these cases, we will ask you to provide contact details along with any other information required to respond to your request or allow you to enter the competition or promotion. Unless you request otherwise, the information provided may also be retained for product planning purposes, or direct marketing purposes.
If you send us an email containing personal information, we will take reasonable steps to ensure the confidentiality of that information. The content of emails is sometimes monitored by our internet host for maintenance and fault detection purposes. Emails may also be sent to our suppliers, partners or contractors when they relate to product or service enquiries or complaints. They also treat the information confidentially and may record it in their in-house database.
If you are concerned about sending your personal information to us by email, you may prefer to contact us by any of the other means set out below.
Why do we collect your information?
Hearing & Balance collects personal information, for purposes relating to the products and services we offer. Those purposes include:
responding to enquiries about products and services;
receiving feedback;
processing orders;
applications for employment;
to notify you of marketing and promotional activities;
improving our services and procedures;
to assist with sales profiling activities for marketing and to improve our products and services;
meeting our regulatory and legal obligations.
How will we use your information?
It is generally our policy not to disclose information to external organisations. We may disclose personal information where the individual consents to us doing so. That consent may be written, verbal or implied from your conduct.
Any marketing messages you receive from us will have instructions for how you can remove yourself from our mailing list if you wish. You can let us know at any time if you no longer wish to receive marketing material (by contacting us by any of the means set out below) and we will remove your details from our direct marketing database.
We may also use your information to improve the services and products offered to clients and to target our marketing of these products and services.
Except as stated in this Privacy Policy, Hearing & Balance does not disclose personal information to outside organisations for the purposes of allowing them to direct market their products.
Sometimes, the law requires us to disclose personal information. We may also need to use and disclose your information to improve our services, if we are selling our business, to assist in law enforcement agencies or if we are compelled to under law.
How can you update and access your information?
We do everything we can to ensure that the personal information we hold is accurate, complete and up-to-date. If you find that information we hold about you is incorrect, please contact us immediately and we will correct it.
Subject to certain grounds for refusal set out respectively in the Act and Code, you have the right to access and request correction to your personal or health information that we hold. We may ask to see evidence to confirm you are the individual to whom the personal or health information relates.
Security of personal information
Security of personal information is important to us and we take all reasonable precautions to protect personal information from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.
Some of the ways we protect personal information include:
external and internal premises security;
restricting access to personal information only to staff who need it to perform their day to day functions;
maintaining technology products to prevent unauthorised computer access or damage to electronically stored information, such as requiring identifiers and passwords, firewalls and anti-virus software; and
maintaining physical security over paper records.
Our website may contain links to websites which are owned or operated by third parties independent of Hearing & Balance. Those websites should contain their own privacy statements and their owners or operators are responsible for informing you about their security and privacy practices.
If you believe that the privacy of your personal or health information has been compromised, please let us know by sending us an email to admin@hearingandbalance.co.nz.