Privacy Notice

Who is responsible for your information

The Waikato Advocate, based in New Zealand, is the agency responsible for personal information collected for our news website and community services (the data controller where that term applies). Contact us about privacy at news@waikatoadvocate.co.nz.

Information we collect and why

• Accounts: email, user identifier, sign-in details and profile information supplied by your chosen sign-in provider. We use these to authenticate users, secure accounts and attribute contributions. Our authentication provider handles passwords; we do not publish them.
• Newsletter: email address and subscription status/timestamps, to maintain your subscription and send updates when enabled.
• Classifieds: name, email, ad text, chosen package, order references, and optional phone, town and event date. We use these to review and publish advertisements, confirm payment, send service messages and handle renewals or refunds.
• Death notices and memorials: notice details, submitter name, email, optional phone and relationship, and any memories or photos supplied. We use these to review notices, contact families, provide memorial pages and moderate contributions.
• Comments, enquiries and reports: contribution text, account identity, moderation status, and information you send by email, to respond, publish approved contributions and address safety or rights complaints.
• Technical and usage information: IP address, device/browser information, page requests, security logs and identifiers supplied to hosting or advertising services, to deliver the website, investigate errors, prevent abuse and support advertising. Saved theme and language preferences personalise your display.

Required form fields are needed to provide the requested service. Optional fields need not be supplied. Please do not provide sensitive information or another person’s details without a lawful basis or appropriate permission.

Lawful reasons for processing

We process information to perform a contract or take steps you request before a purchase; for legitimate interests in operating a secure news service, moderating content and answering enquiries; with consent for optional subscriptions and any advertising activity that requires consent; and to meet legal obligations such as accounting and responding to lawful requests. Where required, you can withdraw consent without affecting earlier lawful processing.

What becomes public

Approved advertisements, notices, comments and memorial memories may be visible to anyone and indexed by search engines. Contributor names, approved text, photos and any contact details deliberately included in public fields or text can be published. Classified email addresses are kept private unless you opt to publish them. Death-notice submitter contact information is held separately for staff, and pending memorial contributions and photos are not publicly displayed. Think carefully before supplying content about yourself or others.

Who we share information with

• Service providers for hosting, database storage, account authentication, private photo storage, security and service emails, including Lovable Cloud and its underlying infrastructure providers.
• Google if you choose Google sign-in, and Google advertising services where ads are enabled. Google may process device identifiers and usage information under its own policies.
• Stripe for built-in classifieds payments, fraud prevention, receipts, applicable tax calculation and refunds. The Waikato Advocate remains the seller; our classifieds are one-off purchases, not subscriptions.
• Stripe for separate external koha and paid-memorial payments; your bank and ours for direct transfers. Payment providers handle card details under their own privacy notices; do not send card details to the newsroom.
• Professional legal or accounting advisers where necessary, and authorities where required by law.

We share information only as needed for these purposes. See Stripe’s Privacy Policy and Google’s Privacy Policy for their practices.

Retention

We keep account information while the account is active and as needed to resolve outstanding issues; subscription details while subscribed and a limited suppression record where needed to honour an unsubscribe; and submission, moderation and support records while needed to deliver the service, handle complaints and prevent abuse. Approved editorial and memorial content may remain as a continuing public archive. Advertising display expires after seven days from approval, but that does not automatically delete the underlying order or moderation record.

Transaction and accounting records are retained for applicable legal periods, generally seven years where New Zealand tax record rules apply. Other personal information is retained only for as long as necessary for the stated purposes and applicable legal obligations, then deleted or anonymised. Backup and provider retention may mean deletion is not immediate. Contact us for a review of a particular record; this notice does not promise automatic deletion of submissions.

Security and overseas processing

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures, including encrypted connections, access controls, staff-restricted contact records, and private storage for unpublished memorial photos. No internet service is completely secure. Our service providers may process information outside New Zealand. Where required, we use contractual protections and other safeguards to provide comparable protection under the Privacy Act 2020. If UK or EEA data-protection requirements apply to a transfer, appropriate safeguards may include adequacy decisions or standard contractual clauses.

Cookies and preferences

Essential browser storage supports sign-in, security and website operation. Local storage remembers your theme and language choices until you change them or clear your browser data. Google AdSense is included on the site and, where active, may use advertising cookies or identifiers for ad delivery, measurement and personalisation; service providers may also collect usage measurements. This site does not currently provide its own analytics or marketing cookie-preference panel.

You can clear or block cookies and local storage through your browser settings, although sign-in and saved preferences may stop working. Manage Google advertising preferences at My Ad Center; browser controls can also limit third-party cookies. Where law requires consent for non-essential cookies, that consent must be obtained before those cookies are used.

Your rights and complaints

Under New Zealand’s Privacy Act 2020, you can request access to and correction of your personal information. You may also ask about deletion, publication, subscriptions or our use of your information. Email news@waikatoadvocate.co.nz; we may need to verify your identity and will respond within applicable legal timeframes, normally 20 working days for a New Zealand access or correction request. If you are dissatisfied, you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.

If GDPR or UK GDPR applies, rights may also include erasure, restriction, portability, objection, consent withdrawal and a complaint to your supervisory authority. We will respond to those requests within one month, subject to lawful extensions and exceptions. Some information may need to remain for legal obligations or lawful editorial purposes.

Updates

We may update this notice as our services change. The date above identifies this version. See our Terms & Conditions and Refund Policy for service and purchase terms.