Privacy Policy.

1    Introduction

1.1  Kross Legal Nz Limited (NZBN: 9429050840991) (Kross Legal Nz) manages personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020 (Privacy Act), and the Information Privacy Principles and Codes of Practice as set out in Part 3 of the Privacy Act (IPP).

1.2  An individual has the right under the Act to request access to documents that we hold and ask for information that we hold about that person to be changed or annotated if it is incomplete, incorrect, out-of-date or misleading.

1.3  This Privacy Policy (Privacy Policy) sets out how Kross Legal Nz collects, stores, holds, discloses and protects your personal information and/or uses your personal information through our website: https://www.mclegal.nz, social media pages, google workspace (Websites), Wechat Application, LegaMart or any other manner.

1.4  This Privacy Policy is effective from September 2022. This version is current from March 2023.

2      Changes to this Privacy Policy

2.1  Kross Legal Nz reserves the right to update or change this Privacy Policy at any time. You should check this Privacy Policy periodically. The changes will be effective from the time of posting the revised Privacy Policy. Your continued use of our service after we post any modifications to this Privacy Policy on this page will constitute as your acknowledgment of the modifications and your consent to abide by and be bound by the modified Privacy Policy.

3      Personal Information

3.1  Throughout this Policy we refer to “Personal Information” which is information or an opinion about an identifiable individual (e.g. “ a natural person), or a reasonably identifiable individual, whether the information or opinion is true or not and whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not.

4      What kind of Personal Information does Kross Legal Nz collect and hold?

4.1  Kross Legal Nz collects and holds information about clients, contractors who provide us with a service, website users, and other people who may come into contact with us from time to time. 

4.2  Personal Information

Examples of Personal Information that may be collected and held by Kross Legal Nz include but are not limited to:

·       Your first and last name

·       Date of birth

·       Gender

·       Company name and details

·       Postal or Registered Address

·       Phone number

·       Email address

·       Immigration status

·       NZ IRD Number

·       NZ Business Number

·       Nationality

·       Where you are currently based

·       Individual preferences

    • Identity documents (examples include: Passport, Birth Certificate, Relationship Certificates, Household Registrations, and Driver’s Licence).

·       Marketing information

4.3  Kross Legal Nz may also combine your personal information with other information to provide and improve our services and content.  You are not required to provide the personal information that we have requested, but, if you choose not to do so, we may not be able to provide services or respond to any queries you may have.

4.4  Kross Legal Nz collects personal information that is reasonably necessary for, or directly related to, its functions or activities.  The nature and extent of personal information we collect and hold will vary depending on a person’s particular relationship and interaction with Kross Legal Nz.

5      How does Kross Legal Nz collect Personal Information?

5.1  Kross Legal Nz collects Personal Information about you either directly or indirectly:

Directly

·       Directly from clients when you provide Kross Legal Nz with your personal information.

·       When you interact and/or browse our Website or any relevant Application(s) associated with our services or for a specific purpose.

Indirectly

·       Third-party providers

o   Data is collected, processed and stored using third-party analytics software, such as Google, Squarespace or LegaMart that is to the best of our knowledge, secure and confidential. Analytical data is used to gain an understanding of user behaviour, perform system critical operations, and in extraordinary circumstances, for legal reasons. Non-identifiable user data is shared between third-party services to gain insight into aggregate user behaviour.

o   Analytic data insights are also used to target users through marketing, geography, interests and website behaviour.

·       Public sources

o   When you use Kross Legal Nz services, the use of applications or posts on Google may display personal information and the content you share may be visible to other users and can be read, collected, or used by them and Kross Legal Nz. For example, if your name or email address may be contained in a public post, that information is then public and can be collected by Kross Legal Nz to provide and improve our services.  

·       Passive collection of information – Analytics

o   As you navigate through our Website, certain information can be passively collected (that is, information gathered without you actively providing the information) using various technologies, such as cookies, internet tags, and navigational data collection (this includes activity log files, server logs, and clickstream data).

o   For example, we may collect information about matters including but not limited to the date, time and duration of visits, and which pages of a Website are most commonly accessed. This information is generally not linked to the identity of website visitors however, we may be able to uniquely identify the model or type of the device used to access the website (for example, whether using a Mac OS or Android application or computer).

o   Where we use Personal Information for promotional, direct marketing or sending newsletter purposes,  you may request Kross Legal Nz to cancel this at any time.  You can request this by contacting Michelle at Kross Legal Nz either in writing by post or by email at the contact details below. When making such a request, please include your full name, email address, and/ or telephone number and describe clearly your request. There is no fee for making such a request. We will acknowledge and action your request as soon as practicable.

·       Cookies & Web Beacons

o   We use cookies on our Websites. Cookies are text files placed in your computer’s browser to collect Internet log information and visitor behaviour information, including storing your preferences or the source you accessed the website. Cookies, by themselves, do not tell Kross Legal Nz your email address or other personally identifiable information. Cookies can remain on your computer after you have exited from a website. However, once you choose to access the Website with personally identifiable information, this information may be linked to the data stored in the cookie.

o   We may use web beacons on the Websites from time to time. Web beacons or clear .gifs are small pieces of code placed on a web page to monitor the behaviour and collect data about the visitors viewing a web page. For example, web beacons can be used to count the users who visit a web page or to deliver a cookie to a visitor's browser. 

6      How does Kross Legal Nz hold your personal information?

6.1  When you provide your personal information to Kross Legal Nz, you agree that your data be collected, processed and stored using third-party software together, to the best of our knowledge, with appropriate security safeguards in place to protect your personal information.  We hold personal information electronically with the assistance of these service providers.  No hard copies will be held on our premises unless required for completing your immigration matter.

6.2  Kross Legal Nz retains the information you provide to us. This includes your contact details to enable us to verify client details (where required) and maintain adequate records for legal and accounting purposes. This information is held on secure servers in controlled facilities and is stored for the length of time (seven years’) required for Kross Legal Nz to achieve the purpose for which we collect your personal information as set out in Section 8 of the Privacy Policy.

6.3  If you access our Website from outside of New Zealand, you acknowledge that you are sending information (including personal information) to the United States, United Kingdom or Europe where your data is stored (Google Workspace).

7      Security

7.1  We have systems to ensure that information is only accessible by Katherine Ross, Director of Kross Legal Nz.

7.2  We act to safeguard the security and privacy of your information, whether you interact with us by telephone, mail, over the internet or by other electronic means.  We strive to take reasonable steps to protect the information we hold from misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access modification or disclosure, however, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

7.3  We store information in soft copy electronic form (or where necessary to assist with your immigration matter, in hard copy paper form).  Where the information is sensitive, we will take particular steps to secure the information.  Any paper-based documents (please note, as Kross Legal Nz does not operate a trust account, no valuable property (such as original passports or birth certificates) will be or are held by Kross Legal Nz) are held in a secure safe. 

7.4  We use third-party storage providers such as cloud storage and back-ups to hold information that is stored in soft copy electronic form.

7.5  When your personal information is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was obtained, we will take reasonable steps to destroy or permanently de-identify your personal information.  However, most personal information is stored in client files which will be kept for a minimum of seven years as part of our legal obligations.

8      The purpose for which Kross Legal Nz collects, holds, uses and discloses Personal Information

8.1  Kross Legal Nz collects your personal information in various ways in the course of conducting its business, to provide and improve our services, content, and advertising including:

·       contacting clients or potential clients

·       providing immigration services to clients

·       providing newsletters and documents to clients by e-mail, WeChat, Whatsapp applications

·       responding to potential client inquiries about our services

·       interacting with clients who utilise our Website

·       interacting with inquiries and clients who utilise LegaMart

·       understanding your needs, enabling us to improve our services

·       improving our Website to enhance the user experience

·       promotional and marketing activities

·       monitoring the effectiveness of our marketing activities

·       customising our Website content according to your interests

·       further terms as set out in our Letter of Engagement and Appendix A: Client Care Information and Terms of Engagement

9      How can you control your Personal Information?

Accessibility

9.1  You have the right and may request to access your personal information as held by Kross Legal Nz. Such a request must be made in writing via our contact details below.  You can expect it to take us up to 10 working days to acknowledge your response and a further 20 working day for you to receive a response.

9.2  Kross Legal Nz will take reasonable steps to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the personal information we hold. If you believe that any personal information that we hold about you is incorrect or out of date, then you can contact us in writing.

9.3  Kross Legal Nz reserves the right to verify your identity with a personal information request to access (or update) personal information as we need to ensure your personal information is disclosed only to you.

10    Complaints

10.1         If you have any concerns about the way Kross Legal Nz collects, stores and uses your personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer:  Katherine Ross, PO Box 79126, Avonhead, Christchurch, New Zealand 8446. 

10.2         An individual can contact Kross Legal Nz about lodging a complaint about a breach of the IPP using the contact details above or below.

10.3         Kross Legal Nz will assess the complaint and will respond to you within a reasonable timeframe. Any further action following this initial response will vary depending on the nature of the complaint. If necessary, the complaint may be taken to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner or another review body if an external review is required.

10.4         You may opt-out of our direct marketing emails by clicking on the link contained in any such emails or by emailing directly to Kross Legal Nz – katherine@krosslegalnz.com

11    Disclosure of Personal Information

11.1         Where we receive your personal information and we did not solicit the information, we will do our best to notify you of our receipt of your personal information within a reasonable time. If we determine that we could not have received the information under the IPPs, we will use our best endeavours to destroy the information. We may use or disclose the information to make such a determination.

11.2         We will only use and disclose your personal information in limited circumstances, including the purpose(s) for which your personal information was collected as outlined in Section 4.  We will only retain your personal information for as long as it is required for Kross Legal Nz to fulfil the purpose that it was collected for and for Kross Legal Nz to meet our legal and regulatory obligations under New Zealand law.

Disclosure of personal information to third parties

11.3         Personal information we collect from you may be disclosed to and used by our service providers, specialist professional advisers (such as Certified Interpreters, Registered Clinical Psychologists, insurers, banking institutes (Kiwibank) and anyone else you have consented to receive and disclose your personal information.

11.4         We do not sell, publish or disclose your information to any other party where the information could be linked to you. Information may be disclosed to relevant parties, if this information is publicly available, but will only be used in a way that will not identify you.

11.5         Kross Legal Nz will not disclose personal health information to any other person, including next of kin unless you as the individual about whom the information relates has given express consent, or the disclosure is required or authorised by or under New Zealand privacy laws. 

12    Privacy Officer Contact Details:

Katherine Ross

Postal:                                      Email:

Kross Legal Nz                                  katherine@krosslegalnz.com
PO Box 79126                         Subject: Personal Information Request
Avonhead
Christchurch
New Zealand 8446