Privacy and Security Policy | Telsim New Zealand

About This Policy

Welcome to our new Privacy Policy. This document explains how we collect, use, disclose, store, protect, and share your personal information. It also outlines how you can access and update your personal details. Our goal is to make this policy clear, fair, and easy to understand.

Purpose of this Policy

To provide you with exceptional products and services, we may need to collect personal information from you, such as when you sign up with us or make a purchase. We believe it is essential for you to understand how we manage your information. We handle all personal data in compliance with New Zealand laws, including the Privacy Act 2020 and the Telecommunications Information Privacy Code 2020.

Key Parties in This Policy

In this Policy:

“we,” “our,” “us,” and “Telsim” refer to Telsim Limited and/or Telsim New Zealand Limited, including any of our related companies.

“you” refers to:

Our customers (mobile, broadband, fixed, consumer, or business).

Prospective customers who are considering joining us on an exciting deal.

Individuals who have provided us with personal information, such as by entering a Telsim competition, completing a Telsim survey, or being authorized on someone else’s Telsim account.

Employees or contractors whose employer or client is a Telsim customer.

Visitors to our stores.

Anyone who calls or texts a Telsim customer.

Users of our products, services, or website—for example, if you’re using your family’s Telsim broadband to stream funny dog videos at home.

Scope of This Policy

This Policy applies whenever you:

Provide us with your personal information in any other way.

This Policy is part of the terms and conditions you agree to when signing up for our products and services. However, it does not apply to products or services provided by third-party suppliers, such as Amazon Prime, Neon, or Google Play. Any information you share with these third parties will be handled according to their own privacy policies and practices.

Definition of Personal Information

Personal information is any data that can be used to identify you. This includes, but is not limited to:

Your contact details (name, phone number, physical address, email address).

Your date of birth.

Debit/credit card and bank account details.

Passport and driver’s license information.

Alternative contact details.

Employment details.

Medical conditions, where relevant (e.g., if applying for vulnerable end-user status).

Information you provide when you call, email, web chat with us, visit a Telsim store, or communicate with us in any other way.

Billing details, including purchase and payment history.

How you use your phone and other services, such as call and text message activity.

Technical and service details about your device, including how it interacts with our networks, products, and services (e.g., data usage, call duration, and activity like streaming music or browsing the web).

CCTV footage.

Collection of Your Personal Information

We collect information about you when you (but not limited to):

Visit our website.

Complete our application forms.

Enter our promotions or competitions.

Respond to surveys.

Contact customer care or when we contact you.

Visit our stores.

Buy, share, and use our products and services (such as call and text message details, including date, time, duration, and the number contacted), as well as browsing activity when using our internet services (e.g., websites visited, your IP address, when an internet session begins and ends with your account, and content accessed via any online content service we provide). We may also track the location of your mobile device periodically and monitor your spending.

We generally collect your personal information directly from you and your device. However, on occasion, we may:

Collect and purchase information from third parties (such as loyalty program partners, credit reference agencies, marketing agencies, and/or data aggregators) where we reasonably believe you have authorized us or the third party to share that information with us.

Collect or purchase publicly available information and combine it with other data we hold about you to better understand your needs and those of potential customers. For example, we might obtain aggregated, anonymized data such as census information or gather details from public websites (e.g., individual house sale data).

We may also collect your personal information if we’re investigating alleged fraud. This could include information from the person alleging fraud, verifying your identification from the relevant authority, and confirming courier delivery status and address with courier companies for deliveries of our products.

Consequences of Not Providing Your Personal Information

If you choose not to provide the requested information, certain services or product features may not function correctly, and we may be unable to offer you our products and services.

How We Use Your Personal Information

We use the information we collect for various purposes, including:

Processing application forms and online transactions.

Conducting credit checks and credit scoring/reporting (if you have purchased products other than prepay).

Billing and invoicing you.

Providing and assisting with the products or services you request.

Monitoring compliance with the terms and conditions of the products and services you purchase and use, including our Fair Use Policy.

Offering you rewards, special offers, competitions, and other promotions.

Providing information about Telsim products and services, as well as selected third-party products and services that may interest you. When we contact you via text, we may not include an option to unsubscribe.

Responding to queries, complaints, requests, and other customer care issues.

Conducting surveys.

Complying with legal, governmental, or regulatory requests related to telecommunications services or legal proceedings, crime or fraud prevention, detection, or prosecution.

Training our staff, monitoring our networks and services, and maintaining our systems.

Detecting, monitoring, and preventing fraudulent or illegal use of our services and networks.

Developing and improving our products and services.

Providing handset location information to emergency services (Fire, Police, Ambulance) when you dial 111, to assist in locating you during an emergency.

You agree that we and our agents may send you marketing messages, including offers, rewards, and promotions, as well as those from third parties that we believe may interest you. You can unsubscribe from marketing messages at any time through My Telsim, by contacting us via our ‘Contact Us’ webpage, or by using the unsubscribe option in marketing emails. Once we receive your request, we will remove you from our marketing list.

Who We May Disclose Your Personal Information To

We may disclose your personal information to trusted third parties (some of whom may be located outside New Zealand) for the purposes outlined under the section “How We Use Your Personal Information.” These third parties may include:

Dealers and suppliers whose products and services support our products, services, or networks, including infrastructure providers where your information is processed and those involved in monitoring and protecting our networks’ operation and security.

Agents, contractors, and advisers.

Our group companies, who will only use and disclose your information for the same purposes as we would.

Other network operators and telecommunication companies, as required to provide and support the services we offer (e.g., when you use your phone abroad).

Credit reference/credit reporting agencies (if you have purchased products other than Prepay), who may share your information with other organizations and keep a record of the credit searches we make.

Debt collection agencies, to collect any outstanding payments for unpaid bills.

Any person or organization who pays for your services or products, such as your employer or an account holder with Group Plans.

Advertisers, customers, potential customers, and associates, with whom we may share anonymized, aggregated information (such as user statistics) that does not personally identify you.

Legal entities we are required to share your information with, such as law enforcement agencies (police, Serious Fraud Office), emergency services, government departments, regulatory authorities, or any other party authorized to obtain your information under the Privacy Act 2020 and the Telecommunications Information Privacy Code 2020.

Other service providers who use our networks, services, or products to offer services to you.

Potential or actual assignees or transferees, such as a purchaser of our business.

Suppliers who help protect our networks and systems, including those monitoring and detecting potential threats, such as hacking, viruses, and other security issues.

Any individuals or parties you specifically request we share your account information with (e.g., if you authorize someone to access your account).

Emergency services, including Fire, Police, and Ambulance services.

Call Recording by Our Customer Care Team

Yes, calls made to or from our Customer Care Team are recorded and monitored. This helps us maintain and improve the products and services we provide to you.

Displaying Your Mobile Number to the Recipient

Unless you request our Caller Line Identification Restriction (CLIR) service, your mobile number may be displayed to the person you are calling. If you have activated CLIR, we will prevent your number from being shown to the recipient of your calls. However, your mobile number may still be visible to us, emergency services, or when you send text messages. You may also have the option to block your number from being displayed to the recipient through your phone settings.

Use of Web Analytics Services

Yes, like many websites, we use web analytics services such as Google Analytics or Big Query to improve the overall user experience on our website. These services may use “cookies” (not the chocolate chip kind!) or other tools like web beacons to collect data on how you interact with our site and related services. This information helps us understand what users enjoy or dislike about our website.

The data generated by these cookies regarding your website usage will be sent to and stored on servers owned by the companies providing these analytics services. These companies use the data to evaluate your website usage and generate reports for us, including details like the number of visitors, how long they stay, and their geographical location. They may also share this information with their agents or as required by law.

If you’d rather not have cookies used, you can block them through your browser settings. By using our website, you consent to the processing of your data as described above.

Using a Third-Party Login Provider

You may have the option to sign into your Telsim account using third-party login providers like Facebook, Apple, or Google. When you do this, we collect authentication information from these providers, such as your email address, profile photo, and a login token. We do not store any passwords from third-party login providers and will only use the information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Storage of Your Personal Information

We store your personal information on our own servers in New Zealand. Additionally, we may use third-party cloud service providers to store data online, which could result in your information being stored outside New Zealand, such as in Australia. Ensuring the security of your information is our priority, so we carefully select trusted data centres and cloud service providers to safeguard your data.

Keeping Your Personal Information Secure

Protecting your personal information is a top priority for us. We implement strict security measures and follow industry standards to safeguard your data from unauthorized access, use, and disclosure.

You can also take steps to keep your personal information secure by:

Keeping your account details, including your account number, usage information, PIN, and password, confidential and not sharing them with anyone.

Choosing strong, unique passwords or PINs that are difficult to guess and have never been used on other services or platforms. Avoid using easily identifiable numbers like your birth year or sequences.

Not reusing passwords or PINs across different services or platforms.

Ensuring that any request you make (whether by phone, in person, or online) is properly verified using your Telsim account number, PIN, or password before we proceed.

Handling a Data Breach

We follow industry best practices and take extensive measures to keep your information secure. However, if a data breach occurs, we will respond in accordance with our obligations under the Privacy Act 2020. Depending on the severity of the breach, we may contact you, report it to the Privacy Commissioner, and/or disclose the breach publicly.

Retention of Your Personal Information

We only retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purpose for which it was collected. Once that purpose is complete, we either delete or de-identify your information so that it no longer identifies you.

More specifically:

Billing records are kept for seven years.

Text messages are securely stored for approximately six months to verify and resolve any delivery issues.

Call and live chat recordings between our contact centres and customers are generally kept for up to two years. They may be retained longer to investigate complaints, for customer service training, or if required by legislation or industry codes.

If you are a Telsim customer, we may continue to hold, use, and share your information even after our agreement ends. This allows us to address any matters related to your former account and make it easier to reconnect if you decide to rejoin us in the future.

How Can I Request Access to and Correct My Personal Information?

You can request access to the personal information we hold about you by contacting us. Our preferred method is in writing via support@telsim.nz.

If any of the information we hold is inaccurate, incomplete, or outdated, you may ask us to correct it. Before processing your request, we will:

Verify your identity,

Confirm your request, and

Inform you of any applicable charges.

In some cases, we may withhold certain information in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020 or the Telecommunications Information Privacy Code 2020. If we are unable to make the correction you requested, you have the right to provide a statement detailing the correction you are seeking, and we will attach it to your records.

Updates to This Policy

We may update this Policy if our practices change. Any updates will be posted on our website. We will provide you with two weeks’ notice of any changes on the website. If the changes are significant, we may also notify you directly. We encourage you to review this page regularly.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Policy, please reach out to us at support@telsim.nz. We will respond to your inquiry as soon as possible.

Updates to This Policy

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Policy, please reach out to us at support@telsim.nz. We will respond to your inquiry as soon as possible.

Privacy Policy