Privacy Policy

1. About this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how NCEATutor NZ ("we", "us", "our") collects, uses, and protects personal information when you use our website and services (the "Platform"). It applies to parents/caregivers, learners, tutors, and visitors to our website.

As an "agency" under the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020, we comply with the information privacy principles about collection, storage, use, and disclosure of personal information.

2. What personal information we collect

We also collect technical and usage information such as IP address, device/browser details, pages viewed, and actions taken on the Platform. This helps us keep the Platform secure and improve it over time.

3. How we collect personal information

• Directly from you when you create an account, submit an application, make a tutor request, or contact us.
• Through your use of the Platform (for example, log data, usage analytics, and error reports).
• From third-party services you choose to connect (for example, email providers or sign-in services), consistent with their terms and privacy policies.

4. Why we collect and use personal information

We collect only the personal information we reasonably need to operate the Platform and provide our services. We use personal information to:

• create and manage accounts for parents/caregivers and tutors;
• process tutor applications and maintain tutor profiles;
• match parents/caregivers with suitable tutors and share contact details when there is a match;
• communicate about requests, matches, updates, and safety matters;
• process tutor subscription payments using third-party payment providers;
• operate, maintain, and improve the Platform, including analytics, troubleshooting, and security;
• comply with New Zealand law and respond to lawful requests from regulators or enforcement agencies.

5. Under-18 learners

Accounts on the Platform are held by parents and caregivers. We treat learners under 18 as "young people" under the Privacy Act and take particular care when collecting and using their information. Learner profiles are kept as metadata linked to the parent/caregiver account, and we encourage parents to supervise lesson arrangements and communications.

6. When we share personal information

We share personal information only when it is necessary for the purposes set out above, or when the law allows or requires it. This may include:

• Matches and introductions: sharing parent/caregiver contact details with tutors, and tutor contact details with parents/caregivers, when a request or match is made.
• Service providers: hosting, database, email, analytics, logging, and payment providers that help us run the Platform (for example, Vercel, MongoDB Atlas, Stripe).
• Safety and legal: where we reasonably believe it is necessary to protect users or to comply with the law, respond to a complaint, or cooperate with Netsafe, Police, or regulators.

We do not sell personal information.

7. Overseas storage and transfers

Our service providers may store or process personal information outside New Zealand (for example, in Australia, the United States, or other countries). Where we disclose personal information overseas, we take reasonable steps to ensure the information is protected by safeguards that are comparable to the protections in the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020.

8. Security and retention

• We use technical and organisational measures such as HTTPS/TLS, access controls, logging, and regular updates to help protect personal information.
• Payment card details for tutor subscriptions are handled by our payment provider (for example, Stripe); we do not store full card numbers on our systems.
• We keep personal information only for as long as it is needed for the purposes set out in this Policy or as required by New Zealand law (for example, for tax or accounting records).
• When information is no longer required, we may securely delete it or anonymise it so it can no longer identify an individual.

9. Cookies and analytics

We may use cookies and similar technologies to:

• keep you logged in and maintain session security;
• remember your preferences and improve your experience;
• help us understand how the Platform is used (for example, which pages are visited and how often).

You can adjust your browser settings to block or delete cookies. Some cookies are essential for the Platform to function and disabling them may affect features such as login.

10. Your rights

Under the Privacy Act 2020, you have rights to:

• ask whether we hold personal information about you and request a copy of that information; and
• request correction of personal information that you believe is inaccurate, out of date, or incomplete.

To exercise these rights, or to ask us to consider deleting or limiting the use of certain information, please contact us at info@nceatutor.co.nz. We may need to verify your identity before we respond.

11. Privacy questions and complaints

If you have concerns about how we have handled your personal information, please contact us first so we can try to resolve the issue:

Email: info@nceatutor.co.nz

If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner in New Zealand. Their contact details are available at privacy.org.nz.

12. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will highlight them on the Platform or by email. If you continue to use the Platform after the changes take effect, you are taken to have accepted the updated Policy.

For more detail about how we use and protect information in context, please also refer to our Terms of Service.