Privacy Policy

This privacy policy (‘Policy’) applies to The Skills Organisation Incorporated and all of its subsidiary companies (‘Skills, our, we or us’).

At Skills, we value your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal information. This Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your information when you interact with our website and digital platforms.

1. Who we are

Skills is an Incorporated Society and Registered Charity providing vocational training and workforce development services. Our goal is to empower individuals and organisations while safeguarding the privacy of your personal information. We are dedicated to maintaining the trust of our users as we evolve to meet changing technological and regulatory landscapes.

2. What information we collect

We may collect the following personal information about you:

Contact Details: Name, email address, phone number.
Demographic Information: Date of birth, gender, nationality, country of residence.
Education Information: Qualifications, study preferences, and enrolment status.
Technical Information: IP address, browser type, operating system, and online behaviour (e.g., pages visited and links clicked).
Engagement Data: Feedback, survey responses, and preferences to enhance your experience and improve our services.

We may also collect information about your visa applications or enrolment status directly from Immigration New Zealand or education providers, but only with your consent.

3. How we use your information

We use your personal information to:

Provide services you request, such as course enrolment support.
Enhance our digital platforms and create a personalised user experience.
Communicate important updates, deadlines, and relevant information tailored to your needs.
Share relevant information with Skills’ subsidiaries, agents, or education providers (with your consent).
Conduct research and optimise our marketing strategies using aggregated data and advanced analytics.
Innovate our services by leveraging user feedback and engagement insights.

We may use cookies to personalise your experience, track website usage, and identify areas for improvement.

4. Sharing your information

We only share your personal information when necessary to achieve the purposes outlined above, such as:

With education providers or Immigration New Zealand (with your consent).
With service providers that support our operations (e.g., cloud storage providers).
With government agencies or regulators when required by law.
In aggregated or anonymised formats to develop new solutions and improve user experience.

Whenever possible, we share de-identified or aggregated data to minimise exposure of personal information.

5. How we protect your information

We take data security seriously and use:

Password-protected servers for electronic storage.
Secured cabinets for physical records.
Trusted IT service providers located in New Zealand, Australia, and Singapore.
Regular audits and updates to security protocols to address emerging threats.

We retain personal information only as long as necessary to meet our business, legal, and reporting obligations. When no longer required, we securely destroy it and ensure third-party providers do the same.

6. Your rights

Under the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020, you have the right to:

Access: Request a copy of your personal information.
Correction: Request corrections to inaccurate or incomplete information.
Withdraw Consent: Revoke consent for specific uses of your data.
Complain: Lodge complaints about our handling of your personal information.

To exercise these rights, contact us at:

Email: jenny.gibbs@scgnz.org or jane.kennelly@scgnz.org

If you are not satisfied with our response, you can contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner at 0800 803 909 or visit privacy.org.nz.

7. Cookies and online tracking

Cookies are small data files stored on your device to enhance your online experience. We use cookies to:

Analyse website usage.
Personalise content and recommendations.
Improve functionality and performance through predictive analytics.

You can manage cookie preferences through your browser settings.

8. GDPR addendum (for European Union residents)

If you are based in the EU, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) provides you with additional rights, including:

Data portability: Obtain your data in a machine-readable format.
Right to erasure: Request deletion of your data when no longer needed.
Object to processing: Restrict how we use your data.
Right to know: Understand how we use automated decision-making, including profiling.

For GDPR-related inquiries, please contact us using the details provided above.

9. Changes to this Policy

We may update this Policy from time to time to reflect technological advancements, regulatory changes, or improvements to our services. Changes will be posted on this page, and significant updates will be communicated through a website notice. We encourage you to review this Policy periodically.