top of page

Our privacy policy

How we keep your personal information secure

​

This Privacy Policy sets out how we collect, store, use and disclose your personal information. In this policy, “we”, “us” and “our” means Contact Energy Limited. “Personal information” is any information that identifies you, including your name, contact information, credit card details or anything else which would enable someone to identify you based on that information. It does not include aggregated or anonymised information.

We deal with your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020, the Telecommunications Information Privacy Code 2020  and this Privacy Policy. Further information about privacy and your rights can be found at privacy.org.nz.

You can choose to not provide us with your personal information, however we may not be able to provide you with access to certain information or our services as a result.

We may change this policy by uploading a revised copy. Any changes to our policy will apply from the date a revised policy is uploaded. If we make any significant changes to this policy, we will take extra steps to notify you in a way that we think is appropriate (including via website notice, email, text or mobile app). This policy was last updated on 19 June 2023.

If you’re applying to work with us, please read our Careers Privacy Policy to find out how we use and disclose Personal Information in relation to your application for employment.

 

Personal Information we collect

We collect information so that we can supply energy and other services (such as mobile and broadband) to you, and to be able interact with you effectively. Information we collect includes:

Information about you: including your name, contact details, date of birth, property details, customer account login information and medical information (in limited cases for medically dependent consumers) and information on how you use our products and services. 

The content of your communications with us: including any phone calls, emails and social media conversations with us.

Notification settings and communication preferences: including marketing preferences, and app notification options.

Website/ social media usage information: including the details of your visit to our site/ social media platforms (e.g. time and date of visit, duration, pages viewed, IP address, browser and your device’s operating system).

We may collect information from third parties to enhance our products and services, however, when we do so, this information is collected in aggregated form and does not personally identify you.

 

How we collect your personal information

We collect your information in a variety of ways, including:

Directly from you, for example when you apply and/or open an account with us, when you interact with us using our products or services, contact us or enter a competition.

From third parties, for example electricity supply partners (including lines companies, meter equipment providers and readers), Utilities Disputes Limited, credit agencies and marketing partners such as Google Analytics.

From cookies and other digital tracking tools, for example first- and third-party cookies and tracking technology to collect information relating to your website interactions, including usage and demographic reporting. (We have further information below on how we use cookies and tracking tools and how you can opt out).

 

How we use and disclose your personal information

We’ll use and disclose personal information in accordance with our general terms and conditions to:

  • confirm your identity and address specific connection identifiers;

  • provide the services you have requested or administering your account;

  • provide personalised user experiences in our website;

  • carry out credit checks or otherwise assess your creditworthiness; 

  • advise you of any products or services which we consider may be of interest to you or otherwise communicate with you;

  • conduct, or contact you for the purpose of market research;

  • collect debts; 

  • implement any scheme for the payment of rebates to customers

  • provide you with any services you have requested;

  • assist us in carrying out our responsibilities under the Consumer Care Guidelines published by the Electricity Authority;

  • share credit information and your payment history with other energy supply companies, either directly, indirectly or through credit agencies, for the purpose of those companies carrying out credit reference checks in relation to the supply of energy or related services to you;

  • protect against illegal and fraudulent activities; or 

  • comply with our contractual, legal and regulatory obligations.

​​

We may disclose your information to third parties for the purposes listed above. Those third parties may use your information, but only for the same purposes. Third parties include:

  • other electricity retailers;

  • metering equipment providers; 

  • lines companies;

  • telecommunications carriers and service providers;

  • advertising partners;

  • credit agencies and debt collectors;

  • civil defence organisations and emergency services;

  • government or regulatory bodies;

  • Utilities Disputes; and

  • authorised persons listed on your account or nominated by you.

 

How we keep your personal information safe

We’re committed to making our website and apps secure. We take all reasonable steps to ensure the personal information we collect is stored in a secure environment that is accessed only by authorised personnel for legitimate business purposes.

We use appropriate security safeguards in line with industry standards to keep your personal information protected. If we need to store your information in the cloud (which may be held outside of New Zealand), we ensure our cloud providers have standards and controls in line with industry standards to keep your information protected.

We retain information for as long as reasonably required unless we are legally required to hold it longer.

We may assume that any verbal or online request or instruction we receive is authorised by you, if it’s accompanied by suitable verification such as your Contact account number, name, date of birth, address, email or password.

If we become aware of a data breach that we think could compromise your security, we’ll tell you as soon as we can.

If you use Contact Mobile and choose callerID restriction, we will prevent your number being shown on any receiver. However, your number may still be displayed to emergency or other services, when you send a TXT message and to us. Where you do not choose to use callerID restriction, your number may be displayed to the person you have called or sent a message to.

 

Cookies

Our website uses cookies to collect and store information about your use of our website. A cookie is a small text file that is transferred by a web server and stored on the hard drive of your computer or mobile device. It can only be read by the server that sent it to you.

First-party cookies enable our website to recognise you and keep track of your preferences when you use or visit our website. In addition, our website uses a range of third-party cookies, where your information is also used by that third party in accordance with its privacy policy, such as Google Analytics.

A web beacon is a small image file on a web page that can be used to collect certain information from your computer, such as an IP address, the time content is viewed, a browser type, and the existence of cookies previously set by the same server. You have the option to render some web beacons unusable by rejecting their associated cookies. The web beacon may still record an anonymous visit from your IP address, but cookie information will not be recorded.

This information does not identify you personally and you remain anonymous unless you have otherwise provided us with personal information.

Most web browsers will allow you to set some control over cookies in your browser settings. This includes deleting them from your browser or disabling them altogether. If you do choose to set your browser to disable all cookies, this may affect your ability to use some of the features on our site.

For more information on cookies and how you can manage them, visit allaboutcookies.org or aboutcookies.org

 

Third party analytics and tracking

We use Google Analytics to collect and analyse information about website usage and for marketing purposes using third-party cookies and web beacons. The information generated by the cookie is transmitted to Google, who then produce reports about behaviour and usage on our website – enabling us to better understand and improve your browsing experience. This data is aggregated and cannot personally identify you.

The advertising features we have implemented include:

​

Cross platform reporting to help us understand how you access our website across your various devices when logged in to your Google account.

Remarketing to keep track of the content you’re interested in and tailor our advertising to ensure the right offers are shown to you after you leave our site (as a result, you may see ads from Contact when you visit other websites).

​

Advertising, demographic, and interest reporting to provide us with an overview of visitor information broken down by age, gender and interests so that we can understand user behaviour and give you a better experience when you visit our site.

Google’s Privacy Policy can be found here. To learn more about how Google Analytics collects and processes information visit this page. You can opt out of Google Analytics Advertising Features by changing your Google Ad Settings or by using the Google Analytics’ opt outs.

 

Your right to access and correct your personal information

At any time you may ask to inspect, update or correct personal information that we may hold about you. We will provide you with access to your information. If you want to know what information we hold about you, please contact us.

 

Complaints

If you have a privacy related complaint, please contact us. We’ll do our best to resolve your complaint straight away but if it is complex, we may need to investigate it for you. 
If we cannot adequately address your privacy concerns, you have the right to complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.

bottom of page