Privacy Statement

Aorangi Debt Collection (ADC) are committed to ensuring that the privacy of your personal information is respected and maintained at all times. We are bound by the Privacy Act 2020, the Information Principles (IPP's), together with other applicable laws and codes. ADC only collects personal information as required or authorised by law. In particular, the Act authorises us to collect personal information from you and third parties in certain circumstances. Information about the ways and circumstances in which we collect personal information is contained under 'Obligations under the Privacy Act'.

ADC is committed to protecting and maintaining the privacy, accuracy and security of your personal information. 'Obligations under the Privacy Act' details how we manage your personal information and how we maintain, use and disclose that information. It also provides you with information about how you can access your personal information.

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner has a summary of your Privacy which can be found here.

Our Commitment

Aorangi Debt Collection (ADC) has a firm commitment to protecting the privacy of your personal information. All information collected through this site and other sources will be kept strictly confidential and held with the utmost care.

Obligations under the Privacy Act

Aorangi Debt Collection (ADC) is subject to the Privacy Act 2020. The Privacy Act contains a set of standards for the handling of your personal information known as Information Principles (IPPs). These principles set out standards for the handling of your personal information that Aorangi Debt Collection must meet.

What is personal information?

Personal information means information about an identifiable individual.

The types of personal information that ADC collects typically includes your full name, contact address, telephone and email details.

This information may be collected from the party you owe money to (credit provider), your authorised representative (legal or financial adviser) or via publicly available information.

How do we protect your personal information?

ADC takes reasonable steps to protect personal information from loss, unauthorised access, use, modification, disclosure, or other misuse. Our security measures include:

Restricting access to personal information to authorised employees and personnel on a need-to-know basis;
Using secure electronic systems and physical storage for personal information;
Implementing technical safeguards, including encryption and access controls, where appropriate;
Providing regular privacy and security training to our staff;
Reviewing and updating our security practices on an ongoing basis.

While we take all reasonable precautions, no data transmission over the internet or method of electronic storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Why do we collect personal information?

ADC collects and holds various types of personal information that is reasonably necessary depending on the nature of our interaction with you. The categories of persional information we may collect include, but are not limited to:

Providing debt collection and debt resolution services on behalf of our clients;
Personal information that will identify you and contact you in relation to repayment/maintenance of your account;
Credit Reporting and credit assessment activities;
Enter into payment arrangements with you and processing payments and any financial transactions;
Respond to your enquiries; either by telephone, text, email or by a personal visit through our field agents;
Ensure compliance with our legal and regulatory obligations, including the Credit Reporting Privacy Code 2020 (and any successor code) and other applicable legislation;

How we use your personal information?

We will not use your personal information for any purpose that is not related to the services we provide or our legitimate business functions, or for any purpose for which you would not reasonably expect us to use the information.

We will take all reasonable steps to ensure that your personal information, held by ADC is accurate, up-to date, complete, relevant and is not misleading before it is used or disclosed.

Disclosure of personal information

ADC only disclose personal information as authorised by law. We may disclose your personal information to the following categories of recipients, as necessary for the purposes described above:

Our clients: the creditor or business on whose behalf we are acting in relation to a debt or account;
Credit reporting agencies: For the purposes of credit reporting, credit assessment, and in accordance with the Credit Reporting Privacy Code;
Courts, tribunals, and regulators: Where required or permitted by law, including in connection with legal proceedings or regulatory inquiries;
Other debt collection or tracing agents: Where we engage third-party agents to assist in the recovery of a debt or the location of an individual;
Professional advisors: Including lawyers, auditors, and other professional service providers engaged by ADC;
Government agencies and law enforcement: Where required or authorised by law.

Your personal information will only be disclosed to those employees and authorised personnel who have a need to know in order to provide or administer our services.

Our service providers where we may outsource functions include process servers, information technology (operating system) maintenance, functionality and support or document storage, professional advisory, including lawyers, auditors and other professional service providers engaged by ADC.

ADC may disclose personal information to recipients located outside New Zealand in certain circumstances, including where we use overseas service providers and cloud-based systems.

Where we disclose personal information to a foreign person or entity, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that the recipient is subject to privacy protections that, overall, provide comparable safeguards to those under the Act, or that we have obtained your authorisation, or that the disclosure is otherwise permitted under Information Privacy Principle 12 of the Act.

The countries to which personal information may be transferred include New Zealand and Australia. We will update this list as our arrangements change.

Disclosure to credit reporting bureaus

ADC may disclose certain credit-related information to credit reporting and identity verification agencies. For example, where repayment obligations are not met, ADC may be entitled to list a payment default with a credit reporting agency. Credit reporting agencies may retain this information and include it in credit reports provided to lenders and other credit providers to assist in assessing creditworthiness.

ADC may disclose information to the following agencies:

Equifax NZ

Phone: 0800 692 733
Email: [email protected]

Centrix Group Limited

Phone: +64 9 969 9706
Email: [email protected]

How long do we keep your personal information?

ADC will not retain personal information longer than necessary for the purposes for which it was collected or as required by law.

When determining retention periods, we consider:

the nature of the information;
the purpose for which it was collected;
legal and regulatory obligations; and
the risks associated with ongoing storage.

When personal information is no longer required, ADC will take reasonable steps to securely destroy or de-identify it.

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

Request access to any personal information we hold about you. We will provide you with access to your personal information, subject to any grounds for refusal set out in the Act (for example, where disclosure would involve the unwarranted disclosure of the affairs of another individual, or where the information is subject to legal privilege).
Request correction of any personal information we hold about you that you believe is inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading. Where we are satisfied that a correction is warranted, we will amend the information. Where we decline to make a correction, we will, if you request, attach a statement of the correction sought to the information.

To make an access or correction request, please contact our Privacy Officer using the details set out in the Contact Us section below. We will respond to your request as soon as reasonably practicable, and in any event within 20 working days of receiving the request. There is no charge for making a request, although we may charge a reasonable fee for providing access to information where permitted by law.

Notifiable Privacy Breach

Under the Privacy Act 2020, ADC must notify the Office of the Privacy Commissioner and affected individuals where a privacy breach has caused, or is likely to cause, serious harm. If a notifiable privacy breach occurs, ADC will notify affected individuals as soon as reasonably practicable, in accordance with the requirements of the Act.