Privacy & Cookies PolicyWhat we collect, and why. Plainly.

Part AWho we are

1About this policy

Profer is run by Profer Limited, a New Zealand company ("we", "us", "our"). This policy explains how we collect, use, store and share personal information under the Privacy Act 2020 and its Information Privacy Principles. It applies to everyone who uses profer.co.nz or our services: customers using Profind, professionals using Promote, businesses using Procure, job candidates, referees, and people just browsing.

2Our Privacy Officer

We have a Privacy Officer who is responsible for how we handle personal information. You can reach them at [email protected], with "Privacy" in the subject line.

3Words we use

Personal information

information about an identifiable person, as defined in the Privacy Act 2020.

Customer

a person or business asking us to find a professional through Profind.

Professional

a tradesperson, contractor or other service provider who applies to, or is accepted onto, Profer.

Candidate

a person being considered for a role through Procure.

Part BWhat we collect

4Information you give us

4.1If you ask us to find a pro (Profind): your name, phone, email, preferred contact method, the job details, the job's location and address, your timeframe and budget, and any photos or documents you upload.

4.2If you apply to join as a pro (Promote): your name and contact details, business details (including NZBN or company number), the services and regions you cover, your experience, qualifications, licences and registration numbers, insurance details, references, and any documents or photos you upload.

4.3If you use Procure: your business and contact details and the role details. While we help you hire, we'll also handle candidates' information, such as CVs, interview notes and reference responses.

4.4If you email, call or message us: whatever you choose to tell us, and a record of the conversation.

5Information we get from other people

When we check a professional or a candidate, we may collect information from:

1. referees you've named;
2. public registers, such as licensing and practising-certificate registers and the Companies Office;
3. publicly available reviews and public business pages; and
4. with your written consent, credit reporting agencies and criminal history checks, through our specialist partners.

We also collect feedback from customers about jobs a professional has done through Profer.

When we collect information about you from someone other than you, we'll let you know: what we collected, where it came from, and why. We'll do this when we collect it, or as soon as we reasonably can afterwards, unless the law says we don't need to.

6Information collected automatically

When you visit our website, we may collect technical information such as your IP address, browser type, device, the pages you view and roughly where you are. Some of this comes from cookies. See Part H.

7If you'd rather not give us something

You don't have to give us any information. But if you don't, we may not be able to match you, check you or provide the service you're after.

Part CHow we use it

8Why we collect it

We use personal information to:

1. match job requests with suitable, checked professionals;
2. check professionals before they join, and keep checking them afterwards;
3. check that job requests are genuine;
4. provide Procure hiring support, including screening candidates and checking references;
5. send pay requests, invoices and receipts, and recover unpaid debts;
6. look into complaints and resolve problems between customers and professionals;
7. keep our website working, secure and easy to use;
8. send you news about Profer, but only if you've opted in; and
9. meet our legal obligations.

We only use your information for the reason we collected it, or a directly related reason, unless you agree otherwise or the law allows it.

9Marketing messages

We'll only send you marketing emails or texts if you've agreed to them, as required by the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007. Every message has an easy way to unsubscribe, and we'll stop within five working days. Service messages about a job, an application or an account aren't marketing, so you'll still get those.

10Photos and documents

We won't use your personal information, photos or documents in our marketing without your permission.

Part DWho we share it with

11The people your request involves

If you're a customer, we share your job details and contact details with the professionals we match you with, so they can get in touch. We only share your full address with a professional if the job needs it. If you're a professional, we share your name, business and contact details with customers whose jobs you accept. If you use Procure, we share shortlisted candidates' information with you, and only with you.

12Services that help us run Profer

We use a small number of trusted providers to run Profer. They only get the information they need to do that job for us, and they aren't allowed to use it for anything else:

Cloudflare

hosts our website and protects it from attacks and spam.

Bootstrap Studio

the tool our website is built with. If our forms are sent through its form service, it passes what you type in a form on to us.

Microsoft

our business Microsoft 365 account, including OneDrive, where we store job requests, applications, documents and our records, and our email.

Stripe

processes card payments. We never see or store your full card number.

Xero

our accounting software, where we keep invoices, receipts and payment records.

If we add or change a provider, we'll update this list.

13Information stored overseas

13.1Some of our providers store or process information outside New Zealand. Cloudflare runs servers around the world, including in New Zealand, and is based in the United States. Our Microsoft 365 files and email are currently stored in Microsoft's data centres in Australia. Microsoft has committed to storing our core Microsoft 365 data in New Zealand, so some of it may move here. Xero is a New Zealand company, but stores its data overseas, mainly in the United States. Stripe, and Bootstrap Studio's form service, may process information overseas, including in Europe and the United States.

13.2Before we send personal information overseas, we take reasonable steps to make sure it will be protected in a way that, overall, is comparable to the Privacy Act 2020. Each of these providers has agreed in its own terms to protect personal information to a comparable standard.

14Checks, debts and the law

We share information with credit reporting agencies and background-check partners only with the written consent of the person being checked, and in line with the Credit Reporting Privacy Code 2020. If an account goes unpaid, we may share details with debt collectors and credit reporting agencies, as set out in our Terms of Use. We'll also share information if the law requires it, or where the Privacy Act allows it, for example to prevent a serious threat to someone's health or safety.

15What we never do

We never sell your personal information, and we don't share it with advertisers.

Part EStorage & security

16Keeping it safe

We take reasonable steps to protect your information from loss, misuse, and unauthorised access, use, change or disclosure. That includes secure systems, limiting who can see it, and only keeping paper copies where we have to.

17If something goes wrong

No system is perfectly secure. If a privacy breach happens that has caused, or is likely to cause, serious harm, we'll tell the people affected and the Privacy Commissioner as soon as practicable, as the Privacy Act requires.

18How long we keep it

We only keep information as long as we need it for the reasons above, or as long as the law requires. For example, we keep financial records for at least seven years for tax purposes. After that, we securely delete or anonymise it. If a professional leaves Profer, or doesn't pass our checks, we may keep a basic record of why, so the same problem doesn't come back under a new name.

Part FYour rights

19Seeing your information

You can ask to see the personal information we hold about you. Email [email protected]. We'll respond as soon as we can, and within 20 working days. It's free. We'll need to confirm who you are first. In some cases the law lets us hold something back, for example to protect someone else's privacy or where information was given to us in confidence, such as a confidential reference. If that happens, we'll tell you why.

20Correcting your information

If you think something we hold about you is wrong, ask us to correct it. If we don't agree it needs changing, you can ask us to attach a note to your information saying what you think it should say.

21Deleting your information

You can ask us to delete your information or close your account. We'll do that unless we need to keep something for a legal reason, an unresolved complaint or an unpaid account.

Part GQuestions & complaints

22Talk to us first

If you have a question or a concern about how we've handled your information, email our Privacy Officer at [email protected]. A real person will look into it and get back to you.

23The Privacy Commissioner

If you're not happy with how we've dealt with your concern, you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner at privacy.org.nz or on 0800 803 909.

Part HCookies policy

24What cookies are

Cookies are small text files a website saves on your device. They help the site remember things, like that you've already closed a pop-up, and help us see which pages people actually use. Similar tools, like pixels and local storage, work the same way, so when we say "cookies" here we mean all of them.

25The cookies we use

Essential

Keep the website working and secure. For example, Cloudflare sets cookies that tell real visitors apart from bots and spam attacks, and our site may remember your cookie choices. The site won't work properly without these, so they're always on.

Analytics

Tell us how people use the site, such as which pages they visit and where they leave, so we can improve it. The information is grouped together and isn't used to identify you. These are optional.

Marketing

Let us measure whether our ads on social media are working, and show Profer ads to people who've visited our site. These are optional.

26Other people's cookies

Some parts of our site come from other providers, such as Cloudflare, our form service, fonts, embedded videos and social media links. Those providers may set their own cookies or collect your IP address. Their own privacy policies cover how they use that information.

27Turning cookies off

You can choose which optional cookies to allow, and change your mind at any time. You can also block or delete cookies in your browser settings. Look under "Privacy" or "Cookies" in Chrome, Safari, Firefox or Edge. If you block essential cookies, some parts of the site, like our forms, may not work.

28How long cookies last

Some cookies are deleted when you close your browser. Others stay on your device for a set time, usually no more than two years, or until you delete them.

Part IChanges

29Updating this policy

We may update this policy from time to time, for example when the law changes or we add a new service. The current version will always be on this page, with the date it was last updated at the top. If we make a big change, we'll tell you by email or on the website.