Privacy

This Privacy Statement sets out how the Banking Ombudsman Scheme (BOS) collects, uses, and shares personal information, and how we promote your privacy.

Personal information

Personal information is information about an identifiable individual (ie you).

Our purposes

Personal information about you will be collected primarily to provide our dispute resolution services, and to communicate with you about BOS and the sector.*

We also use personal information without identifying you to promote awareness of topics and issues, evaluate the effectiveness of our scheme and communications, and for reporting on the scheme to stakeholders and the public. 

*All of our communications comply with the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007, including providing the option to unsubscribe. 

How we promote your privacy

You can interact with us in ways where we will not try to identify you.

We provide you opportunities to control what information you provide to us and who it can be shared with. We rely a lot on your consent in order to provide our services. We will ensure you are aware of how we intend to use and share your information when you give us consent and we will respect your choices. 

We actively keep an eye on our processes, systems, and practices to ensure we are meeting our obligations to you. You can find out more about our privacy programme below.

Where we collect personal information from

We collect information:

  • directly from you (or your representative) whenever possible;
  • from parties to a complaint where you authorise it;
  • from people using our website;
  • from responses to our communications;
  • from third parties who can assist by providing information eg the New Zealand Police.

It is gathered in letters, emails, forms, by recording calls and taking notes of conversations, in surveys, by using cookies and web tracking software, and from our social media platforms.

Third parties we use

We use third party providers to manage our work, enable us to interact with people efficiently, and to gain insights into how we perform. We use IT systems to do this, including our case management system (CMS), website management system, social media platforms, analytics tools, and Microsoft Office products. More detail is available below.

Our IT networks and systems use servers and support within New Zealand and overseas. Our CMS is managed and hosted in New Zealand.

Disclosure

If you have made a complaint about your bank or financial provider, we will need to disclose identifiable personal information to the parties involved in order to investigate and resolve it. Transparency is important to promote natural justice. If there is sensitive information that you do not want us to disclose to the bank, please let us know.  

We will disclose identifiable personal information to trusted service providers to help us with our activities, like running our IT systems, conducting surveys, or providing us with professional advice.

We will not otherwise share identifiable personal information unless you consent or we are required to by law.

We may publish a case note about your complaint if it will help others but we will change information so it does not identify you. All our reporting is done on an aggregate basis to prevent anybody being identified.

Your privacy rights

You have the right to access the personal information we hold about you and to correct it where it is wrong.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Statement or requests relating to your personal information, please contact us.

How to make a complaint

If you wish to complain about how we have handled your personal information you should complain in writing. If you need help lodging a complaint, you can contact us.

You may also make a complaint to the Privacy Commissioner.

How to contact us

Our office hours are 8:30am to 5:00pm Monday to Friday (New Zealand time). We are closed on public holidays and over the Christmas and new year break.

Phone: 0800 805 950 or 04 915 0400 | email: [email protected] | www.bankomb.org.nz.