Privacy Policy

1. Commitment to privacy

Wellington Topics (“we”, “us”, “our”) respects your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and disclose personal information when you use this website and related services (the “Site”). We handle personal information in accordance with New Zealand’s Privacy Act 2020 and its information privacy principles. 

2. What this policy covers

This policy applies when you:

• browse the Site;

• create or use an account (if enabled);

• submit an incident report, comment, listing, or other content (including photos);

• contact us, report content, or interact with moderation.

3. Key definitions

• Personal information: information about an identifiable individual.

• Public content: content you choose to publish on the Site (for example, report text, suburb, map location, photos).

• Safety and integrity data: technical logs and signals used to protect the Site and users (for example, IP address, device data, spam scores, moderation actions).

4. Information we collect

4.1 Information you provide

Depending on how you use the Site, we may collect:

• Account and contact details: name, email address, phone number, username, and communication preferences.

• Report information: incident date/time, incident type/category, suburb/region, location description, map pin location, and report narrative.

• Uploads: images and other files you upload, plus any metadata contained in those files (for example, date/time taken, device type, and location data if present).

• Messages to us: enquiries, complaints, takedown requests, and anything you include in communications.

• Payments (if enabled): billing contact information and transaction references. We generally do not store full payment card details; payment processors handle those.

4.2 Information we collect automatically

When you use the Site we may collect:

• IP address, browser type, device type, operating system, language, referral pages, pages viewed, timestamps, and approximate location derived from IP.

• cookies and similar technologies (see section 11).

• security logs (for example, suspected bots, repeated failed logins, rate limiting, and abuse signals).

4.3 Information from third parties

We may receive information from:

• hosting, security, and anti-spam providers;

• analytics providers;

• email delivery providers;

• payment providers (if enabled);

• publicly available sources, but only where relevant to the Site’s purpose or to prevent misuse.

5. Public content and user reports

5.1 What may be public

If you submit content to the Site, some or all of it may be publicly visible, including:

• your report text and category;

• suburb/region and map location (which may be precise if you place an exact pin);

• images you upload;

• timestamps and general activity context (for example, “posted 2 hours ago”).

Public content can be copied, shared, cached, or indexed by third parties. If content is removed from the Site, third-party copies may remain available.

5.2 Do not post other people’s personal information

You should not include personal information about other people in a report unless you have a lawful reason and the right to do so. This includes names, phone numbers, private addresses, and identifying images.

5.3 Moderation and preservation

We may review, restrict, redact, edit, remove, or refuse to publish content to protect privacy, safety, or legal compliance. We may preserve removed content and associated logs where reasonably necessary for:

• safety and security;

• enforcing our rules;

• investigating misuse;

• responding to complaints or legal requests.

6. How we use personal information

We use personal information to:

• operate the Site and provide features;

• publish and administer user submissions where applicable;

• respond to enquiries and requests;

• moderate content and enforce our rules;

• detect, prevent, and investigate spam, fraud, and abuse;

• maintain security, troubleshoot, and improve performance;

• comply with New Zealand law and respond to lawful requests.

7. Disclosures and sharing

We may disclose personal information to:

7.1 Service providers

Third parties that assist with Site operations such as hosting, storage, security, analytics, mapping, email delivery, and payment processing. They may process information only to provide services to us and subject to appropriate confidentiality and security measures.

7.2 Legal and safety disclosures

We may disclose information where we reasonably believe disclosure is necessary to:

• comply with law, court orders, or lawful requests;

• investigate suspected unlawful activity or serious wrongdoing;

• prevent or reduce a serious threat to public safety or an individual’s safety;

• protect our rights, property, users, moderators, and staff.

7.3 Business changes

If the Site is sold, merged, or restructured, information may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to this policy.

8. Cross-border processing

Some service providers may store or process information outside New Zealand. Where this occurs, we take reasonable steps to ensure personal information is protected in a manner consistent with New Zealand privacy requirements. New Zealand Legislation+1

9. Data security

We use reasonable technical and organisational safeguards to protect personal information. No system is completely secure. You are responsible for keeping your login credentials confidential and for any activity that occurs under your account.

10. Privacy breaches

If we become aware of a privacy breach, we assess it and, where required, notify affected individuals and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner as soon as practicable. As a guide, the Office expects notification no later than 72 hours after becoming aware of a notifiable breach. Privacy New Zealand+2Privacy New Zealand+2

11. Cookies

We use cookies and similar technologies to:

• enable core functions (where applicable);

• remember preferences;

• measure traffic and performance;

• protect against abuse and automated attacks.

You can control cookies via your browser settings. Some features may not work correctly if cookies are disabled.

12. Retention

We keep personal information only as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes set out in this policy, including moderation, security, dispute handling, and legal compliance. We may retain logs and removed content longer where reasonably required for safety, compliance, or evidentiary reasons.

13. Your rights (New Zealand)

Under the Privacy Act 2020 you can request:

• access to personal information we hold about you; and

• correction of that information if you believe it is wrong. Privacy New Zealand+1

We may request proof of identity before responding.

If we do not agree a correction is required, you can ask us to attach a statement of correction to the record. Privacy New Zealand

14. Complaints

If you have a privacy concern, contact us first using the Site contact form so we can try to resolve it. If you are not satisfied, you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner. Privacy New Zealand+1

15. Children

The Site is not intended for children under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16. If you believe a child has provided personal information, contact us and we will take reasonable steps to remove or restrict it.

16. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The latest version applies from the date it is published on the Site.

17. Contact

For privacy requests, takedown requests, or privacy complaints, contact us via the Site contact form.

Last Updated: 29 December 2025