Privacy
How we protect your privacy on our website.
Purpose and scope
The purpose of this privacy statement is to let users of the Motor Vehicle Traders Register (MVTR) website and public register know when we collect personal information and what we do with it.
Transparency statement
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s (MBIE) transparency statement describes the kind of information MBIE gathers to ensure it can effectively:
- protect people, information, and places
- ensure regulatory compliance, and
- detect and prevent criminal offending.
MBIE’s transparency statement(external link) — Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
Collection, storage and use
You can use the Motor Vehicle Traders Register website and the public register without disclosing any personal information. However, MBIE may collect statistical information about your visit, which is outlined in more detail below.
The Motor Vehicle Sales Act 2003 requires motor vehicle traders to be registered under that Act. When registering they are required to provide personal information that the Registrar of Motor Vehicle Traders (“the Registrar”) uses to process their application for registration and otherwise administer the register of motor vehicle traders, and which is also used to enforce the provisions of the Act as well as other consumer protection legislation. Failure to provide this personal information may result in an application not being accepted for registration or breach of the Act.
The Motor Vehicle Sales Act 2003 also allows other parties to share personal and other information about you with the Registrar if:
- You or your company may be in the business of motor vehicle trading, or
- You or your company have registered or are registering as a motor vehicle trader.
These other parties may include the Comptroller of Customs, and the Ministry of Transport. This information is also used by the Registrar for the purpose of confirming the information on the register.
Subpart 4 (Information-gathering powers) of the Motor Vehicle Sales Act 2003(external link) — New Zealand Legislation
Voluntary disclosure of personal information
You may choose to voluntarily provide personal information through this website (for example, in our complaint forms). This information will be viewable by site administrators, MBIE staff, and third-party contractors who may administrate or work on the site.
Personal information provided for the public register may be disclosed as indicated below.
Holding of information
When you provide personal information or it is collected about you, it will be held by MBIE in its own right or on behalf of the Registrar. It may be stored or accessed on behalf of MBIE by authorised third parties, such as third-party contractors, to the extent that is necessary – for example, for them to administer or work on the register. MBIE will store and keep it secure in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020, and any agents will be subject to MBIE’s information security and privacy requirements.
Disclosure of information
The Registrar discloses personal and other information by making information on the register available through the website.
This information is able to be searched for the following purposes by:
- an individual, or a person with the consent of the individual, for the purpose of searching for information about that individual.
- a person for the purpose of determining:
- who is responsible for a motor vehicle trading business:
- how to contact a motor vehicle trader registered under this Act:
- whether or not a person is registered as a motor vehicle trader under this Act.
The register is only able to be searched by reference to specific criteria set out in the Act. Certain personal information such as unique identifiers (e.g. passport numbers) will not be disclosed on the public register.
The Registrar may also disclose personal information in certain circumstances as authorised by the Act, any other Act or as permitted by the Privacy Act 2020.
Otherwise, the Registrar and MBIE will generally not share personal information that is provided or collected through this website or the public register, unless:
- you have given us consent to share it, or
- it is necessary to do so for the purpose for which you gave us the information.
MBIE will also not disclose personal information provided or collected through this website, unless required or otherwise permitted by law.
The Registrar and MBIE may also be required to disclose information under the Official Information Act 1982, or to a Parliamentary Select Committee or Parliament in response to a Parliamentary Question.
Use of personal information
The Registrar and MBIE will generally only use personal information provided through this website or the public register for the purpose you provided it — for example, to administer, evaluate and improve the site, to improve our services, or to action or respond to the information provided, or to enforce or administer the motor vehicle traders regime.
The personal information provided for the Motor Vehicle Traders register will be used:
- to determine whether your applications may be approved, and in connection with auditing complaints and disciplinary processes;
- to determine whether legislative requirements disqualify you from registration as a motor vehicle trader;
- for the maintenance and administration of the public register of motor vehicle traders;
- for the maintenance and administration of the motor vehicle traders registration regime;
- to communicate information to you relating to the public register of motor vehicle traders, the motor vehicle traders registration regime and motor vehicle trading;
- to enforce the provisions of the Act or of any consumer protection legislation;
- other allowable purposes to administer the register.
The Registrar and MBIE may also use personal information provided to us through this website for other reasons permitted under the Privacy Act 2020 — for example, with your consent, for a directly related purpose, or where the law otherwise permits or requires it.
Records and retention of personal information
The Registrar and MBIE will generally only retain personal information as long as it is required for the purposes for which the information may lawfully be used – subject to the requirements to maintain the register.
Public records
Where any information provided through this site — which may include personal information — constitutes public records, it will be retained to the extent required by the Public Records Act 2005.
Rights of access and correction
You have the right to:
- find out from us whether the Registrar or MBIE holds personal information about you
- access that information, and
- if applicable, request corrections to that information.
If the Registrar or MBIE have a good reason for refusing a request for correction, you're entitled to request that a statement be attached to the information of the correction that was sought but not made.
If you want to check personal information that the Registrar or MBIE holds, please write to:
Privacy Officer
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
PO Box 5488
Wellington 6011
For more information on the privacy laws in New Zealand and contact details for the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, please visit the Privacy Commissioner's website.
Statistical information
You can browse this website without having to disclose any personal data. However, MBIE may collect statistical information about your visit to help us analyse usage and improve the website. This information includes, but is not limited to:
- your IP address
- the search terms you used
- the pages you accessed on our site and the links you clicked on
- the date and time you visited the site
- the referring site (if any) from which you clicked to reach this site
- the device you used to access the site
- your operating system (e.g. Windows XP, Mac OS X)
- the type of web browser you use (e.g. Chrome, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox)
- other things, such as your screen resolution and the language setting of your browser.
This information:
- is viewable by website administrators and certain other MBIE staff
- may also be shared with other government agencies
- may be used for statistical or research purposes, but won't be published in a form that could reasonably be expected to identify you.
Cookies
This site uses Google Analytics cookies to provide traffic analysis, which helps MBIE improve this website. None of these cookies collect identifiable information about you.
You can disable or delete cookies through your browser settings. To learn more about cookies and how you can manage them in your web browser, please visit the All About Cookies website.
Security
MBIE websites and platforms have security measures in place to prevent the loss, misuse and alteration of information under our control. In order to maintain the cyber security of our systems and information, MBIE systems are subject to ongoing monitoring (including activity logging), analysis and auditing.
MBIE may use information about your use of its websites and other IT systems to prevent unauthorised access or attacks on these systems or to resolve such events. MBIE may use this information even if you're not involved in such activity.
MBIE may utilise services from one or more third party suppliers to monitor or maintain the cyber security of its systems and information. These third party suppliers will have access to monitoring and logging information, as well as information processed on MBIE websites and other IT systems.
MBIE uses the MBIE Registers online platform to manage applications, registrations and other matters relating to the Motor Vehicle Traders register. More information about this online platform and the registers that use it can be found on the MBIE website.
MBIE Registers (Privacy)(external link) — Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
If you have any questions about the use of this online platform, please contact us.