National Provident Fund

To talk to someone about your scheme, phone 0800 628 776

Privacy Policy

The purpose of this policy is to outline how we gather and manage data to protect our members privacy.

This privacy policy applies to all information held by the Board of Trustees of the National Provident Fund (Board). In this privacy policy, references to ‘we’, ‘us’ and ‘our’ are references to the Board and Annuitas Management Limited (Annuitas), as applicable.

We aim to ensure all personal information that you provide to us is managed in accordance with this privacy policy and applicable New Zealand legislation. We also aim to ensure that all personal information we hold about you is used in a fair, honest and ethical manner with due regard to your privacy.

Collection of Information

We collect and hold personal information for the purpose of the ongoing management and administration of the NPF schemes, to enable us to fulfil our legal and statutory obligations (under both domestic and international law), and to improve the services we provide to you. We may collect personal information via our website at www.npf.co.nz (website) and when you provide personal information to us in relation to the NPF schemes.

Datacom Connect Limited (Datacom), as administrator of the schemes, and Annuitas, which provides staff who act in management and secretarial roles on behalf of the Board, will also have access to any personal information you provide to us. Your personal information may also be disclosed to agents of these parties for the purpose for which it was provided.  If we are required to disclose your information to any person or entity outside of New Zealand, we will either ensure that the recipient is required to protect your personal information in a way that provides comparable safeguards to those in the Privacy Act 2020, or we will contact you to obtain your authorisation to the disclosure.

Website

When you use the website our server automatically logs the following non-personal information, which is provided by your browser:

  • your server's IP address (a number which is unique to the machine through which you are connected to the internet) or your personal IP address;
  • the type of browser and operating system you are using;
  • the domain name of the referring site (e.g. if you linked to this site from a search engine result page, the name of the search engine used and the keywords entered are automatically logged);
  • the date and time of your visit; and
  • the (URL) address of the pages accessed and the documents downloaded.

This information does not personally identify you. We may analyse this non-personal information for certain trends and statistics, such as which parts of the website users are visiting and how long they spend there. We may also use this non-personal information to assist with the technical development of the website and for research and development purposes.

We will not try to identify you or your browsing activities except as required or authorised by law or if your usage of the website is causing any kind of technical difficulties for the website. We may in these circumstances identify your IP address and approach your provider to contact you. No cookies are currently used on the NPF website.

We may require personal information from you in relation to your use of the website, such as your name, postal address or email address, fax or phone number. You will be asked to supply this personal information voluntarily.

This personal information will only be used for the purpose for which it was provided and to communicate with you. We may use any personal information you provide us via the website to conduct market research surveys, for statistical analysis to determine website usage and, for direct marketing purposes relating to our business, to tailor our services to match your needs and improve the website generally. An 'opt-out' box will appear each time you are asked to provide personal information for additional purposes. Please tick this box if you do not wish your personal information to be used in this way.

Schemes

We may require personal information from you for the purpose of the ongoing management and administration of the NPF schemes, to enable us to fulfil our statutory obligations, and to improve the services we provide to you. This personal information may include your bank account details, medical information, employment history and wage or salary rates.

This personal information may be used for:

  • calculation and payment of entitlements
  • determination of initial and subsequent eligibility for entitlements
  • determination of contribution rates
  • actuarial valuation of liabilities

You will be asked to supply this personal information voluntarily, however in some circumstances your entitlements under the schemes, or ongoing payment of your entitlements, may be adversely affected if you do not disclose personal information as required, inadequately disclose personal information, or fail to update your personal information.

This personal information will only be used for the purpose for which it was provided and to communicate with you.

Information matching

Information matching is the process of electronically or manually comparing information held by us with records held by other government agencies. The Board currently matches member records with records held by the Department of Internal Affairs in Births, Deaths and Marriages pursuant to a Death Approved Information Sharing Agreement. Additional information on the AISA can be found at the Department of Internal Affairs website at https://www.dia.govt.nz/privacy-information-sharing#death-aisa.

Births, Deaths and Marriages provide a 4 weekly schedule of registered deaths to the Board. These are compared with NPF member records. If a match is found and confirmed, the member's record is updated accordingly, once verified.

The Board may also occasionally use data held by Births, Deaths and Marriages to identify possible dependants of deceased members.

Confidentiality and Security

The Board, Datacom and Annuitas take reasonable steps to ensure that any identifiable personal information you provide to us is held in a secure environment to minimise the risk of loss and unauthorised use, modification or disclosure.

Access to, and Correction of, Personal Information

Under the Privacy Act 2020 you have the right to request access to information we hold about you where that information is readily retrievable. You may request access to your personal information by writing to the Board of Trustees of the National Provident Fund, PO Box 3390, Wellington 6140, New Zealand. We will make a decision in relation to your request and notify you of the decision within 15 working days of receipt of your request. We may, in certain circumstances, extend the time limit by notice to you.

We reserve the right to refuse you access to your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020 and the Official Information Act 1982.

You can request correction (updating) of personal information we hold about you in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020. It is important you inform the scheme administrator, Datacom, of any change to your personal information (for example your address, bank account details, change of employer etc).

Further Information

If you have an enquiry or concern about our privacy policy, please contact the Board of Trustees of the National Provident Fund as follows:

Level 12, The Todd Building, 95 Customhouse Quay

Wellington 6011, New Zealand

OR

P O Box 3390, Wellington 6140, New Zealand

Email:  enquiries@npf.co.nz

The Chief Executive of the Board is the designated Privacy Officer.

If you are not satisfied with our response to your concern, or would like more detailed information about the Privacy Act, you may wish to contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner at www.privacy.org.nz.