Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Te Awe — Wellington Māori Business Network (“Te Awe”, “we”, “us”) is the kaitiaki of the personal information you share with us. We are an “agency” under the Privacy Act 2020 and we comply with the thirteen information privacy principles in that Act, including IPP 3A, which came into force on 1 May 2026.

Postal: PO Box 24107, Manners Mall, Wellington, New Zealand

Privacy Officer: Kaye-Maree Dunn, Chair: chair@teawe.maori.nz - 021 0292 4328

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2. Our commitment - kaitiakitanga o ngā raraunga

Te Awe exists because pakihi Māori trust us with their relationships, their reputations and their business information. We treat that information as a taonga, not an asset.

In practice, this means:

• Rangatiratanga. You decide what is shared about you and your pakihi. We do not put your business in front of a buyer, sponsor, funder or partner without your agreement.

• Whakapapa. We tell you where information about you came from, including when we did not get it from you directly.

• Whanaungatanga. We are accountable to the members whose information we hold, not only to the law.

• Kotahitanga. Where we report on the collective - for example, the combined economic contribution of Te Awe members - we use aggregated, de-identified information, and we do not name a member business without their consent.

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3. Information we collect directly from you

Depending on how you engage with us, we may collect:

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Membership

• Your name, role/title and business name

• Contact details: email, phone, postal address, website, social media handles

• Business information: sector, services offered, size, region, stage of business

• Iwi, hapū or marae affiliation. Only if you choose to give it

• Billing information (we do not store card details; payments are handled by Stripe)

• Membership tier and payment history

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Events, hui and wānanga

• Registration details, dietary requirements, accessibility needs

• Photographs, video and audio recorded at Te Awe events (see section 9)

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Website, e-pānui and social media

• Contact form and enquiry submissions

• E-pānui subscription details and your engagement with our emails (e.g. whether an email was opened)

• Comments and messages you send us on social platforms

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Directory and opportunity matching

• Your member directory profile (opt-in - see section 8)

• Information you give us so we can introduce you to a buyer, partner or opportunity

• Capability statements, business readiness information, and any material you submit for a showcase, pitch or procurement opportunity

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Feedback

• Survey, pulse-check and evaluation responses

• Outcomes you tell us about (e.g. a contract, collaboration or referral resulting from Te Awe), we use these to report on our impact, in aggregate, unless you agree to be named

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Giving us this information is voluntary. If you choose not to, we may not be able to process your membership, register you for an event, list you in the directory, or connect you to opportunities.

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4. Information we collect about you from other people (IPP 3A)

Sometimes we receive information about you from someone other than you. When we do, we will take reasonable steps to make sure you know about it; usually by pointing you to this policy, and by telling you directly where that is practical.

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We may collect information about you indirectly from:

• Another Te Awe member, who refers or nominates you, or names you as a contact

• Your own colleagues or employer, who register you for a Te Awe event or list you as their business contact

• Partner and ecosystem organisations; for example [NAMED PARTNERS, e.g. Pasifika Business Trust, Wellington Chamber of Commerce], where we run joint activity or share an operational function

• Buyers, councils, Crown agencies and corporate partners, who tell us about an opportunity and the people involved in it

• Sponsors and funders, in connection with a programme they support

• Publicly available sources, such as your business website, LinkedIn, or the Companies Register

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Why we collect it, and what happens next. We collect it to invite you to Te Awe activity, to connect a pakihi with an opportunity, to keep our member records accurate, and to run the programmes described in section 5. When we collect information about you indirectly and we intend to keep it, we will contact you as soon as reasonably practicable to tell you: that we hold it, why, who we are, who else we expect to share it with, and how to access or correct it; unless you already know, or an exception in the Privacy Act applies.

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You can tell us to stop. If we have your information and you did not give it to us, you can ask us to delete it. Email our Privacy Officer and we will.

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5. Why we collect and use your information

We collect and use personal information only for these purposes:

1. To administer your membership — joining, renewals, invoicing, and member records

2. To deliver Te Awe services: hui, wānanga, networking events, showcases, mentoring and business readiness support

3. To publish the member directory, where you have opted in

4. To connect you to buyers, procurement pathways, partners and market opportunities, with your agreement

5. To send you the e-pānui and other communications you have subscribed to (see section 10)

6. To understand what our members need, through surveys and feedback

7. To report on Te Awe’s impact to sponsors, funders and partners; using aggregated, de-identified information, unless you have agreed to be named or profiled

8. To meet our legal, tax and reporting obligations

9. To keep our systems, our people and our members safe

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We will not use your personal information for a new purpose that is unrelated to the above without asking you first.

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6. Cookies and website analytics

Our website is built on Wix. Wix and our analytics tools place cookies on your device to make the site work, remember your preferences, and help us understand how the site is used (for example, which pages are visited).

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You can block or delete cookies through your browser settings. If you do, parts of the site may not work properly.

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We do not use your browsing behaviour to build a profile about you, and we do not sell it.

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7. Who we share your information with

Who we share information with, and why

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Te Awe Board members, kaimahi and contractors
To run the network. They are bound to keep it confidential.

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Our service providers - Website Host (Wix), Email Platform (Microsoft Outlook), Payment Provider (Stripe), Accounting Software (Xero)
To host our website, manage our member database, send our e-pānui, take payments and keep our books. They act on our instructions and cannot use your information for their own purposes.

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Event co-hosts and venues
Only what is needed to run the event (e.g. your name on an attendee list, dietary requirements).

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Buyers, procurement teams, partners and sponsors
Only with your agreement. Members can give a standing opt-in to be included in curated buyer introductions, and can withdraw it at any time. We will tell you who we intend to share your information with.

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Operational partners under a shared services arrangement - Making Everything Achievable
Where Te Awe shares a coordination or administration function with another organisation, we will name that organisation here and tell members before any member information is handled by it.

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Anyone else
Where you have asked us to, or where the law requires or authorises it.

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8. The member directory

Listing in the Te Awe member directory is opt-in. You choose whether to appear and what appears. You can update or remove your listing at any time by contacting us.

Anything in the directory is publicly visible on the internet. Please do not include information you would not want a stranger to see.

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9. Photography, video and recording at our events

Te Awe photographs and films our hui, wānanga and events to celebrate our members and promote Māori business.

• We will tell you at registration and at the event when photography or filming is happening.

• We will let you opt out - tell us at the door, or email us afterwards.

• Consent is not permanent. You can ask us to remove an image of you from our website, social media or future materials at any time, and we will, subject to material already printed or published by third parties.

• Where an image includes tikanga, kaupapa or whānau context, we will check before we use it publicly.

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10. Our e-pānui and other emails

We only send you marketing or promotional emails if you have subscribed, or if you are a member and would reasonably expect to hear from us.

Every commercial email we send will identify Te Awe, give our contact details, and contain a working unsubscribe link. If you unsubscribe, we will action it within five working days and will not send you further marketing.

Membership administration emails (invoices, renewal notices, AGM notices) are not marketing and will continue while you are a member.

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11. Where your information is stored

We store personal information in secure systems provided by [WEBSITE HOST / CRM / EMAIL PLATFORM]. Some of these providers store information on servers outside New Zealand.

Where an overseas provider holds or processes information solely on our behalf — for example, cloud hosting — we remain responsible for it, and we require the provider to protect it.

Where we would need to disclose your personal information to an organisation outside New Zealand for that organisation’s own purposes (for example, an overseas sponsor or buyer), we will only do so if that organisation is subject to privacy safeguards comparable to New Zealand’s, or if you have authorised the disclosure after we have told you that comparable safeguards may not apply.

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12. Keeping your information safe

We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from loss, misuse and unauthorised access — including access controls, limiting who can see member data to those who need it, and using reputable providers.

No system is perfectly secure. If a privacy breach occurs and it has caused, or is likely to cause, serious harm, we will notify the Office of the Privacy Commissioner and the people affected as soon as practicable, as the Privacy Act 2020 requires.

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13. How long we keep it

We keep your information only as long as we need it:

• Current members: for as long as you are a member.

• Past members: for [X] years after your membership ends, so we can re-engage you and meet our record-keeping obligations. After that we delete it or fully de-identify it.

• Financial records: for 7 years, as required by New Zealand tax law.

• Event and enquiry records: for [X] years.

You can ask us to delete your information sooner. We will, unless we are legally required to keep it.

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14. Your rights

Under the Privacy Act 2020 you have the right to:

• Ask what we hold about you, and get a copy of it

• Ask us to correct it if it is wrong. If we do not agree to change it, you can ask us to attach your statement of correction to our record.

• Withdraw your consent to marketing, to your directory listing, to buyer introductions, or to the use of your image

• Complain if you think we have got it wrong

To do any of these, contact our Privacy Officer at [PRIVACY EMAIL]. We will respond as soon as possible and no later than 20 working days after we receive your request. There is no charge.

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15. Complaints

If you are not happy with how we have handled your personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer.

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16. Changes to this policy

We review this policy at least once a year. If we make a material change to how we use your information, we will tell members before it takes effect. The current version is always on this page, with its effective date at the top.