Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Hunting NZ respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect your data when you use our platform. By using Hunting NZ, you consent to the practices described in this policy.

2. Information We Collect

Hunting NZ may collect the following types of information:

• Account Information: Name, email address, password (hashed), profile information
• Landowner Verification: Photo ID, proof of property ownership, legal name, phone number
• Hunter Profile Data: Experience level, firearms licence status, preferred regions, favourite properties, bio
• Property Information: Property details, photos, descriptions, GPS coordinates, species lists, rules, pricing
• Booking Data: Booking requests, approval/decline status, hunter and landowner contact information
• User-Generated Content: Posts, comments, photos, reviews, messages, feedback
• Technical Data: Device type, browser, IP address, pages visited, time spent, clickstream data
• Analytics Data: Website usage patterns, feature interactions, search queries
• Communication Records: Emails, contact form submissions, support messages

3. How We Use Your Information

We use collected information to:

• Provide core platform services (accounts, listings, booking requests, property matching)
• Verify user identity and property ownership before granting access to sensitive features
• Display user profiles, reviews, and property listings to other users
• Facilitate communication between hunters and landowners through email notifications
• Process property listing payments through Stripe
• Manage user accounts and provide customer support
• Send transactional emails (booking updates, policy changes, verification requests)
• Moderate content and enforce community guidelines
• Prevent fraud, abuse, and unauthorised access
• Improve platform features, user experience, and performance
• Display targeted advertising through Google AdSense
• Comply with legal obligations and DOC regulations
• Analyse trends and gather usage analytics

4. Property Address Privacy

Hunting NZ protects property owner privacy by managing address visibility:

• Landowners may choose to share their exact property address publicly or keep it private
• If an address is kept private, hunters see only the general area or GPS approximation until booking approval
• Once a booking is approved, the exact address is shared with the approved hunter (if the landowner allowed automatic sharing)
• Hunters who approve requests receive landowner contact details and can arrange direct communication
• Private addresses are never displayed in search results, public listings, or social content
• Only approved hunters and administrative staff can access private address information

5. User-Generated Content & Visibility

Content you submit (posts, comments, photos, reviews) may be publicly visible unless marked private:

• Hunter's Journal posts, photos, and comments are visible to all users by default
• Property reviews are publicly visible to inform other hunters
• Profile information is visible to other users unless you have chosen a private profile setting
• Private messages between hunters and landowners are visible only to the parties involved
• You should not share personal information (phone numbers, private addresses) in public posts

6. Payment Processing

Property listing payments are processed securely through Stripe:

• We do not store full credit card information on our servers
• Stripe handles all payment processing and encryption
• Payment records are kept for accounting and fraud prevention
• Stripe's privacy policy governs payment data handling; see stripe.com for details
• Refund requests must be made through your Stripe account or by contacting us

7. Cookies & Analytics

Hunting NZ uses cookies and analytics to improve your experience:

• Session cookies: Used to keep you logged in while browsing
• Preference cookies: Remember your settings and preferences
• Google Analytics: Tracks page visits, user behaviour, and engagement (anonymised)
• Hotjar or similar tools: May be used to understand how users interact with pages

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Disabling cookies may limit platform functionality.

8. Advertising & Google AdSense

Hunting NZ displays advertisements through Google AdSense. Google may:

• Collect data about your browsing behaviour to display relevant ads
• Use cookies to track your interests across websites
• Display personalised ads based on your activity

You can opt out of personalised advertising through Google Ad Settings. Hunting NZ does not control which ads are displayed.

9. Email Communications & Google Gmail Integration

Hunting NZ sends transactional emails to keep you informed about your account, bookings, and listings. To deliver these emails, we use the Gmail API through Google's OAuth 2.0 authorisation:

• Account notifications: Email verification, password resets, account changes
• Booking updates: New booking requests, approvals, declines, and related messages between hunters and landowners
• Listing reminders: Property listing expiry notices and landowner verification status updates
• Platform updates: Policy changes, feature announcements, maintenance notices
• Admin alerts: New property submissions, verification requests, and bug reports sent to our moderation team

Email is sent from a Hunting NZ Google Workspace account via the Gmail API. Google does not share your email content with third parties through this integration. You can manage email preferences in your account settings; transactional emails cannot be disabled as they are essential to platform operation.

10. Landowner Verification Data

Landowners must provide verification documents including photo ID. This data is:

• Stored securely and protected from unauthorised access
• Used only for ownership verification purposes
• Never shared publicly or with hunters
• Retained as long as the landowner account is active
• May be reviewed by Hunting NZ admin staff if disputes arise

11. Information Sharing

We may share information in limited circumstances:

• With hunters and landowners when a booking is approved (contact details are exchanged)
• With our payment processor (Stripe) for transaction handling
• With admin staff to moderate content, verify identities, and investigate abuse
• To law enforcement or authorities if required by law or to prevent illegal activity
• To service providers who help operate the platform (hosting, analytics, etc.)

We never sell personal data to third parties for marketing purposes.

12. Data Security

We take reasonable steps to protect your information:

• Passwords are hashed and encrypted using industry-standard methods
• Sensitive data is encrypted in transit (HTTPS/SSL)
• Database access is restricted to authorised staff only
• Regular security updates and monitoring are performed

However, no system is completely secure. You are responsible for keeping your password confidential.

13. Data Retention

We retain your information as follows:

• Active account data: Retained as long as your account is active
• Deleted account data: Permanently deleted within 30 days (except where required by law)
• Verification documents: Retained for 12 months after listing creation or longer if disputes arise
• Analytics data: Retained for up to 12 months (non-personally identifiable)
• Payment records: Retained for 7 years for tax and audit purposes
• Booking and message records: Retained for dispute resolution purposes

14. Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Access your personal data: Request a copy of the information we hold about you
• Correct inaccurate data: Update or correct your profile information anytime
• Delete your account: Request permanent deletion of your account and associated data
• Opt out of communications: Unsubscribe from marketing emails or notifications
• Data portability: Request your data in a machine-readable format

To exercise these rights, contact us through the platform's contact form. Requests are processed within 30 days.

15. Children's Privacy

Hunting NZ is not intended for users under 18 years of age. We do not knowingly collect information from minors. If we become aware that a minor has created an account, we will delete it immediately.

16. Third-Party Links

Hunting NZ may contain links to external websites (DOC, government sites, sponsors). We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those websites. Please review their privacy policies separately.

17. Changes to This Policy

Hunting NZ may update this Privacy Policy at any time. Changes are effective immediately upon posting. Your continued use of the platform constitutes acceptance of updates.

18. New Zealand Privacy Act 2020

This Privacy Policy is designed to comply with the Privacy Act 2020 and other New Zealand privacy legislation. If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may lodge a complaint with the Privacy Commissioner at privacy.org.nz.

19. Affiliate Program Disclosure

Hunting NZ participates in affiliate programs offered by various New Zealand and Australian hunting and outdoor retailers. Product links on our Gear Store page and embedded across species, region, and guide pages are affiliate links. We may earn a commission on qualifying purchases made through these links, at no additional cost to you.

• Product recommendations are based on relevance and suitability for New Zealand hunting conditions — not solely on commission rates
• We are not responsible for product availability, pricing, or quality — these are governed by the respective retailers and sellers
• All affiliate links use rel="sponsored nofollow" attributes for transparency and search-engine compliance

Our participation in affiliate programs does not influence which products we recommend. We only link to gear we believe is genuinely useful for NZ hunters.

20. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us through the Contact Us page on Hunting NZ.