1. Application

Microbio Limited and its related companies (referred to as “we”, “our”, or “us”) are committed to protecting the privacy of personal information the user (referred to as “you” or “your”) may provide us whether in person or via our website or mobile applications (referred to as “digital channels”).

This Privacy Policy sets out how we collect, hold, process, use and share your personal information. By continuing to use our digital channels, you consent to us dealing with your personal information in the manner set out in this Privacy Policy.

This Privacy Policy is governed by New Zealand law and is subject to (and must be read in conjunction with) our Terms and Conditions.

We may, from time to time, collect information about identifiable individuals (“personal information”). All personal information that you supply to us through our digital channels will be handled in accordance with this Privacy Policy and the provisions of the New Zealand Privacy Act 1993 (“Privacy Act”).

2. Collection of your personal information

Where possible, we will collect personal information directly from you. This includes when you:

  1. use our digital channels or contact us by telephone, letter or email;
  2. complete forms on our digital channels (including surveys, search forms, competition entry forms, registration forms, and order forms);
  3. create, modify, or use any accounts or registered user facilities available through our digital channels; or
  4. send messages using our digital channels (for example, when you ask us a question).

Personal information we collect from you may include your name, title, company name, email address, telephone number, postal or physical address, product preferences, demographic information (such as age and gender), or other personal information.

If you provide personal information to us about another person, you must ensure that person is aware of this Privacy Policy and you warrant that the person has authorised us, through you, to collect, use, process and disclose personal information about that person, for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy.

If we are requested to, or we deem it necessary, we may also collect your personal information from third parties or public agencies to verify information that you have provided to us or where it is unreasonable or impracticable for us to collect the personal information from you directly. Where we collect personal information from third parties, we will ensure that the collection is conducted in a fair and lawful manner and the information is reasonably necessary for one or more of our functions or activities and is only used for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy or for any other purpose that you have consented to.

You may decide not to provide your personal information to us. However, if you do not provide your personal information (or if you provide incorrect personal information), we might not be able to provide you with access to certain information, products or services.

3. Credit application

We may collect personal information about your credit arrangements in order to assess any credit application you make and your personal information from credit reporting agencies or other third parties for credit assessment and debt collection purposes. 

4. Automated collection

When you visit our digital channels, we may use automated tools and methods (such as cookies, sessions and website statistics software) to collect certain information about your visit, including:

  1. the internet protocol address and host name used by your device to connect to our digital channels;
  2. the operating system and the browser your device uses;
  3. the search engine or inbound hyperlink you used to reach our digital channels;
  4. the date, time and duration of your visit; and
  5. the pages viewed by you.

This information will be used to analyse how our digital channels are being used (for example, to improve the content and performance of our digital channels).

We may gather more extensive information if we are concerned, for example, about abnormal website usage patterns or website security breaches.

5. Cookies

Our digital channels may use cookies to provide you with certain services or functionality. Cookies are small pieces of information stored on your computer’s hard drive, which may be used to identify you as an individual user of our digital channels. We use cookies to:

  1. personalise your visits to our digital channels;
  2. enable us to improve the content, reliability and functionality of our digital channels;
  3. enable you to use certain services or functionality;
  4. evaluate the effectiveness of the advertising on our digital channels; and/or
  5. track website usage patterns.

Accepting a cookie will not give us access to any data on your computer other than the data stored in the cookie. Although you may configure your web browser to not accept cookies, you may experience a loss of functionality as a result.

6. Use and disclosure

We may collect, use, process, store and disclose your personal information, and, where appropriate, may allow our related companies to use your personal information, for the following purposes:

  1. business purposes;
  2. collating company financial information;
  3. providing you with our goods and services;
  4. providing you with supplier services;
  5. responding to any questions or correspondence from you;
  6. improving our digital channels and any related services;
  7. monitoring the quality and standard of services provided by our stores;
  8. carrying out research and development;
  9. providing you with information about a service that you are using (including critical updates and announcements);
  10. eliminating the need for you to repeatedly enter the same information;
  11. customising our digital channels to suit your particular preferences and interests;
  12. enabling your communication with us and other users via our digital channels;
  13. analysing usage, trends and statistics of our digital channels;
  14. verifying your identity or providing you with a replacement password when you forget your username or password for any account you have with us;
  15. suppling you with further information concerning products and services which may be of interest to you;
  16. providing general customer care services, including processing your payments, providing you with your order status, dealing with your enquiries and requests, and assessing and handling any complaints;
  17. conducting any sales promotions, competitions, surveys or events you enter or register for;
  18. where you have registered for our customer loyalty scheme, providing and maintaining that customer loyalty scheme;
  19. facilitating your compliance with your legal and regulatory farm management obligations;
  20. facilitating and ensuring our compliance with legal and regulatory obligations;
  21. responding to enquiries from regulatory authorities;
  22. facilitating Trading Among Farmers;
  23. other purposes relating to the dairy industry; and
  24. any other purposes that are authorised by you or are notified to you at the time of collection.

You agree that we (or any of our related companies) may disclose your personal information to:

  1. our employees, related bodies corporate, partners, franchisees, or contractors;
  2. approved auditors (including, without limit, QCONZ and AsureQuality);
  3. our third party service providers, including (without limit), credit providers, web hosting providers, IT systems administrators, couriers, payment processors, data entry service providers, electronic network administrators, debt collectors and professional advisors such as accountants, solicitors, business advisors and consultants; and
  4. other third parties with your express consent,

for the purposes set out above.

These authorisations apply to the benefit of, and are enforceable by, our related companies under the Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017, Part 2, Subpart 1 (and its successive legislation).

We will not sell or lease your personal information. We will not disclose your personal information except in accordance with this Privacy Policy (and in accordance with the Privacy Act). We may use or disclose your personal information if you have authorised us to do so, or in any of the following circumstances:

  1. we have given you reasonable notification of the intended use or disclosure and you have not objected to that use or disclosure;
  2. we believe that the use or disclosure is reasonably necessary to assist a law enforcement agency or an agency responsible for national security in the performance of their functions;
  3. we believe that the use or disclosure is reasonably necessary to enforce any legal rights we may have, or is reasonably necessary to protect the rights, property and safety of you, us, or others;
  4. there is a significant animal health and welfare issue that, in our opinion, creates a reputational risk for us; or
  5. we are required or permitted by law to disclose the information.

7. Unsubscribing

Where you have requested or authorised us to send you messages (for example, newsletters and information concerning products and services which may be of interest to you) you can request us to stop sending you such messages by taking any one of the following steps:

  1. using the unsubscribe feature (if present) in any such message
  2. if you are a registered user of our digital channels, logging in to your account and updating the appropriate preferences (if available) for that account
  3. contacting our Customer Service Team 0800 731 266

Once we have received your request we will, as soon as is practicable, comply with that request.

8. Access and Correction

Where we hold your personal information in such a way that it can readily be retrieved, you are entitled to request access to that information or to obtain our confirmation of whether we hold that information. We may require that you meet our reasonable costs of supplying this information to you. If we are unable to meet your request for access, we will let you know why.

If we refuse to provide you with access to your personal information, we will provide you with reasons for the refusal, in accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act.

It is important to us that your personal information held by us is accurate, complete and current. If you are a registered user of our digital channels, you may log in to your account and (functionality permitting) update your personal information.

To request access to, or correction of, your personal information held by us, you may contact your Area Manager, our Customer Service Team 0800 731 266 or contact us at nzfarmsource@fonterra.com

9. Storage and security

Where we store your personal information will depend on the nature and purpose of the information and the manner in which you supply it to us. We may hold your personal information at New Zealand Farm Source, Level 1, 19 Home Straight, Te Rapa, Hamilton 3204, or at our other offices and storage facilities (whether in New Zealand or overseas).

No data transmissions over the internet can be guaranteed as completely secure. Accordingly, we cannot warrant or guarantee the security of information transmitted from or to you. Once we have received your personal information, we will use reasonable efforts to protect that information against loss or misuse and against unauthorised access, use, modification, or disclosure.

If the personal information we collect is no longer needed for any purposes for which it may be used or disclosed, and we are not required by law to retain it, we will either destroy it (in a manner that ensures its confidentiality) or permanently anonymize it.

10. Third Party Websites

Our digital channels may contain hyperlinks to third party websites. We are not responsible for the content of third party websites, or the manner in which those websites collect, store, use, and distribute any personal information you provide. When visiting a third party websites from hyperlinks on our digital channels, we encourage you to review the privacy statements of those websites so that you can understand how the personal information you provide will be collected, stored, used and distributed.

11. Privacy Officer

You may gain access to your personal information, make a complaint about breach of your privacy rights, or make enquiries about collection or use of your personal information by contacting our Privacy Officer:

The Privacy Officer
Microbio Limited
Auckland

12. Changes

We reserve the right, at our discretion, to update or revise this Privacy Policy at any time. Changes to this Privacy Policy will take effect immediately once they are published on our digital channels. Please check this Privacy Policy regularly for modifications and updates. By continuing to use our digital channels or providing any personal information after we publish changes to this Privacy Policy, you agree to be bound by this Privacy Policy as revised.