Our Policies

Your security

We are committed to ensuring your information is secure.

We maintain a secure process for collection, transmission, and storage of your personal information.

Protecting your personal information

When you become a consumer.org.nz subscriber, or purchase a product from us online, you need to provide us with personal information, including your credit-card details.

Your personal information is protected by encryption, so it cannot be read as it is transmitted over the Internet. The encrypted data is transmitted using a secure socket layer (SSL) connection (a Netscape browser standard, adopted by Microsoft for their Internet Explorer and by some other browsers).

How to tell if a server is secure

Look for one or more of these "secure connection" indicators on your browser:

• A security alert window tells you that you are about to use a secure connection. Some browsers let you choose whether to display this window.
• An SSL icon shows when you're in a secure connection.
• A symbol of an open padlock changes to a closed padlock when you're in a secure connection.
• A symbol of a "broken key" icon is replaced by an unbroken key.
• The web site's address changes to one that begins with "https" (check for the "s").

Your account details

When you become a consumer.org.nz subscriber, or purchase a product from us online, you set up a Consumer account as part of the signup process.

Your account details are stored securely in our subscriptions management system.

You can review your personal information and update it as necessary. Your personal information is only able to be accessed by entering your email address and password.

Credit card details

Your credit card details are not stored on our website.  During the signup and purchase process these details are transferred to the Consumer NZ subscription database, using a secure transfer mechanism.

All our subscriptions are auto-renewing. We retain your credit card details in our secure subscription database to enable convienient processing of future renewals.

Security of access

Each time you log on to consumer.org.nz, you will be asked to enter your email address and password to protect the security of your online account. Please keep your password confidential.

You can change your password or other subscriber information at any time by logging on to the site and clicking on the "My Consumer" link at the top of the page.

Automatic login

When enabled on a computer, our automatic login feature means you don't have to manually login each time you visit consumer.org.nz from that computer. Your browser must be set to accept permanent cookies for this feature to work.

You should not use the automatic login feature unless you are the only person who has access to the computer.

Never enable this feature on a public access computer - this could allow other people to access the site under your login and access your consumer.org.nz account details.

If you suspect your password has been disclosed by a third party, or that your online account has been accessed by a third party, you must inform us immediately and change your password.

Under the consumer.org.nz Terms & Conditions, you are responsible for ensuring there is no unauthorised use of the site under your username and password.

Security enforcement

Any unauthorized access or use of any Consumer webservice or to the information collected and maintained by us should be immediately brought to our attention by contacting us.

We will investigate, and, if necessary, take action to halt any violation of the security of your personal information of which we become aware.

In the unlikely event that we believe the security of your sensitive personal information, such as payment card information, in our possession or control may have been compromised, we will apply the same notification policy to all of those individuals affected. We will endeavor to provide required notice as soon as possible under the circumstances and will ensure that in addition to any other methods, notices are posted on Consumer.org.nz

Contact us

If you are concerned that this Security Policy may have been breached or the security of your personal information has been compromised, please email us immediately at onlineservice@consumer.org.nz.

More information about our policies for protecting your personal data can be found in our Terms and Conditions and our Privacy Policy.