Privacy Statement

Introduction

At Open Polytechnic, we care about your privacy and want to be transparent about what we do with your personal information. 

This Privacy Statement describes in detail how we collect, use, store, and disclose your personal information and explains your rights under the Privacy Act 2020. We may update our Privacy Statement from time to time and will notify you if we do so.

If you would like to talk to us about your privacy please contact the Academic Registrar: registrar@openpolytechnic.ac.nz.

Authorisation

By submitting the Application for Enrolment Form, you acknowledge that Open Polytechnic will collect, use and disclose personal information about yourself in accordance with the sections specified below and the Privacy Act 2020. You also authorise any agency holding the source of information you have provided on this form to release that information to the Polytechnic on request.

Personal information collected

Information you give the Polytechnic – personal information is collected when you enquire and enrol, complete online forms, participate in surveys (unless you choose to remain anonymous), and through interaction with the Polytechnic’s services during the period of enrolment.

Information the Polytechnic collects automatically – the Polytechnic automatically gathers information about your learning activities during your period of enrolment, this may include:

• Grades
• Course Completion
• Qualification Completion
• Interactions with the Polytechnic’s online systems, such as iQualify, including your engagement with online content, online assessment activities and online forums. 

Cookies

The Polytechnic automatically collects technical information and uses “cookies” when you browse our external website. Your consent for cookies is applicable for all Open Polytechnic associated websites.

Browser or 'web' cookies are small text files that are sent by a website and stored on your computer's hard drive. Cookies are generally used to improve your experience of a website and to track site usage.

We also use cookies to measure traffic patterns, to determine which areas of our websites have been visited, and to measure transaction patterns in the aggregate. We use this to research our users' habits so that we can improve our online products and services.

If you do not wish to receive cookies, you can set your browser so that your computer does not accept them although you may experience a loss of functionality as a result.

We may also log IP addresses (the electronic addresses of computers connected to the internet) to analyse trends, administer the website, track user movements, and gather broad demographic information.

We may also collect anonymous data (which is not personal information) relating to your activity on our websites (including IP addresses) via cookies. We generally use this information to report statistics, analyse trends, administer our services, diagnose problems and target and improve the quality of our products and services. To the extent this information constitutes personal information we treat it in accordance with our obligations under this Privacy Statement. 

Telephone calls

As part of our commitment to providing the best possible service to our customers, we record telephone calls to and from different parts of the organisation. We record calls—

• for staff training purposes, to help us improve our service and to ensure the information we provide is consistent and accurate
• for reporting on the types and numbers of enquiries we receive
• to ensure we have an accurate record of your call, which may be needed to support any transactions that take place.

We understand your personal information is important, and we are committed to protecting your privacy. Recordings are stored securely.

Information from third parties

Open Polytechnic may receive information about you from the following third parties:

• New Zealand Qualification Authority
• StudyLink
• Immigration New Zealand
• Agencies who support students through scholarships 
  Work and Income New Zealand (WINZ) where your study is funded by WINZ
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade where your study is funded by the Ministry
• Your employer where you have enrolled at the Polytechnic under a contract the Polytechnic has with your employer whereby the employer pays or has agreed to pay the student’s fees, or if no fees are payable, where the employer supports your study
• Other education institutions where— 
  • a course is co-taught in association with the Polytechnic
  • records are transferred from another institution. 

Purpose for which personal information is collected

Open Polytechnic collects personal information to carry out our purposes and functions as an education provider under the Education and Training Act 2020, including s281(1)(a) “to strive to ensure that the institution attains the highest standards of excellence in education, training, and research”.

Without affecting the generality of the above statement, your personal information that is collected by the Polytechnic may be used by the Polytechnic in the following ways:

• To comply with the requirements of—
  • The Ministry of Education (student statistical returns)
  • New Zealand Qualifications Authority (record of achievement registration and unit standard outcomes)
  • Tertiary Education Commission (funding returns)
  • Industry Skills Boards or Private Training Establishments that were until 1 January 2026 Industry Training Organisations (funding and academic outcomes)
  • Ministry of Social Development (confirmation of enrolment and academic outcomes)
  • Inland Revenue Department (student loan interest rebate)
  • Immigration New Zealand (if you are not a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident)
  • agencies that support particular students through scholarships and prizes, payment of fees or other awards (if you are a recipient of one of these awards) 
• For activities as an education provider, including—
  • selecting students for qualifications
  • providing you with information on Open Polytechnic courses and programmes
  • managing internal administrative processes
  • providing tuition advice and support
  • providing academic advice and support
  • putting you in contact with other students studying your course(s) if you specifically authorise this
  • administering your programme of study such as setting up online profiles, examinations and assessments, placements and workshops.
  • providing information to suppliers of textbooks and learning resources to assist you to purchase textbooks, learning resources, etc.
  • advising you of the Polytechnic’s Alumni Programme and activities
  • publishing the list of graduands in the programme for graduation ceremonies
  • managing queries and complaints
  • internal reporting
  • maintaining order and discipline.
• For the purpose of Learning Analytics – defined as the collection and analysis of information generated during the learning process in order to improve the quality of both learning and educational practice. The Polytechnic may carry out profiling, analytics or tracking (including by automated means) of your personal information, including your interactions with the Polytechnic’s online learning platforms—
  • to improve the quality of our services
  • to tailor our support services and pastoral care to your needs
  • to support your learning and academic achievement
  • to personalise our communications with you
  • to monitor your attendance and engagement for the use of Polytechnic-initiated withdrawals. 

The Polytechnic does not engage in any form of profiling that would give rise to a claim of discrimination (as defined in the Human Rights Act 1993). In carrying out Learning Analytics, we may aggregate or anonymise the information we collect such that you are no longer identifiable, in which case the information we hold will no longer constitute ‘personal information’ and will cease to be subject to this Privacy Statement.

• For Academic Reporting and Research – the Polytechnic may use information generated about you for the purposes of Academic reporting and research, conditional on compliance with the Privacy Act 2020, and approval by a recognised ethics committee.
• For Communications and Marketing – the Polytechnic will use your information to communicate with you and carry out email marketing activities. You can unsubscribe from marketing communications through a link provided in emails. We also use online advertising. You may see Open Polytechnic adverts when you are on other websites and social media. We manage this through our digital marketing networks. We may use tools such as Tealium to utilise our existing data and generate lookalike audiences for our online advertising. 

Disclosure of personal information collected

Personal information may be disclosed to Open Polytechnic staff, adjunct staff, and contractors when such disclosure is for the purposes for which that personal information was collected as outlined in this statement, or is directly related to the purposes in connection with which the information was obtained.

Personal information about you may be supplied to the following agencies in the circumstances detailed below:

• Other education institutions, providers, assessors, and relevant licensing/registration bodies—
  • where you are enrolled in a course taught at another institution in association with the Polytechnic
  • where you are transferring your records to that other institution or applying to enrol in a course taught at that institution
  • where you are enrolled in a course leading to a qualification awarded by another body or institution
  • where you have been enrolled at the Polytechnic but are receiving student support at another institution or organisation in association with the Polytechnic
  • where you have enrolled at the Polytechnic pursuant to a contract the Polytechnic has with any Industry Skills Board or Private Training Establishment (formerly Industry Training Organisations)
  • where you have enrolled at the Polytechnic pursuant to a contract the Polytechnic has with any secondary school
  • where you have been enrolled by the Polytechnic pursuant to a contract the Polytechnic has with the Department of Corrections
• Your employer – where you have enrolled at the Polytechnic under a contract the Polytechnic has with your employer whereby your employer pays or has agreed to pay your fees, or if no fees are payable, the employer supports your study
• Department of Work and Income (DWI) – where your study is being funded by DWI
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade – where your study is funded by the Ministry
• Ministry of Education and the Teaching Council of New Zealand – where your study is funded by the Ministry of Education.

The Polytechnic may be required by law to provide some personal information to other Government agencies or other persons upon request (for example, New Zealand Police) where permitted to do so under the Privacy Act 2020. 

Storage of personal information gathered

Open Polytechnic will take all reasonable steps to ensure that your information is secure.

Your personal information may be transferred and held by service providers in New Zealand and overseas in connection with the purposes for which your personal information was obtained.

The Polytechnic will not transfer your information to an overseas service provider unless we are satisfied that the service provider is obliged to protect your information in ways that are comparable to the protection afforded by the New Zealand privacy law.

Retention of personal information

Open Polytechnic is required under the Education and Training Act 2020 to retain some forms of personal information indefinitely.

Where not required under the Education and Training Act 2020, the Polytechnic will not retain personal information for longer than required for the purposes in which it was collected and may lawfully be used, as determined by us, after which period the personal information will be securely disposed of.

Your rights under the Privacy Act 2020

You have the right to access and correct/annotate all personal information held about you. Most personal information can be accessed through MyOP and iQualify, and edited directly by you through MyOP. If you have any queries regarding access or correction of your personal information contact the Academic Registrar: registrar@openpolytechnic.ac.nz.

If you have any queries about the use of your personal information or feel your privacy has been breached you have the right to lodge a complaint. To do so contact the Academic Registrar: registrar@openpolytechnic.ac.nz.

Note about the Privacy Act 2020

The Privacy Act 2020 came into force on 30 June 2020 with the stated aim of protecting the privacy of natural persons. It requires the organisation to collect, hold, handle, use, and disclose personal information in accordance with the thirteen Information Privacy Principles in the Act. See privacy.org.nz for further details.