Privacy Policy
1. Who is responsible for your information
LoansFinder.co.nz is operated by Profitech Credit Solutions ("we", "us" or "our"). This policy explains how we collect, use, hold and disclose personal information through our website, enquiries, referral services and business listings.
For privacy questions or requests, contact our Privacy Officer at info@loansfinder.co.nz. Please use the subject line "Privacy request" to help us direct your message. You do not need to use a particular form to exercise your rights.
We handle personal information in accordance with the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020 and other applicable law. This policy does not waive your rights or provide unrestricted permission to collect, share or use your information.
2. What personal information means
Personal information is information about an identifiable individual. It can include contact details, financial information, correspondence and online identifiers. Information may be personal even if it does not contain your name, where it can reasonably be linked to you.
You can read our public pages without submitting a loan enquiry. Technical information may still be collected when you browse, as explained below.
3. Information we collect
Loan enquiries: Depending on the form and loan type, we collect your name, date of birth, phone number, email address, city or area, requested loan type and amount, employment status, income and the credit-history information you provide. A form may also request a work contact number or relevant business details, such as its name, registration number, trading history and turnover.
Correspondence and administration: We collect information you provide when contacting us, requesting a correction, making a complaint or discussing a business listing or advertising arrangement. We may retain relevant communications, referral records and records of notices, permissions and marketing preferences.
Website use: Technical information may include your IP address, browser and device information, pages viewed, referral source, access times, interactions and cookie or similar identifiers. We do not treat this information as anonymous merely because it lacks your name.
Business listings: Information may include a business representative's name, role and published business contact details. Information about a sole trader may also be personal information.
We limit collection to information reasonably necessary for a lawful purpose connected with our activities. Please do not send passwords, banking login details or unnecessary identity documents through general enquiries.
4. Where information comes from
We usually collect information directly from you through forms, correspondence and your use of the website. We may also collect relevant information from an authorised representative, a referral partner or publicly available business sources where permitted by law.
If a referral partner provides information about the progress or outcome of your enquiry, we will limit its use to the disclosed referral, administration, payment reconciliation or complaint-handling purpose.
When collecting personal information indirectly, we will take reasonable steps to notify you of the collection, its purpose, intended recipients, our identity and contact details, and your access and correction rights, as required by Information Privacy Principle 3A. Notification will occur as soon as reasonably practicable unless you have already been properly informed or a statutory exception applies.
5. Why we use information
We use relevant information to respond to enquiries, arrange requested referrals, communicate about those referrals, administer commercial arrangements, maintain listings, investigate complaints, protect our systems and meet legal obligations.
We also use appropriate website information to understand usage, measure referral activity and improve content and functionality. Where we publish statistics, we will use aggregated or de-identified information that does not reasonably identify individual users.
Required form fields will be identified. Providing information is voluntary, but we may be unable to process an enquiry or referral without the details needed for that service. Choosing not to receive optional marketing does not stop you from requesting a referral.
6. Loan referrals and paid introductions
When you request a referral, relevant enquiry information may be shared with participating lenders or referral networks so they can contact you and consider your request. Before submission, the collection notice will identify the intended recipients, or provide a sufficiently specific description where individual identification is not reasonably practicable, and explain the purpose of sharing.
We may receive a fee or commission for making a referral. This can involve disclosing your enquiry information to the relevant recipient as part of a paid introduction. We limit that disclosure to the purposes explained to you and do not treat your enquiry as permission for unrelated marketing or unrestricted onward distribution.
A recipient that uses your information for its own lending or referral activities is responsible for its own privacy obligations. Its privacy notice should explain its checks, recipients and retention practices. A provider must have an appropriate legal basis and obtain any required authorisation before carrying out a credit check. This policy does not itself authorise a credit check.
You may ask us to stop further referrals or withdraw a permission on which future sharing depends. This does not retrospectively undo a lawful disclosure. We can help identify recipients, and you may also need to contact them about information they already hold.
7. Other recipients of information
We may provide necessary information to service providers supporting website hosting, security, communications, data storage, analytics and technical maintenance. Where they act on our behalf, we require appropriate confidentiality, security and limits on use, and remain responsible for our obligations concerning that information.
We may disclose relevant information to professional advisers, regulators, courts or other parties where required or permitted by law, including where necessary for a qualifying legal proceeding or serious safety concern. A general desire to protect our business is not, by itself, authority for unrestricted disclosure.
If the business is sold or restructured, information may be disclosed or transferred only where lawful and necessary for that transaction or continued operation. We will use appropriate confidentiality safeguards, minimise information disclosed during due diligence and provide any required notice. A transaction does not remove existing privacy rights.
8. Cookies, analytics and referral tracking
Cookies, browser storage, server logs and similar technologies may support website operation, security, preference storage, analytics and referral attribution. Where advertising technologies are used, they may also support advertising measurement or targeting as disclosed in the relevant notice and subject to applicable consent requirements.
These technologies can recognise a browser or device and may involve personal information. Information linked to a code or identifier is not necessarily anonymous. Third-party providers may combine information with other data where their arrangements and applicable law permit.
You can manage cookies through your browser and any website controls offered. Blocking cookies may affect some functions. Where consent is legally required, we will obtain it before using the relevant technology. Our Cookie Policy provides further information; this policy takes precedence over any inconsistent statement about personal information in that policy.
9. Marketing choices
Optional marketing permission will be requested separately from the information and permissions needed to handle your loan enquiry. Reading the website or submitting an enquiry does not, by itself, give unlimited permission to send promotional messages or share your details for that purpose.
Commercial electronic messages we send will identify the sender and include a functional unsubscribe method. You can also withdraw marketing permission by emailing info@loansfinder.co.nz. We will action unsubscribe requests within five working days.
Unsubscribing from marketing does not stop necessary, non-promotional messages about an enquiry you have requested, a privacy request or a legal obligation. Independently operated providers manage their own marketing preferences; contact them to withdraw permissions given to them.
10. Overseas handling of information
Information may be stored or accessed outside New Zealand through our operations or service providers. We will assess those arrangements and take reasonable steps to protect information handled on our behalf. You may contact us for details of the providers and locations relevant to your information.
Where an overseas recipient receives information for its own purposes, we will meet the applicable requirements of Information Privacy Principle 12. This may involve comparable legal protections or contractual safeguards. If we rely on your authorisation where comparable safeguards may not apply, we will explain that fact and obtain express authorisation for the relevant disclosure.
Using an overseas processor solely to handle information on our behalf does not remove our responsibility for that information. Accepting this policy is not blanket authorisation for overseas disclosure without appropriate safeguards.
11. Privacy and business listings
We publish business information to help readers research providers. Information about a company is not necessarily personal information, but a listing can contain personal information about its owners, representatives or sole traders.
Public availability does not remove privacy obligations. We assess whether collecting, using and publishing an individual's information is relevant, lawful, fair and reasonable. We take reasonable steps to check accuracy and avoid publishing unnecessary personal details.
A request to remove personal information does not automatically require deletion of an entire business listing. Where appropriate, we may remove a personal contact detail, correct a statement or replace an individual's details with a general business contact while retaining the remaining lawful information. Each request is assessed on its circumstances and applicable rights.
Our Terms & Conditions explain the broader listing-review process. They do not override privacy rights or justify keeping personal information for longer than necessary.
12. Security and privacy incidents
We will maintain reasonable safeguards appropriate to the information's sensitivity, including limits on access and appropriate protections for storage and transmission. Access by personnel and service providers must relate to their authorised duties. Internet transmission and electronic storage carry risks; this does not reduce our legal security obligations.
If a privacy incident occurs, we will investigate, contain it and take reasonable steps to reduce harm. Where a breach has caused or is likely to cause serious harm, we will notify the Privacy Commissioner and affected individuals as soon as practicable, subject to applicable statutory exceptions.
13. How long information is kept
We retain personal information only for as long as needed for the purposes for which it may lawfully be used. Relevant factors include whether an enquiry remains active, referral reconciliation, complaint handling, applicable recordkeeping duties and a genuine need to establish or defend legal rights. These factors do not justify indefinite retention of every record.
Marketing information is retained while the relevant permission and purpose remain valid. We may keep a minimal suppression record after an unsubscribe request to respect your choice. Personal information in listings is assessed separately from application and marketing records.
When information is no longer needed, we will delete it securely or de-identify it. Residual backup copies are restricted from ordinary use and removed through the applicable backup cycle, subject to lawful retention needs. You may ask about the retention period or criteria applicable to your information.
14. Access, correction and deletion requests
You may ask whether we hold personal information about you, request access to it and ask us to correct it. Contact info@loansfinder.co.nz and describe the information or issue. We may request proportionate identity or authority verification before releasing information.
We will make and communicate our decision on an access or correction request as soon as reasonably practicable and generally within 20 working days. If a lawful extension is needed, we will explain the reason, the revised timeframe and your right to complain. Information approved for release will be provided without undue delay.
If we decline a request, we will explain the applicable grounds and complaint rights, except where the law permits information to be withheld. If we do not make a requested correction, you may provide a statement of correction and ask us to attach it. We will take the steps required by law and, where reasonably practicable, notify previous recipients of a correction or attached statement.
You may also request deletion or ask us to stop a particular use. We will assess the request against our lawful purposes and obligations. The Privacy Act does not provide an unrestricted right to erase every record, but information must not be retained beyond its lawful need. We will explain any continuing reason for retention.
15. Children and young people
Our loan enquiry service is intended for people aged 18 or over. If we discover that an enquiry contains information about a person under 18, we will stop processing it for a loan referral and remove information that we do not have a lawful reason to retain. Age does not remove an individual's privacy rights.
16. External websites and providers
Links may take you to independently operated websites. Information you provide directly to those organisations is governed by their notices and legal obligations. Review those notices before supplying information. We remain responsible for our own collection, disclosures and decisions about services we use on our behalf.
17. Complaints and policy changes
Send privacy complaints to our Privacy Officer at info@loansfinder.co.nz. Explain what happened and the outcome you are seeking. We will consider the complaint and respond within a reasonable time, subject to any applicable statutory deadline.
If the issue remains unresolved, you can contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner . Our internal process does not restrict your statutory complaint rights.
We may update this policy when our practices or legal obligations change. We will publish the revised version and date, draw material changes to your attention where appropriate and provide any additional notice or obtain any authorisation required before introducing a new use or disclosure. An update does not retrospectively authorise earlier conduct.