Privacy and security
Information about the personal information we collect, our approach to privacy and security, and your rights.
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) collects, uses, and discloses information as part of its role to prevent, detect, investigate, respond to, and resolve non-compliance and offending.
We understand that the way we use and hold information is important to maintain the public’s trust and confidence.
We are committed to ensuring the privacy, security, and confidentiality of all the information we hold.
The information on this page was last reviewed by MPI on 12 September 2020.
This Privacy and transparency statement has been developed and published to provide the public and those we engage with in the course of our work with information about the type of information gathering activities we undertake. It outlines the purpose of those activities, and the steps we take to manage and protect the information we collect.
Our privacy and transparency statement [PDF, 225 KB]
We collect, use, manage, and disclose personal information only as provided by the law and to meet our statutory obligations, which include activities covered by:
We have internal authorisation processes and procedures to make sure we gather, use, share, and disclose information in a way that complies with the law and manages possible risks.
Our approach to managing data aims to support transparency and make it easier for the public to engage with government agencies. As data custodians, we also protect individual privacy, confidentiality, and trade sensitivity over accessibility.
We expect all our staff and contractors to meet the State Services Commission’s Code of Conduct and act with fairness, impartiality, responsibility and trust. We are also committed to adopting and complying with the State Sector’s Model Standards for information gathering associated with regulatory compliance, law enforcement and security functions. We strive for continuous improvement in the way we manage information, in accordance with the Government Chief Privacy Officer’s core expectations for privacy management and governance in the public sector.
Assurance for staff integrity and conduct within MPI, and for oversight of our regulatory compliance and law enforcement functions, is provided through a number of mechanisms, including through the work of the Security and Privacy Directorate, Human Resources, Procurement, the Assurance and Evaluation Directorate, the Compliance Directorate, the Professional Standards Unit, the Inspector-General for Regulatory Systems, and the Risk and Audit Committee.
You can browse our website without providing any personal information.
We do not try to identify people using our website through their browsing history.
To help us improve our website, we collect some basic, anonymous, technical information including:
We use web cookies to temporarily store information to enhance your browsing experience and helps us improve our website.
Cookies are small text files on your computer’s hard drive to collect information about your use of our website. Cookies do not collect identifiable information about you.
You can disable and enable cookies at any time and can continue to view our website. But if you disable a cookie, you will not be able to subscribe to our updates, publications and alerts, fill out a feedback or enquiry form, and will have a reduced online experience.
To enable or disable a cookie:
f you subscribe to our news and alerts, you are giving consent to receive emails from us as provided for in legislation.
Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007
We may ask for or need, some personal information to administer your subscription. You may be asked to confirm that the information is true and correct. We record this information securely and use it to update our databases, which are part of our records.
You can unsubscribe any time and your details will be deleted from the database.
Information may also be stored in a secure database by a third party acting on our behalf. As of 13 June 2019, our service provider is Campaign Monitor.
Find out how Campaign Monitor keeps your data private and secure
We collect personal information when you use our phone and email contact centres, such as the pest and disease hotline (to report possible cases of exotic pests or diseases), and our poacher hotline (to report illegal fishing activity).
We will not use your email address or other details to contact you or give them to anyone else unless we consider it necessary for a lawful purpose. In that situation, we would assess any relevant privacy considerations.
You can use our contact centre services anonymously if you wish.
In general, we do not share personal information, except in the following circumstances.
We respect your privacy and aim to keep your information confidential unless we are lawfully required or allowed to disclose it.
We have secure environments to protect your personal information and business records. We use reasonable security safeguards to protect information – both digital and hard copy – from loss, unauthorised access, use or disclosure.
We have a role-based, needs-only, access approach, where possible. All staff are assigned unique passwords, and we have a range of measures to prevent unauthorised access to your personal or commercially sensitive information.
The security of our premises and information is managed according to the:
We are committed to providing you with excellent and timely service, and welcome your feedback – whether positive or negative – on our service.
You can also lodge a complaint with the Ombudsman or Privacy Commissioner.