Privacy statement
1 General
In this Privacy Statement (‘Privacy Statement’), the terms 'we', 'us', and 'our' refer to Unison Networks Limited or, where the context requires, each member of the Unison Group (listed at https://www.unison.co.nz/tell-me-about/unison-group). References in this Privacy Statement to ‘you’ and ‘your’ are references to the individual that the personal information we collect is about.
This Privacy Statement explains how we may collect, store, use, and disclose personal information about you. By using Unison's website or our services, you acknowledge that we may collect, store, use, and disclose your personal information as set out in this Privacy Statement.
In summary, it lets you know that:
- Unison may collect personal information about you when you use Unison's website or Unison's services, or when you contact Unison to request services or in relation to your connection to our network. This includes information collected through our website forms, safety and network service requests, close approach consents, livening certificates, distributed generation applications, scholarship and education programmes, sponsorship applications, and competitions.
- Unison may also collect your personal information from third parties in connection with the services we provide to you.
- Some of this indirect collection may be authorised or required under the law, such as the Electricity Industry Participation Code 2010 (EIPC), the Default Distributor Agreements (DDA) established by the Electricity Authority, and the Electricity Act 1992 and its associated regulations. For example, Unison may collect your personal information from electricity retailers about your connection to our network and the provision of distribution services.
- Unison operates a number of CCTV cameras for detecting and deterring criminal behaviour and footage of you may be recorded and reviewed.
- Unison may use your information to provide you with relevant information, allow others to provide you with information, and to communicate with you. Unison may also use your information for the ongoing provision of our network services to your electricity retailer.
- Unison is not responsible for the conduct of third party websites to which Unison's website is linked.
- You may email our Privacy Officer should you wish to request access to or correction of the personal information we hold about you.
- Unison may change this Privacy Statement from time-to-time. You should regularly check this Privacy Statement for changes.
2 Collection of Personal Information
The personal information we may collect about you and the purposes of such collection is set out in the table below.
Some personal information we collect about you is mandatory under the law, such as the Electricity Industry Participation Code 2010 (EIPC), the Default Distributor Agreements (DDA) established by the Electricity Authority, and the Electricity Act 1992 and its associated regulations. We are required to collect mandatory information as part of our regulated obligations as an electricity distribution business. This includes information collected in connection with new connections, distributed generation applications, retailer billing, and network operations. Other information, such as contact preferences, feedback, scholarship or sponsorship application details, competition entries, and energy flexibility or network capacity enquiries, may be provided voluntarily.
Personal Information Collected |
Who We Collect It From |
Why Collected |
|
Name, email address, phone number, payment details, address |
You, when you contact us, or use Unison's website or services |
To provide products and services To communicate with you To assist you with your queries To process payments To analyse and improve Unison's services and personalise your experience |
|
Name, email address, phone number, address |
You |
To improve Unison's website To analyse website usage and personalise your experience To provide promotional material and news where you consented to receive it To enter you into competitions and promotions at your request |
|
Name, contact details, property address, ICP number, applicant and electrician details |
You (via online forms) From agents or representatives acting on your behalf |
To process new connection and distributed generation applications To facilitate your connection to our network through your electricity retailer |
|
Name, contact details, company name, property address, electrician details |
You (via online forms) From agents or representatives acting on your behalf (e.g., electricians, occupants, etc.) |
To process close approach consent requests, livening certificates, and electrical work requests To carry out safety and network work |
|
Name, contact details, property address, ICP number, occupant and property owner details (where applicable) |
You (via online or phone request) From agents or representatives acting on your behalf (e.g., electricians, occupants, etc.) |
To process safety disconnection and reconnection requests, permanent disconnection requests, and other network-related service requests To ensure continuity and safety of electricity supply through our network |
|
Name, contact details, project details |
You directly (via permit application forms) |
To assess and process permit applications (including high load permits, felling applications, and cable location requests) To carry out activities connected with our business, including network monitoring and safety |
|
Name, contact details, academic and personal details relevant to the application |
You (via scholarship and programme application forms) |
To administer scholarship, education, and community programmes, including the Unison Engineering Scholarship, the Be Aware, Electricity Kills Programme, and Safe Sparks programmes (including in-person and online formats) |
|
Name, contact details, organisation details, application details |
You (via sponsorship and funding application forms) |
To assess and process sponsorship and funding applications |
|
Name, email address, contact number, property address, CV information, cover letter, reference contact name, reference contact number, reference email address, supporting application documents |
You (via job application forms or website) From recruitment agencies |
To assess your suitability for employment with Unison |
|
CCTV footage in which you appear |
Recorded automatically at Unison sites |
To detect and deter criminal behaviour To ensure safety of Unison sites To protect our interests and fulfil our legal obligations |
|
Content of calls made to Unison's call centre or Control Room |
Recorded automatically when you contact Unison by phone |
To carry out activities connected with our business, including quality control To address complaints To protect our interests and fulfil our legal obligations |
|
Name, email address, phone number, postal address, ICP number, consumption data |
Your electricity retailer |
To manage and carry out billing For debt collection To carry out and manage our network operations and connections To ensure continuity of electricity supply To disclose to and enable the Hawke's Bay Power Consumers' Trust to calculate and/or pay a dividend to Hawke’s Bay Power Consumers |
|
ICP, meter, address and location linked network operational data |
Metering Equipment Providers such as Bluecurrent |
To provide Unison with access to Network Operational Data to support Unison’s network planning and operations |
|
Landowner name, contact details, property address
|
Unison Networks (UNL) |
For Unison Contracting Services (UCSL) to complete network work instructions for UNL |
|
Name, contact details, property address ICP number, applicant, and electrician details |
Unison Networks (UNL) |
For UCSL to complete work on behalf of UNL for UNL’s customers |
|
Name, contact details, property address, ICP number, applicant, and electrician details
|
Other electricity distribution businesses |
For UCSL to complete field services on behalf of the relevant electricity distribution business and its customers |
|
Landowner name, contact details, property address |
From you (via an online form, phone or email) and/or shared within the Unison Group |
To manage and administer vegetation affecting UNL’s network |
|
IP address, domain name, operating system, browser type, search engine or hyperlink used, date/time/duration of visit, pages viewed |
Collected automatically when you visit Unison's website (using cookies, sessions, and usage monitoring software); From Google Inc. or its affiliates |
To analyse how Unison's website is being used; to improve Unison's website; to identify and respond to abnormal usage patterns or security breaches |
|
Name, contact details, email address
|
You (via online forms, including Available Network Capacity and Smart Energy Flex enquiry forms)
|
To assess and respond to your enquiry about available network capacity or energy flexibility services in your area; to provide you with relevant network information |
|
Name, contact details, property address
|
You, when collected onsite by our planners or field staff (e.g., during letter drops or where access to your property is required for network work) |
To contact you in relation to planned or ongoing network work affecting your property; to obtain and record access arrangements for your land |
|
All of the above |
You and others |
To protect our interests and fulfil our legal obligations under the law |
|
Any information about you (including information of the type referred to above) |
You and others |
For any other reason permitted by the Privacy Act 2020 (for example, with your consent, for a directly related purpose, or where the law permits or requires it) |
We may collect personal information about someone else from you. If you do provide us with someone else’s personal information, you must make sure you have that person’s authority to do so and you must make sure that person knows that their information may be used by us in the circumstances set out in this Privacy Statement.
If you do not provide mandatory information, we may be unable to process your application, complete the requested work, or fulfil our obligations as a distribution business. If you do not provide voluntary information, we may not be able to respond to your enquiry or provide you with access to certain information or services we provide.
3 Disclosure of Personal Information
Your personal information may be made available internally within the Unison Group. We may also make your personal information available to third parties such as our agents, contractors and field service providers, credit checking or debt collection agencies, your electricity retailer, website usage analysis agencies, recruitment agencies, other electricity distribution businesses and metering equipment and data service providers (such as Bluecurrent, please refer to Bluecurrent’s privacy policy for more information). We will only disclose to third parties' personal information that you have provided to us, or which we have obtained about you:
- for the above-mentioned purposes, or where disclosure is directly related to the purposes above, or
- if you have authorised us to do so, or
- if we have given you notification of the intended use or disclosure and you have not objected to that, or
- if 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, or
- if 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 us, our customers, or others, or
- if we are otherwise required or permitted by law to disclose such information.
We may disclose personal information collected from you in connection with your use of Unison's website to Google, Inc. or its affiliates for the purposes of analysing website usage. When we do so, such information will be held by Google in accordance with Google's privacy statement available at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en. This information may be used in aggregate form to analyse how Unison's website is being used (for example, to analyse usage patterns in order to improve Unison's website). Except as set out in this Privacy Statement, we will not disclose any such information except in aggregate form.
4 Storage, Retention and Security
The personal information that we collect may be held by us:
- on secure servers in controlled facilities in New Zealand;
- in physical files held securely at our premises; and/or
- by our cloud service providers located in New Zealand or overseas.
5 Third Party Websites
Unison's website may contain hyperlinks to websites operated by third parties. We are not responsible for the content of those websites, or the manner in which those websites collect, store, use, and distribute any personal information you provide. When you visit third party websites from hyperlinks displayed on Unison's website, we encourage you to review the privacy statements of those websites so that you can understand how the personal information you provide may be collected, stored, used and disclosed.
6 Your Rights
You may request access to, or correction of, any personal information we hold about you by contacting our Privacy Officer at:
Email: [email protected]
Post: Attention: Privacy Officer
Unison Networks Limited
PO Box 555
Hastings
To ensure that the information we hold about you is accurate and current, please notify us of any changes to your information as soon as possible.
7 Changes to our Privacy Statement
We reserve the right, at our discretion, to change this Privacy Statement at any time. Changes to this Privacy Statement will take effect immediately when they are published on Unison's website. Please check this Privacy Statement regularly for modifications and updates. If you continue to use Unison's website or our services, or if you provide any personal information to us after we post changes to this Privacy Statement, this will indicate your acknowledgement of our then-current Privacy Statement.
This Privacy Statement was last updated on 01 May 2026.