Privacy Policy

Private Discovery Tours Limited (“PDT”, “we”, “us”) respects your privacy. This policy explains what personal information we collect when you enquire about, book or take one of our tours, why we collect it, who we share it with, and what rights you have over it under the Privacy Act 2020. 

This policy covers our website (privatediscoverytours.co.nz), our booking system, and our direct dealings with you by phone, email and in person. 

What we collect 

• Booking details, through our online booking system, when you book a tour: your name, contact details, tour selection, group size and party details (including the age of children, where relevant), and payment reference information. 
• Website enquiry and contact form details: name, email, phone number, tour interest, group size, fitness level, and rough budget, where you choose to share these with us.
• Website analytics, through Google Analytics, covering how visitors use our website. This is largely anonymised and aggregated, and is not used to identify you personally.
• Waiver form details, signed before your tour: your name, signature, and any health or fitness information relevant to your safe participation. 
• Email and other correspondence you send us, including any attachments or information you choose to include. 
• Payment information, processed through a third-party payment provider. We do not collect or store your full card details ourselves. 

We do not knowingly collect more information than we need for the purpose it is collected for.

Why we collect it 

We collect personal information to: 

• take and manage your booking, and confirm the details with you 
• run your tour safely, including using waiver and fitness information to plan appropriately for your group 
• process payment 
• respond to your enquiries 
• meet our legal, safety, accounting and insurance obligations 
• understand how our website is used, so we can improve it 
• with your consent, send you information about PDT you have asked for 

We collect information under the Privacy Act 2020, which requires that we only collect what we need, that we tell you why we are collecting it, and that we use it only for the purpose it was collected for (or a directly related purpose) unless you agree otherwise or the law requires or allows it. 

Who we share it with 

We share personal information only where it is necessary to deliver your tour or run our business: 

• Our booking system provider, to process and manage your booking.
• Our payment provider, to process payment. We do not store your card details.
• Third-party activity operators, such as jet boat and cruise partners, where your tour includes an activity they deliver, and only the details they need to include you safely (for example your name and group size). 

• Google, through Google Analytics, in an aggregated and largely anonymised form, to understand website usage. 
• Government agencies or authorities, where we are required to by law, or in a genuine emergency affecting your safety. 

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it with anyone else for their own marketing purposes. 

How long we keep it 

We keep booking, waiver and correspondence records for as long as we need them for the purpose they were collected, and to meet our legal, accounting, tax and insurance obligations (which in New Zealand can require records to be kept for several years). After that, we securely delete or de-identify the information. Website analytics data is retained according to Google Analytics’ own retention settings. 

Cookies and website analytics 

Our website uses Google Analytics 4 to understand how visitors use it: which pages are viewed, how people arrive at the site, and general location and device information. This uses cookies. You can control or block cookies through your browser settings, though this may affect how parts of the website work. Analytics data does not identify you personally in the ordinary course of use. 

Keeping your information safe 

We take reasonable steps to keep your personal information secure, including using reputable third-party providers for booking and payment processing who maintain their own security standards, and limiting access to your information to what our team needs to do their job. 

Your rights 

Under the Privacy Act 2020, you have the right to: 

• ask us what personal information we hold about you, and to see it 
• ask us to correct it, if it is wrong or out of date 
• ask us why we are holding or using it, in a given case 

To make a request, email info@privatediscoverytours.co.nz. We will usually respond within 20 working days, as required by the Act. There is normally no charge for a straightforward request. 

If you are not happy with how we have handled your information 

Please contact us first at info@privatediscoverytours.co.nz so we can try to put it right. If you are not satisfied with our response, you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner: 

• Online: privacy.org.nz (complaint self-assessment tool) 
• Phone: 0800 803 909 
• Post: PO Box 10 094, Wellington 6140, New Zealand 

Changes to this policy 

We may update this policy from time to time, for example to reflect a change in the law or in how we operate. The current version will always be available on our website. 

Contact us

Private Discovery Tours Limited 
Email: info@privatediscoverytours.co.nz 
Phone: +64 21 024 35108