Privacy Policy

1. Overview

This Privacy Policy explains how NZ Citizenship Eligibility Checker ("we", "us" or "the website operator") handles personal information when you use nzcitizenshipcheck.com. We aim to handle personal information consistently with New Zealand's Privacy Act 2020 and its information privacy principles.

This website is an independent educational service. It is not operated by, affiliated with or endorsed by the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA), Immigration New Zealand (INZ), or any other government agency.

2. Information entered into the calculator

The calculator asks for a resident-status start date and travel dates so it can estimate the standard citizenship presence test. The calculation is performed locally by JavaScript in your browser.

• We do not intentionally transmit those dates to our server.
• We do not create a user account or save a permanent calculator history. After you calculate a result, the site may temporarily keep the resident date and travel dates in your browser session so the travel-planning tools can reuse them. This session data stays on your device and is cleared when the browser tab/session ends.
• If you choose a Share or Copy result feature, the website creates a limited summary containing the estimated result and a link to the relevant tool. Resident dates, existing travel history and the dates of the trip being tested are not included in the default shared summary. Your browser, device and any app you choose to share with may then process that summary under their own privacy practices.
• Closing or refreshing the page may remove the information you entered.
• You should not enter passport numbers, client numbers, names, dates of birth or identity-document details into the calculator.

Although the supplied website code is designed this way, browser extensions, workplace networks, device software or third-party services outside our control may handle information differently.

3. When you contact us by email

If you email [email protected], we receive the information you choose to send, which may include your name, email address, message and email metadata. We use it to respond, investigate reported errors, improve the website, manage support or donations, and maintain reasonable business records.

Please do not email passport numbers, visa client numbers, dates of birth, copies of identity documents, or detailed immigration records. Email is not a secure channel for sensitive identity information.

We keep correspondence only for as long as reasonably needed for the purpose for which it was received, security, dispute handling, or legal and record-keeping obligations. Messages may be stored by our email provider and your own email provider.

4. Technical and hosting information

Like most websites, the hosting provider may automatically process technical information needed to deliver and protect the site. This can include an IP address, browser and device type, requested pages and files, date and time, referring page, error logs, and security events.

The website currently loads Fira fonts from Google Fonts. When your browser requests those font files, Google may receive technical request information such as your IP address and browser details under Google's own privacy terms.

We use technical information only where reasonably necessary to operate, diagnose, secure and improve the website, or where required by law.

5. Analytics, cookies and local storage

We use Google Analytics 4 to understand general website usage, including pages viewed, approximate location, browser or device information, referring sources, scroll activity and interactions such as completing the calculator, encountering a validation error, opening the Travel Impact Simulator, sharing a result or successfully submitting a review.

Google Analytics may use first-party cookies or similar technologies and may process IP-related and technical information under Google’s own privacy terms. Our custom analytics events use general event details only and are designed not to send resident visa dates, departure dates, return dates, estimated eligibility dates, review text, display names or email addresses.

You can block or delete cookies through your browser settings or use browser privacy tools, although this may affect analytics measurement. The calculator itself continues to run locally in your browser.

5A. Feedback, reviews and Cloudflare Turnstile

If you choose to send feedback after using the Eligibility Calculator or Travel Impact Simulator, or leave a review directly on the User Feedback page, we store the rating, any optional public display name, any optional comment, the feedback source, publication status, and submission time. Tool-specific feedback also stores your answer about whether the result was easy to understand.

• The feedback form includes an optional public display-name field and does not ask for your email address. Leave the name blank if you prefer the public label User.
• Calculator dates, travel history and the calculated result are not included in the feedback submission.
• Published ratings contribute to the public average shown on the User Feedback page, including ratings submitted without a written comment.
• Submitted ratings, optional display names and optional written comments are published on the User Feedback page after automated spam and security checks. Ratings without a written comment are still displayed. Use only a display name you are comfortable publishing.
• Please do not put passport details, visa numbers, travel dates or other sensitive personal information in the comment box.

To reduce automated spam, the feedback form uses Cloudflare Turnstile. Your browser communicates with Cloudflare to obtain a short-lived verification token, and our server sends that token to Cloudflare for validation. Cloudflare may process technical and device/network information for this security purpose under its own Turnstile privacy information.

We also apply server-side rate limiting. We do not store the raw IP address in the feedback tables. Instead, the server creates a one-way keyed hash that changes daily and keeps the short-lived rate-limit records for up to about two days so repeated automated submissions can be limited.

6. Donations and payment providers

If you use a Donate link, you are taken to a third-party payment page, expected to be provided by Stripe. Payment details are entered on the payment provider's service, not into this website.

The payment provider may send us limited transaction information, such as the donor name, email address, amount, currency, payment status and transaction reference. We do not receive or store your complete card number. Stripe processes information under its own privacy policy and terms.

7. External websites and overseas processing

This website links to government agencies, community organisations and commercial providers. Their websites have their own privacy practices, and we are not responsible for how they collect or use information.

Hosting, email, analytics, font and payment providers may store or process information outside New Zealand. Where we choose a provider, we will take reasonable steps appropriate to the service and information involved, but foreign laws and provider practices may differ from New Zealand requirements.

8. How we use and share personal information

We do not sell personal information. We may use or disclose personal information:

• for the purpose for which it was provided, such as answering an email;
• to service providers that help host, secure, verify feedback submissions, email, analyse or process donations for the website;
• to investigate misuse, security incidents or technical problems;
• where you authorise us to do so; or
• where disclosure is required or permitted by law.

9. Security and retention

We take reasonable technical and organisational steps appropriate to this small informational website. No internet transmission or storage system is completely secure, so we cannot promise absolute security.

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for its purpose, security, legal obligations or dispute resolution, then delete or de-identify it where practicable. Feedback may be retained to improve the tools, maintain publication and abuse-prevention records, and display comments on the User Feedback page. Hidden, rejected or unnecessary feedback may be deleted.

10. Access, correction and complaints

Under the Privacy Act 2020, you may ask for access to personal information we hold about you and request correction if it is inaccurate. Because calculator dates are not intentionally sent to us, we will usually have no calculator record to provide. Feedback may include an optional public display name, but the form does not ask for an email address. If you leave the name blank or use a common display name, we may not be able to identify a particular submission unless you can provide enough information to locate it.

To make a privacy request or raise a concern, email [email protected]. Please provide enough information for us to identify the relevant correspondence, but do not send unnecessary identity documents.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you can learn about privacy rights and complaints through the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.

11. Children

The website is intended as general information for people researching citizenship. We do not knowingly seek personal information from children. A parent or guardian should supervise any child's use of the website and contact us if they believe a child has sent us personal information.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy when the website, service providers, law or privacy practices change. The revised date will appear near the top of this page. Material changes should be reviewed before continuing to use features that involve personal information.

13. Contact

Privacy questions and requests can be sent to [email protected].