The purpose of this Privacy Policy is to help our users understand how we collect and use any data we receive from them.

This policy applies to www.metservice.com and its subdomains. It also applies to the MetService Android and iOS apps.

To continue providing meteorological services to our users MetService collects and retains personal information. Please read this Privacy Policy prior to using the website. By accessing and using MetService’s website you accept this Privacy Policy.

MetService’s use and retention of user information complies with the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020 ("the Act") and other applicable privacy and data protection laws.

Who are “we”?

In this Privacy Policy all references to "we", "us", and "our" refer to Meteorological Service of New Zealand Limited (“MetService”). 

You can contact us by email at privacy@metservice.com. 

Our registered address is: 
Meteorological Service of New Zealand Limited 
Level 2, 110 Featherston Street, Wellington 6012

What information do we collect?

The type of information MetService collects varies depending on the services you use. The two primary types of information MetService collects are Personal Information and Usage Data.

Personal Information

Personal Information will be collected if you:

• Use the website- if your browser supports Cookies, these are collected.
• Apply to work at MetService- your CV, email address and phone number may be collected.
• Sign up to a mailing list- your email address will be collected to facilitate this.
• Make a general inquiry or Official Information request- your email address and any other information you provide will be collected.

Usage Data

This includes but is not limited to:

• The type of browser you used.
• The date and time of your visit. 
• Your top-level domain name (e.g. ".nz", ".com"). 
• The address of any web site that referred you to the Site. 
• Your server's IP address
• The address(es) of the page(s) on the Site you browsed. 
• The address(es) of the document(s) you downloaded. 
• The search engine you used (if any), and which keywords or phrases you searched with. 
• Search terms you enter when using the site search.

How do we use your information?

We will never sell, publish, or give away your personal information. MetService will only use your information for analytics and to provide our users with the most relevant information.

Your e-mail address will only be used for the purpose for which you provide it. It will not be added to a mailing list except at your request. We will never disclose your e-mail address without your consent. You will always have the option to opt out of our mailing lists.

We only use usage data for statistical analysis and systems administration purposes. We may provide your usage data to third-party auditors for the limited purpose of verifying usage statistics. Furthermore, we may share aggregated usage data (not personally identifiable information) with third parties such as advertisers or our business partners.  

Disclosure

In certain circumstances, we may be obliged to disclose your personal information to law enforcement or other government officials. For example, this may happen during an investigation of fraud or any other activity that is illegal, or if failing to do so could expose us to legal liability. 

We may disclose your personal information to another company within our group or to another business that supports our services. This includes any person that hosts or maintains any underlying IT system or data centre that we use to provide a service.

If personal information we collect is hosted by a third-party service provider, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that our agreement with that provider protects that information from unauthorised use. 

Protecting your Personal Information

We will take reasonable steps to keep your personal information safe from loss, unauthorised activity, alteration, disclosure, or other misuse.  We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure a level of security appropriate to risks inherent in processing personal information. If MetService suffered a data breach containing your consequential personal information, we would take reasonable steps to notify you and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.

We or a business supporting our services may store and process your information overseas. MetService will take all reasonable steps to ensure that the storage and processing complies with New Zealand privacy obligations.

Your Right to Access and Correct your Information

Subject to certain grounds for refusal set out in the Act, you have the right to access your readily retrievable personal information that we hold and to request correction to your personal information.

If we receive a request for correction, we will make the correction if it is reasonable, and the personal information can reasonably be changed.  If we do not make the correction, we will take reasonable steps to note on the personal information that you requested the correction. 

If you want to exercise either of the above rights, email us at privacy@metservice.com. Your email should provide evidence to confirm that you are the individual to whom the personal information relates and set out the details of your request (e.g. the personal information, or the correction, that you are requesting).

How long will we store your data?

MetService will take all reasonable steps to only retain user information for as long as it is required for the intended purpose. You are always welcome to request MetService deletes any data held about you.

Cookies

"Cookies" are pieces of user-specific information generated by a web server and stored on the users device. MetService uses Cookies to measure web traffic and trends on our site. This is managed by a third-party, Nielsen. To learn more about the information that Nielsen software may collect, please see the Nielsen Privacy Principles. 

If you prefer not to use Cookies, they can be turned off and cleared in your browser. You will still be able to visit the Site. However, it may result in reduced functionality. Site functionality in the EU may be restricted as we have turned off the ability for third parties to provide cookies.

Additionally, we use Google Advertising, Analytics and Cross Platform Targeting to serve advertising relevant to your interests. These services place Google Analytics Remarketing tags on the Site to track your behaviour on the Site. They also use cross-device targeting to serve relevant advertising across multiple platforms or devices where you are logged into the same accounts (e.g. Google/Gmail). If you would like to customise or opt out of these settings, please visit Google’s Ad Settings. For more information on how Google uses personal information, see Google’s Privacy and Terms. 

MetService may use additional tools for the provision of advertising or analytics. If so, MetService will take reasonable steps to ensure that any additional tools protect your personal information.

Site Search

Our site search is provided by Algolia and is subject to Algolia’s Privacy Policy.  Search terms entered into the site search may be collected. However, they are not associated with any other information that we collect, including any personal information. 

Use of Device Location in MetService Apps

Our Android and iOS Weather apps offer an optional feature called Location Based Forecast. If enabled, your device location will be used to match you with the nearest available forecast. If you add a Home Screen Widget that uses your current location, your device location will be used in the background to keep the location and forecasts on the widget up to date. Our Android and iOS Weather Apps also offer optional Location based Severe Weather Warning and Extreme Fire Danger Notifications. If enabled, your current location will be used in the background to notify you of Severe Weather Warnings and Fire Danger Notifications in your area.

On Android and iOS, you can choose to add a widget for a specific location instead of one for your current location if you do not want your location used in the background. If you do not want your device location used to find forecasts, you can disable Location Based Forecast at any time and access forecasts via search within the app. Similarly, if you do not want your location used for this purpose, you can simply enable Warnings and Notifications based on your manually inputted Home Location.

Additional Terms

MetService may offer other services that require additional personal information. When using those services, their specific Privacy Policies supersede this one.

Modification

MetService may change this policy without notice at any time by updating it on the website. These changes will be effective immediately. Because of this, we recommend checking this page from time to time. By continuing to use this website following an update, you agree to the changed policy.

This privacy policy was last updated on 19 January 2024.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, our privacy practices, or if you would like to request access to, or correction of, your personal information, you can contact us at privacy@metservice.com. More information is available about your privacy rights in New Zealand through the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.