EEGCL operates licensed early childhood education services that receive government subsidies and are required to meet sector regulatory requirements. To do this, we are required to collect, use and retain personal data.
Personal information collected by EEGCL may be used for the following purposes:
- Enrolment, administration of ECE services and business operations.
- Communicating with families and staff.
- Providing educational programmes and support services.
- Ensuring the health and safety of all individuals.
- Compliance with legal and regulatory requirements.
In summary:
- We only collect personal information where this is necessary to carry out our functions.
- We may collect personal information about you directly from you and we may generate personal information about you when we carry out our functions.
- We store and protect our data with all reasonable technical and process controls.
- You can ask us for a copy of your personal information at any time. We will be as open as we can with you but must also ensure we meet our privacy obligations.
- We will only use and share personal information where necessary to carry out the functions for which we collected it, or if required by law.
Please refer to the sections below for more detail on how we collect, store, use and share any personal information. If you cannot find the information you need, or you have concerns about the way we are managing your personal information, then please contact us at any time.
We may update this privacy statement from time to time, for example to reflect changes to the Privacy Act, so feel free to check in again occasionally to see what might have changed. This statement was last updated in May 2025.
Collection of Information - Children
Personal information is collected at the time of enrolment and on an ongoing basis throughout the duration of enrolment. This includes information such as children’s and parents/caregiver's names, addresses, child health records (including children’s immunisation records), enrolment details and other required personal information. Information provided by the parent will only be shared with those specified by the parent or under the direction of an identified Government authority.
Personal information about children (collected on the enrolment forms) is shared with the Ministry of Education who store it securely and treat it in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020.
Information is disclosed to the Ministry of Education:
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for funding allocation purposes.
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for monitoring purposes.
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to allow the assignment of a National Student Number* to the child, and
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to allow the Minister or Secretary of Education to exercise any of their other powers or responsibilities under the Education and Training Act 2020, and as permitted by Privacy Principles 10 and 11.
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Completed forms may also be viewed by Ministry officials on request for the purposes of monitoring and licensing.
* A National Student Number is a unique identifier for the child within the education system.
The Ministry of Education requires that all enrolment and attendance information collected about children is retained for the time set out in the Archiving Documentation Guidance.
Centres must store this information so that it is retrievable but is otherwise stored securely and safely with controlled access. Identification documents for children will be retained on file to ensure accurate records are kept for auditing and for the correct allocation of National Student Numbers.
At the time of enrolment and ongoing throughout the duration of enrolment, parents will be asked to sign consent forms for the sharing of certain information, this may include, but is not limited to:
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A Child Photograph Consent Form before photographs can be taken of their child where they will be used for marketing purposes by EEGCL.
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A student seeking permission to share child photos and observations with their tertiary institute for the purpose of their studies – (initials will be used instead of names by student teachers in this scenario to protect the identity of children and parents).
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A permission request in the enrolment form for photos of children to be taken to support curriculum delivery.
Centre Managers are responsible for ensuring Centre teams are fully informed about which children have parental consent.
Centre Managers are responsible for updating changes to personal information.
Collection of Information - Employee
As part of a job application process, EEGCL is required to collect certain information from the applicant. EEGCL will only ask for the information needed to determine an applicant’s suitability for the role they are applying for.
Applicants who are unsuccessful or chose to withdraw their application, will have their personal information destroyed at the time they withdraw their application, unless they are specifically asked, and give their permission for their personal information to be securely stored and used at a later date.
Employees must provide two forms of identification, police vetting status and other documentation as part of EEGCL’s Safety Checking Policy and Procedures, in accordance with the Children’s Act 2014. This is a legislative requirement that must be met prior to the commencement of employment as a Children’s Worker.
Employee personnel files, including all aspects of the safety check and risk assessment will be retained as required.
Collection of Information – External Reliever
Centres engaging relievers via a relieving agency are required to undertake an identity verification check using photo identification documents. Centres will securely store the relievers required documentation, including qualifications, identification documents and teaching council certification.
Storage and Security
EEGCL will implement reasonable security measures to protect personal information from unauthorised access, use or disclosure. This includes physical, technical and administrative safeguards to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of data. Such safeguards will be appropriate to the sensitivity of the information.
EEGCL will ensure that personal information required to be collected is stored securely. Personal information that is collected in hard copy will be stored in locked cabinets at Centres, in the Centre Manager’s office. Information that is stored electronically on computers will, at all times, be password protected. Individual files will also be password protected where required.
Personal information pertaining to individuals will not be disclosed to any unauthorised person or persons.
Personal information will only be used for its intended purpose.
Transfer and Disclosure of Personal Information
Under the Education and Training Act 2020 and the Licensing Criteria for ECE services, government officials may request, and access information held by EEGCL about any child, parent or Centre-based employee. (https://services.education.govt.nz/eli/overview/about-eli)
EEGCL may transfer or disclose your personal information to:
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A third party or parties, including government agencies where EEGCL has received consent for such disclosure or where disclosure is required or permitted by law. This may include but is not limited to: Ministry of Health Officials, Ministry of Education Officials, Ministry of Justice, Inland Revenue, or Officials of the Education Review Office.
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An Organisation or individual engaged by EEGCL to collect outstanding debts or Centre property.
Access and Accuracy - Your Personal Information
Under the Privacy Act 2020, anyone can ask an organisation for information held about themselves and to correct this information if it is wrong.
Parents have a right to access and correct the information about themselves and their child that EEGCL hold. Employees have this same right. There are some limited exceptions. All privacy information requests should be forwarded to and dealt with promptly by the Centre Based Privacy Officer, and in the case of information held at Support Office, directly to EEGCL’s Privacy Officer.
EEGCL will use its best efforts to ensure that the personal information that is used on an ongoing basis is accurate, complete and up to date.
Managing Information when Parents/Caregivers are Separated
Only when an EEGCL Centre is made aware that a court orders a specific guardianship or custody order, by provision of a copy of that written order to the Centre, will the Centre act on such an order and refer any requests for information to the legal guardian named by the Court. Unless otherwise specified by a Court Guardianship Order, EEGCL will not withhold official records held at the Centre or Support Office from a parent about their child’s participation at the Centre.
It should be noted that it is not the Centre’s role to become engaged in matters of dispute between parents.
Collection of Information – Through our websites
Personal information (e.g. name, contact details, child’s name and date of birth) may be collected by EEGCL during your time using a website.
EEGCL only obtains exact and individualised information about its website visitors when such information is supplied willingly (e.g., when a website visitor sends an email or submits a contact form). This information may be shared with third parties for the purposes of evaluating advertising effectiveness. Any information shared will be shared in a secure, anonymous hashed format.
EEGCL automatically gathers broad information to determine the usefulness of its websites to support future service requirements. This generic information does not contain the visitor's identity but includes information such as the pages visited, time spent on various pages, domain name and originating web page.
Purpose of Information Collection – Through our websites
EEGCL will only use personal information for:
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Access to and correction of personal information.
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Providing information or services that are requested from us.
You may at any time can request access to, or correction of (if required), any personal information about you held by EEGCL.
Use of Data & Information Collected – Through our websites
EEGCL will not sell or rent personal information to any third-party organisations.
EEGCL will only share personal information to anyone outside of EEGCL when:
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It is legally required to do so; or
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Such disclosure is required to protect the safety of employees, visitors, property or customers and their families.
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Evaluating advertising effectiveness. Any information shared for this purpose will be shared in a secure, one-way hashed format.
Use of Cookies – Through our websites
EEGCL’s websites use cookies to gather statistics about a user’s visit to the website and to assist in measuring the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. Cookies may be stored on a visitor’s computer and accessed on subsequent visits to EEGCL’s websites. Information that may be collected from a cookie includes browser, IP address and computer platform.
Use of Email and Text Services
As part of the Mailing List service, visitors must supply an email address and in some cases, a phone number which will be used to communicate updates or send relevant offers on services from time to time. EEGCL will never sell or rent email addresses or phone numbers to third-party organisations.
Use of Surveys
EEGCL uses surveys to gather information for the following purposes:
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Reviewing and consulting on EEGCL policies and procedures.
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Collecting information to help to improve and deliver the services offered.
Personal Information received through surveys will be stored and used for its intended purpose only.