In this privacy policy:
"Members" are both tradeSearch, Homeowners and Tradespeople, as defined in our terms and conditions.
"Personal Information" is information about an identifiable individual, as defined in the Privacy Act 2020.
Overview of how we store and protect your data
Tradesearch is locally hosted in NZ on servers that are regularly updated and patched
We use industry standard HTTPS and SSL to secure all data communications
Passwords are hashed and salted (we don’t store passwords in plaintext and we can't decrypt them)
Information such as name, phone, email is stored in our secure database
Private details such as name and phone are not publicly searchable
Backups of data are securely transferred and stored.
Information you send to customer support may be stored on services such as Zendesk
We use cookies to provide secure account access and account checks
We don’t store credit card information if provided. If needed in the future this information will be stored using PCI compliant third party providers
Any ID documentation that you upload is only accessible by yourself and administrative staff. It is only stored on our server and backups
1. Use of information
1.1 We will use and disclose your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020. Purposes for which we use and disclose personal information include:
1.1.1 Our services enable Members to load jobs to our search engine for tradespeople to view, who can provide quotations for the job request. Tradesearch has NO pert in posting, Pricing, Insurance or any other part of the Job. Tradesearch connects users.
1.1.2 When you submit a job, you expressly consent to being contacted by Tradespeople via phone, fax, email, mail or other reasonable means, at any of your contact numbers or addresses, in order that we may provide the Services set forth on our Application, service your account, reasonably address matters pertaining to your account or for other reasonable purposes related to our business.
1.1.3 When a Homeowner accepts contact with a Tradesperson, various personal information may be provided to each party by Tradesearch. This information is limited to: first name, last name, home or business address, phone number, and email address, and may be provided by us either at the time of connection or at a later time.
1.1.4 In order to protect against accreditation fraud, if a Tradesperson adds a valid accreditation to their trade account we may contact the owner of the accreditation and provide them with details of the trade account that entered their accreditation. Details may include trading name, director/owner name, and contact details.
1.1.5 We may post and publish Members' feedback and reviews of Tradesperson's performance, as well as feedback and testimonials at our sole discretion. Where we post feedback and testimonials, this may include the Member’s name, photo, and general location.
1.1.6 To verify address, entity, or identity, data entered or to check the creditworthiness of our Tradespeople or Members we reserve the right to obtain information on the Tradesperson or Member through third parties and public sources. For this purpose, the information collected during registration including the name of the individual or the business, address and date of birth, if appropriate, are sent to a business credit agency or other credit reference agency to check the address and creditworthiness of the Tradespeople or Members in question. The credit agency is required to protect the data.
1.1.7 In the event of any breach of contract (e.g. termination for failure to pay, debt recovery proceedings or enforcing a judgment), Tradesearch has No Part and No Liability. Its is the homeowner's and Tradespersons responsibility to ensure the Jobs are contracted and completed and paid in Full.
1.2 From time to time Tradesearch may wish to forward your contact details on to partners. Tradesearch will always ask you for your consent before forwarding any details.
1.3 We release account and other personal information only when we believe release is appropriate:
1.3.1 for legal compliance and law enforcement (including to government agencies with statutory law enforcement responsibilities);
1.3.2 to facilitate court proceedings;
1.3.3 to enforce or apply our terms and conditions; or
1.3.4 to protect the rights, property, or safety of Tradesearch, our users, or others.
Government agencies with statutory roles enabling them to request data from us includes, but is not restricted to, Police, IRD and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. Members can contact Tradesearch to ask whether their personal information has been provided to a Government agency.
1.4 If a dispute arises between you and another Member, or you wish to take Dispute Tribunal proceedings against another Member, you can contact Tradesearch or the Disputes Tribunal, requesting contact details for the sole purpose of making a claim.
2. Email
2.1 It is the policy of Tradesearch to send our Members email's as customary business communications etc.). Tradeseach will send newsletters and other marketing communications to Members (including promotional material from some of our affiliated partners), and by registering each Member consents to receive such communications by email. Newsletters and marketing communications will contain clear and obvious instructions for how the Member can remove themself from that mailing list. It is our policy to promptly remove any Member from any mailing list upon the Member's request.
2.2 We use electronic means (including online forms) to receive feedback, including testimonials, from Members. Feedback provided by Members may be published by us on our App and may be removed by us at our sole discretion.
3. Membership registration
3.1 Our Application registration form requires you to provide us contact information and may also require demographic information.
3.2 We may also require (at our discretion) a Tradesperson's registered company name or personal name, insurance policy details and references to complete a credit check and/or a background check, prior to a Tradesperson being approved to join our network.
4. Updating your personal information
4.1 You have rights to request access to, or correction of, the personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020.
4.2 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 a correction to your personal information.
4.3 Tradesearch provides you with ways in which you can alter your personal information held by us, including changing your email address, physical address, password, phone numbers, etc. Tradesearch may store previous email addresses, NZBN numbers, and other information against your account to ensure compliance with our terms and conditions, specifically the use of one account per Member.
4.4 It is your responsibility to let us know if the personal information which we hold about you needs to be corrected or updated. If you are unable to correct it via your profile settings in your account.
5. Control of your password
5.1 You are responsible for all actions taken with your user name and password, including any applicable fees. Therefore we recommend that you do not disclose your Tradesearch user name or password to any third parties. If you choose to share your user name and password or your information with third parties, you are responsible for all actions taken with this information.
6. Credit card security
Tradesearch at this time is a free service, we will not ask for your credit card details. Tradesearch will be releasing a Pro version in the future which may require credit card details.
7. Cookies
7.1 A cookie is a piece of data tied to information about the user and stored on the user's computer. This is widely used among major websites. A cookie provides details of your IP address, the computer platform that you use (e.g. Mac or Windows), the browser that you use and what domain you are accessing our sites from.
7.2 By accepting the cookie, this helps us reduce the number of times you need to log in, thereby saving time while on our App. We can also use cookies to help show you the most relevant content and allow us to track traffic patterns to Tradesearch.
7.3 If you would rather we did not use cookies with you, you can refuse them by turning them off in your browser and/or deleting them from your hard drive. The drawback to this is that your experience and/or access may be limited in some areas of our Application.
8. Other information we collect
8.1 We use additional information to do internal research on our Members' demographics, interests, and behaviour to better understand and serve you. This information may include the URL that you just came from (whether this URL is on our site or not), which URL you next go to (whether this URL is on our site or not), what browser you are using, and your IP address.
8.2 Members who login have their IP addresses recorded. This information is stored securely and will not be provided to other Members or non-authorised parties. This information will only be provided to legal authorities in cases of suspected fraud or for law enforcement purposes.
8.3 If you choose to leave feedback for other Members, we will collect that information you provide to us.
8.4 If you send us personal correspondence, such as emails or letters, or if other users or third parties send us correspondence about your activities or postings on the Application, we may collect such information into a file specific to you.
9. Using information shared with you
9.1 A Tradesperson is only allowed to use the personal information communicated to that Tradesperson exclusively for the purpose of carrying out the relevant job.
10. Membership removal
10.1 We will disable your account upon request. To disable your account, you may send us an email requesting this or request via the support form.
10.2 We will delete your personal user data (your email and name) upon request. To remove your data, please follow this process:
Submit the support form, stating that you wish your data to be deleted, ensuring that you provide your email associated with the account.
We will then send you an email to confirm account deletion. Reply to this email so we can confirm ownership of the email address provided.
Our support team will delete your data within 7 working days and will confirm via email once actioned.
11. Advertising and third party links
There are NO Advertising or third party links on the free version of Tradesearch this may change on the Proversion.
12. Updates to our information practices
12.1 From time to time, we make changes to our information practices or alter the functionality of our Application. We always update this privacy policy accordingly, so we encourage you to periodically review this page for the latest information on privacy practices at Tradesearch.
12.2 Your continued use of our Application constitutes your acceptance of the changed policy and any personal information collected or held by us will be subject to the changed policy.
If you have any questions about our privacy policies or any other matter, please contact us.