ECE privacy statement

This privacy statement explains how the University of Auckland ECE Services, including Centres and Kōhanga Reo, manage the personal information we hold about tamariki and their parents/guardians. It outlines the types of personal information we collect, how we use and share it, and the rights people have regarding access to and correction of their personal information.

We may update this privacy statement from time to time to reflect changes to the law or our business operations. This privacy statement was last updated in March 2026.

We need to collect a wide range of personal information about tamariki, their parents/guardians, and whānau to deliver early childhood education services. The types of personal information that we collect depend on the circumstances of collection and the relationship with the individual the information is about.

We may collect or create the following personal information (the icon to the right explains whether it relates to a tamaiti, a parent/guardian, or both): 

You do not have to provide us with the personal information we request. However, not providing certain information may mean that we cannot provide our services to you or your tamaiti. We will always explain when personal information is really needed, and we can discuss any concerns you may have about providing it to us.

We may need to collect personal information about you or your tamaiti from third parties. Usually, we will do this with your authorisation, and so you will be made aware of the collection at the time it takes place. You may also have been provided with notice about our collection of personal information by the third party that is disclosing the information to us.

Occasionally, and only when permitted by law, we may collect personal information about you or your tamaiti from third parties without your knowledge or authorisation, such as when required to lessen a serious threat to health or safety. In those cases, we will try our best to let you know about the collection afterwards.

We may collect personal information about you or your tamaiti from the following third parties:

• your tamaiti’s previous early childhood education provider, where necessary to provide continued care to your tamaiti
• health care providers with a role in your tamaiti’s care, where necessary to ensure their health and wellbeing
• Oranga Tamariki, where necessary to manage any possible risks of harm

Our primary purpose for collecting personal information is to deliver early childhood education services. To do this, we need to use, and sometimes share, personal information in the ways set out below. If we need to use or share personal information in a way we have not anticipated here, we will only do so if required or permitted by law, or with consent. 

We use personal information to:

• Provide early childhood education services to our tamariki and their whānau
• Ensure the educational, social and medical wellbeing of our tamariki
• Ensure the safety of our tamariki, staff, students, volunteers, contractors and visitors
• Manage and administer our centres
• Communicate with our parents/guardians about their tamariki or more generally to provide information about events or important notices
• Meet legislative and regulatory requirements, including the requirements of the Children’s Act 2014, the Education and Training Act 2020, the ECE Regulations 2008 and the Licensing Criteria
• Inform marketing activities and communications

We may need to disclose personal information to third parties in order to meet the purposes set out above, including to:

• Parents/guardians and whānau
• Volunteers and students working at a service, where necessary for them to discharge their duties
• Education Review Office, where necessary to meet reporting or audit requirements
• New Zealand Police, where necessary to keep tamariki safe from harm
• Oranga Tamariki, where we believe a tamaiti may be at risk of harm
• We collect information, including personal information (e.g. enrolment and attendance) about your child, which is shared with the Ministry of Education, who stores it securely and treats it in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020.

The Ministry of Education collects and holds this information for the following purposes: 

for funding allocation

for monitoring compliance with the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 and related criteria, and the ECE Funding Handbook 

to assign a National Student Number* to your child,

for statistical and resourcing purpose

to allow the Minister or Secretary of Education to exercise any of their other powers or responsibilities under Education and Training Act 2020,

as permitted by the Privacy Act 2020.

• Information collected may be shared with other government agencies where required by legislation, or to meet an agreed purpose, and in accordance with the government’s direction for greater inter-agency data sharing.
• You have the right to request access to or correction of personal information that the Ministry of Education holds about you. Contact information for the Ministry can be found here: National office – Ministry of Education www.education.govt.nz/our-work/about-us/contact-us/national-office
• Completed enrolment forms and related information may be accessed by authorised Ministry officials on request, for monitoring, licensing, and funding administration purposes.

Our staff, students, and volunteers may use devices to take photographs of, or record video or audio footage of, tamariki. We do this primarily to keep parents/guardians updated on the activities their tamariki have been involved in while they are with us. With parent/guardian consent, we may also share photographs with classroom user groups or use photographs on our social media accounts or in marketing materials.

When a parent/guardian enrols their tamaiti with one of our ECE services, they will be asked to authorise the service to create and provide whānau access to their tamaiti’s online portfolio. This access will allow the ECE and the parent/guardian to share information about tamariki group learning and to record the individual's learning, growth, and development.

Importantly, the online portfolio is owned by the whānau, parent, or guardian who provides consent for creation and access. In circumstances where family court orders or parental agreements are in place for a tamaiti, these will guide the approach the ECE Service takes when requesting or creating access to any online portfolios for an enrolled individual. This is to comply with the Care of Children Act 2004, Family Court Order Act 1980, Privacy Act 2020, Education and Training Act 2020, and any Child Protection procedures or acts, including the Children’s Act 2014 and Oranga Tamariki Act 1989.

The ECE Service may also hold personal information contained in the portfolio on other systems and may need to retain this information for its own lawful purposes.

We store personal information electronically (on secure systems or platforms, including cloud platforms) or in hard copy (in a secure physical location, including lockable cabinets). We may use third-party service providers to store and process personal information for us, some of which may store or process information overseas. We retain personal information only for as long as we have a lawful purpose to use it, and we securely destroy or de-identify the information we no longer need.

We take all reasonable steps to protect personal information from loss, misuse, or unauthorised access or disclosure. You can find more information about the University of Auckland’s information security safeguards here. 

When selecting an online platform, we prioritise education‑specific providers that can demonstrate strong privacy protections and proven security systems. We only partner with services that have well‑defined privacy breach procedures to ensure tamariki information remains safe and protected in accordance with New Zealand privacy standards.

Everyone we deal with has the right to request a copy of the personal information we hold about them, or to correct their information if they believe it is wrong.

In practice, parents/guardians can generally request a copy of the personal information we hold about their tamaiti, on the basis that they are acting as their tamaiti’s representative. However, we will always act in the best interests of tamariki, and if we believe that releasing personal information about a tamaiti to a parent/guardian may not be in the tamaiti’s best interests, we may refuse.

In the first instance, please send access or correction requests, or any privacy-related complaints or concerns, to the Centre Leader. If they cannot assist, they will escalate the request or concern to the ECE General Manager and, occasionally, to the University of Auckland Privacy Officer.