Principals' Advice and Support Limited (PASL) is committed to protecting the privacy of the principals it supports through the NZPF Principals' Legal Advice and Support Scheme (the Scheme). This Policy sets out how PASL meets its privacy obligations with regard to how personal information, being any information about an identifiable individual, is collected, stored, and disclosed. The Privacy Officer for PASL is Jacquie Kenton.

Collection of personal information

1) When you join the Scheme, PASL will collect personal information including your name, school, contact details, and details about any existing employment issues, in order to;

(a) Keep records about your membership and entitlement to the legal benefits under the Scheme; and

(b) Keep records of the costs incurred in advising you.

2) If you call the Hotline for advice, then PASL's Appointed Legal Representative (Representative) will collect information about the events giving rise to the issue, your own concerns, the outcome you hope to achieve, and your views about how the situation could best be managed. This information and any advice to you is legally privileged, and will not be disclosed without your express authorisation.

3) If it takes more than an hour to advise you, and the costs exceed those available to you under the Hotline, then you may be able to ask PASL to open a file for you. In applying for a file PASL's Representative will disclose your name and the name of your school to PASL, together with a brief summary of the events and the current costs. If PASL agrees to open a file for you then PASL's Representative will collect information about the events giving rise to the issue, your own concerns, the outcome you hope to achieve, and your views about how the situation could best be managed. This information and any advice to you is legally privileged but you agree that some personal information may be disclosed to PASL as set out in "Use and disclosure of personal information" below.

4) Personal information will usually be collected directly from you or from any authorised third parties, including the school's representatives, but may also be collected from public sources such as websites or social media.

Use and disclosure of personal information

5) In order to assess ongoing costs and liabilities associated with the files opened, and so that it can provide informed and effective advocacy at a national level, PASL receives regular reports from its Representative about the issues its members are facing.

6) Under the Hotline the reports will not disclose your personal information, but may include;

(i) A summary of the total number of calls made to the Hotline;

(ii) A summary of the general nature of the calls;

(iii) Anonymised commentary about any significant issues the callers were facing.

(b) If PASL has agreed to open a file for you, the reports may include;

(i) Your name and the name of your school;

(ii) A summary of the employment issue and action taken; and

(iii) Actual costs of advice provided and an estimate of potential further costs.

7) In your contract with PASL you have expressly authorised PASL and the Representative to obtain and disclose information to and from each other in order to provide services and advice to you. See "Information" and the Privacy Statement under section 8 of your contract.

8) PASL might also need to disclose principals' information externally if required by any statutory obligations.

9) PASL will not disclose your personal information in other circumstances, unless the disclosure is in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020 (Act). This includes situations where you have authorised the disclosure (for example if you wish details of your employment issue to be shared with NZPF) or where there is a serious and imminent health and safety risk.

10) If PASL disclose any personal information to an offshore person or entity, it will comply with cross-border disclosure requirements, in accordance with Information Privacy Principle 12.

Storage and retention of personal information

11) PASL will ensure personal information is protected (so far as is reasonable) against loss, unauthorised access, use, modification or disclosure and other misuse.

12) Before using your personal information PASL will take reasonable steps to ensure it is accurate, up to date, complete, relevant, and not misleading,

13) Once PASL no longer needs to retain your personal information it will be securely destroyed.

Access and correction of personal information

14) You are entitled to access your personal information, by making a request to the Privacy Officer. We will respond to your request as is soon as is reasonably practicable, and no later than 20 working days after receiving the request.

15) If you have any questions or concerns about your personal information, please contact the Privacy Officer on 021 385 014.