Who we are

Our website address is: www.hera.org.nz.

On this site, we are committed to being a kaitiaki (guardian) that works to protect your privacy and ensuring your data is handled responsibly and transparently.

Māori data sovereignty

We acknowledge that data related to Māori, including personal, cultural, and historical information, is a taonga and carries unique responsibilities.

As such, we are committed to upholding Māori data sovereignty principles, ensuring that data relating to Māori individuals, whānau, hapū, iwi, and organisations is collected, stored, and used in ways that align with tikanga Māori (Māori customs) and respect the rights and interests of tangata whenua (people of the land) – and is not shared or traded.

Our approach is guided by:

• partnership: working collaboratively with Māori to determine how their data is managed;
• protection: safeguarding Māori data from misuse or unauthorised access; and
• participation: ensuring Māori have agency over their data and how it is used.

Wherever possible, we will provide transparency about how Māori data is used and provide opportunities for review and feedback from relevant stakeholders, store data within Aotearoa New Zealand to maintain compliance with Māori data sovereignty principles, and seek guidance from Māori experts or kaitiaki (guardians) to ensure our practices reflect tikanga and protect the mana (integrity) of the data.

Comments

When manuhiri (visitors) leave comments on the site, we collect the data shown in the comments form, as well as the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help with spam detection.

An anonymised string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy. After approval of your comment, your profile picture will be visible to the public in the context of your comment.

Comments and their metadata are retained indefinitely to recognise and approve follow-up comments automatically.

Media

If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included.

Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.

Cookies

We use cookies to enhance your experience on our website. If you visit our login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.

If you have a ‘log in’ detail for our website, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember me”, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.

If you upload images to the website, ensure that they do not include embedded location data (EXIF GPS). Visitors to the website can download and extract location data from images, so please review and remove such metadata before uploading.

You can manage or disable cookies through your browser settings, noting that disabling cookies may impact your experience on

Embedded content from other websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles).

Embedded content behaves as though you visited the other website, which may collect data about you, use cookies, or embed additional tracking.

We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party websites linked or embedded within our content.

Who we share your data with

We do not sell or trade personal data to third parties.

If you request a password reset, your IP address will be included in the reset email.

Visitor comments may be checked through automated spam detection services. Data sent outside Aotearoa New Zealand will be transferred securely and in accordance with legal safeguards.

How long we retain your data

For users that register on our website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. We retain this personal data only as long as necessary for its intended purposes.

• Comments and their metadata are retained indefinitely to streamline moderation.
• Registered user profiles (if applicable) are retained indefinitely, but users can see, edit, or delete their information at any time (except usernames).

Inactive accounts may be reviewed and removed periodically.

What rights you have over your data

If you have an account or have left comments, you can request an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided.

You can also request that we erase personal data, except for data we are required to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

To make such a request, please contact us at admin@hera.org.nz. We will respond within 30 days.

We take seriously our responsibility as kaitiaki of your data and are committed to upholding the principles of privacy, transparency, and respect. Through the integration of tikanga Māori, and global best practices, we aim to honour and protect all the data entrusted to us.

Mā te kotahitanga e whai kaha ai tātou.
By unity, we will find strength.