Below is a summary of our Privacy Policy. You can read the full privacy statement below, and you’re also welcome to talk to us if you have any questions.
For more info about our service and how we support young people, read our About section here.
Your Rights (You have the power!)
- Respect and Dignity: You deserve respect and should never face discrimination, coercion, or exploitation.
- Independence and Choice: You have the right to make your own choices and be informed about them.
- Privacy and Support: Your information is private and secure. You're entitled to support when needed.
- Stay Informed: You have the right to know what's happening and be communicated with effectively.
- Complaints: If something doesn't feel right, you can make a complaint without it affecting the support you receive.
Keeping Your Info Safe (Your privacy matters!)
- Privacy Protection: We take your privacy seriously and keep your info safe.
- Your Consent: By sharing info with us, you agree to how we use it, following the law and our policy.
- Your Data: We collect necessary info for communication, support, and improving our services.
- Tech Stuff: We may use tech tools like cookies to understand how our website is used, making it better for you.
Access and Correction (It’s your info, after all!)
- Access Your Info: You can ask to see or correct the info we have about you.
- Opt-Out: You have the choice to stop receiving further contact from us.
How We Share Information (Keeping it safe and fair!)
- Limited Sharing: We only share info when needed, following the law and ethical practices.
- Privacy and Ethics: We balance legal obligations with ethical responsibilities towards your confidentiality.
- Storage: Your info is stored securely, following strict guidelines and laws.
Intellectual Property (Respecting Creativity!)
- Ownership: Our website's content is our property. Please respect copyright rules when using it.
Feedback and Complaints (Your voice matters!)
- Express Yourself: If something bothers you, let us know. We'll take your feedback seriously.
- Complaint Process: There's a process for complaints, and it won't affect the help you receive.
- Appeals: If you're not satisfied, you can appeal the outcome.
Talk to us if you have any questions by emailing [email protected]. Your feedback matters to us.
About EaseUp
EaseUp is a service of Emerge Aotearoa Limited which is a part of the Emerge Aotearoa group. EaseUp exists to support youth aged 12-24 facing mental wellbeing, drug/alcohol challenges and who reside in West/Central Auckland, North Shore/Rodney, and South Waikato.
Your Rights
It is important that you are aware of your rights as a person accessing our services. Our kaimahi will explain these rights to you and you can ask questions at any time.
When you use a health or disability service in New Zealand, you have the protection of the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights. These rights include:
- The right to be treated with respect
- The right to freedom from discrimination, coercion, harassment, and exploitation
- The right to dignity and independence
- The right to services of an appropriate standard
- The right to effective communication
- The right to be fully informed
- The right to make an informed choice and give informed consent
- The right to support
- Rights in respect of teaching or research
- The right to complain
For more information, visit hdc.org.nz.
Keeping Your Information Private
EaseUp recognises the importance of protecting your privacy and personal information and treats your personal information with total care and security. We review your consent to share information with us at least once a year.
The Privacy Act 2020 governs how organisations and businesses can collect, store, use and share your information. It ensures that:
- you know when your information is being collected
- your information is used and shared appropriately
- your information is kept safe and secure
- you can get access to your information
If you have any privacy concerns regarding the storage of your information/data or want to see a copy of your notes and the information we record about you, please discuss this with a staff member first or you can email an Emerge Aotearoa privacy officer in confidence to request this at [email protected]
You can also contact the Privacy Commissioner by calling 0800 803 909, write to them at PO Box 10094, Wellington 6143, or submit a request for information on their website privacy.org.nz
By providing us with personal information, you consent to the collection, storage, use and disclosure of your personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy or as otherwise agreed with you, or as required by law.
How and what information we collect:
We only collect personal information if it is for a lawful purpose and the information is necessary for that purpose. The personal information you provide to us is collected and may be used for communicating with and supporting you, statistical analysis, reporting and research and development. Some examples of data are as follows:
- Your contact and demographic information
- Information about your support needs
- Information we create about you and our interactions with you
We use Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics on this website. The information collected is not personally identifiable. We comply with the privacy policies implemented by Google Tag Manager. You can find out more about their privacy policy here: https://support.google.com/tagmanager/answer/9323295
We may also collect technical information whenever you visit the public version of the EaseUp website. This may include information about the way users arrive at, browse through, and interact with our site. We may collect this type of technical information through the use of cookies and other means.
We may use the technical information we collect to have a better understanding of the way people use the site, to improve the way it works and to personalise it to be more relevant and useful to your particular needs.
Correction of Information
A person has a right to ask Emerge Aotearoa to correct information about them if they think it is wrong. Emerge Aotearoa’s Privacy Officer will process all requests for correcting records and will ensure that the
Access
Under the Privacy Act, you have the right to request access to and correction of any of the personal information we hold about you. You can ask us to correct any errors or to delete the information we have about you.
You may opt out of any further contact from us.
A request for information will be acknowledged in 5 working days and responded to within 20 working days. If there will be a delay in providing the information you will be notified within 10 working days of the request. To protect your privacy and the privacy of others, we may have to verify that you are who you say you are before being able to provide you with any personal information. If you would like to exercise these rights, please contact [email protected]
Disclosure
We may only disclose personal information in limited circumstances. Besides our staff, we may share anonymized information with the Ministry of Health and Auditors. We may also share your personal information in following circumstances:
- The information is required by law, court order, regulatory authority, to exercise our legal rights, in the event of a dispute or legal claim, or to defend against legal proceedings
- Where you have agreed to share your personal information
- Where it is necessary or required under the Privacy Act 2020
Many laws around disclosure of information allow health agencies to disclose in certain circumstances. However, health practitioners and health services need to consider both their legal obligations under the code and any ethical obligation of confidentiality we may have to the people engaged with our services. Just because the law allows a disclosure, does not mean it would always be ethical to disclose. Any disclosures will be managed by Emerge Aotearoa’s Privacy Officer.
The Privacy Act 2020 is in some instances overridden by the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 and the Family Violence Act 2018. The Privacy Commissioner can be notified as appropriate if a breach constitutes a notifiable event.
How we store your information:
We, as health providers, are responsible for the security and integrity of personal information that is stored or processed by public cloud services.
Our organisation complies with the Ministry of Health directive, and we only store personal information in a public cloud service once:
- We have undertaken a formal risk assessment
- The outcome of the risk assessment is signed-off by the senior management and the Board prior to using the services
We keep information for the length of your personal or organisation’s subscription with us and then for the time required by law. We take reasonable steps to destroy, erase or permanently de-identify personal information as soon as practicable once it is no longer required.
Intellectual property
EaseUp owns all proprietary and intellectual property rights in the EaseUp website including without limitation, trademarks, all non-third-party information, data, text, graphics, artwork, photographs, logos, icons, sound recordings, videos and look and feel, and the underlying systems. Any unauthorised use of such intellectual property is prohibited and is a breach of these Terms and Conditions.
All third-party material contained in this website is the copyright of individual contributors and is made available for personal, non-commercial use only. It may not be further copied and distributed without permission from the copyright owners concerned.
Where you are the owner of copyright work which you believe is available on this website in such a way that does not satisfy the fair dealing provisions of the Copyright Act 1994 or otherwise constitutes a copyright infringement, or a breach of an agreed license or contract, please notify us and we will remove it immediately.
Although the EaseUp website may include links providing direct access to other resources, including websites, Emerge Aotearoa is not responsible for the accuracy or content of information contained in these sites. Links from the EaseUp website to third-party sites do not constitute an endorsement by Emerge Aotearoa or the parties or their products and services.
Amendments
We may change these Terms of Use, by adding, changing, or removing terms at any time. You should check from time to time to see if these Terms of Use have changed. By continuing to use this website after any such amendment, you are deemed to have agreed to the amended Terms of Use.
Governing Law
These Terms and Conditions are governed by an interpreted according to the laws of New Zealand.
Compliance with our Terms of Use
Regardless of any other rights you have in these Terms of Use, if you break these Terms of Use in any way, or if we have a reasonable suspicion that you have broken these Terms of Use in any way, we may:
- Send you one or more formal warnings
- Temporarily suspend your access to our website and its content (including programmes and platforms)
- Permanently prohibit you from accessing our website and its content (including programmes and platforms)
- Block computers using your IP address from accessing our website and its content (including programmes and platforms)
- Contact any or all of your internet service providers and request that they block your access to our website and its content (including programmes and platforms)
- Commence legal action against you, whether for breach of contract or otherwise; and/or
- Suspend or delete your account on our website and its content (including programmes and platforms)
While we hope the EaseUp website and services are beneficial to you, by using the website, you accept and agree to the aforementioned terms and conditions, and:
- To indemnify EaseUp, its officers, agents, affiliates, and employees from any trouble, like claims, lawsuits, or costs, that might come up because of your use of our website, breaking our rules, or doing something wrong on purpose or by mistake
- You also give us permission to share data that combines information about trends (without revealing who you are) in EaseUp and Emerge Aotearoa. We're careful to make sure this data can't be used to figure out your personal information when we share it
Feedback and Complaints
We are here to listen to you. If something is not right, there is a process for expressing your feelings or concerns with us at any stage of your journey. A complaint will not negatively affect the service you receive in any way. You can make a complaint at any time, verbally or in writing, to any Emerge Aotearoa kaimahi, who will action this on the same day it is received with the aim of resolving promptly.
- Within one to five days, we will confirm we have received your complaint
- Within 10 days, we will give you a progress update
- Within 20 days, the investigation of your complaint will finish, and you will receive a letter with the outcome. If more time is needed to investigate, we will let you know, and we will send you an update at least once a month until it is complete
You may be contacted directly by the person investigating your complaint if you have provided your contact details.
You also have a right to appeal the outcome if you are not satisfied with it. To do this, please email:
or post a letter to:
Quality Improvement Manager Emerge Aotearoa Ltd, PO Box 2322, Christchurch 8140
Contact us
If you have any questions about accessing and using any of the information contained on this page, please email us at [email protected].