This privacy policy explains how Department of Writing collects, uses, stores and shares personal information connected with the Writing to Influence Decisions training programme.
It applies when you:
· register through LinkedIn, our website or another registration platform;
· attend an online or in-person training session;
· contact us about the programme;
· complete a survey, exercise or evaluation;
· receive event-related communications from us; or
· agree to receive information about future training and related services.
In this policy, “we”, “us” and “our” mean Department of Writing [insert full legal entity name, if different].
Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect:
· your name;
· your email address and telephone number;
· your job title, organisation, industry and location;
· information from your LinkedIn profile that you submit through a LinkedIn Lead Gen Form;
· registration, payment and attendance information;
· dietary, accessibility or other practical requirements you choose to provide;
· your questions, comments and correspondence;
· responses to surveys and course evaluations;
· documents, examples or exercises you submit during the training;
· photographs, audio or video recordings where applicable; and
· technical information generated when you use our website or an online training platform, such as your IP address, browser type and login or attendance data.
Please do not provide confidential, commercially sensitive or personal information in a training exercise unless you are authorised to disclose it.
We generally collect personal information directly from you.
We may collect it when you:
· complete a LinkedIn Lead Gen Form;
· register through our website or another booking platform;
· purchase a place on the programme;
· communicate with us by email, telephone or social media;
· participate in the training;
· submit an exercise, survey or evaluation; or
· attend an event organised for your employer.
Where your employer or another organisation registers you, we may receive relevant information from that organisation.
LinkedIn and other platforms may also provide us with the information you choose to submit through their services. Their handling of your information is governed by their own privacy policies as well as any arrangements they have with us.
We may use your personal information to:
· process and manage your registration;
· confirm your place and send joining instructions;
· provide calendar invitations, reminders and event updates;
· process payments and issue invoices or receipts;
· deliver and administer the training;
· respond to your questions and requests;
· provide course materials and post-event resources;
· tailor the programme to the needs of participants;
· issue certificates of attendance or completion;
· evaluate and improve our training;
· maintain attendance, financial and business records;
· protect the security and integrity of our systems;
· meet our legal and regulatory obligations; and
· send you information about related training or services where you have agreed to receive it or where the law otherwise permits us to do so.
We will not sell your personal information.
When you register, we will use your contact information to send communications necessary to administer the event. These may include confirmation messages, reminders, joining instructions, timetable changes and follow-up materials.
These operational communications are part of providing the training and are separate from general marketing.
We will send promotional information about future courses, events or services only where:
· you have asked to receive it;
· you have provided the necessary consent; or
· we are otherwise permitted to do so by applicable law.
You may unsubscribe from marketing communications at any time by using the unsubscribe link in the message or contacting us.
Unsubscribing from marketing will not prevent us from sending information needed to administer a programme for which you have registered.
If you register through a LinkedIn Lead Gen Form, LinkedIn may pre-populate the form using information from your LinkedIn profile.
When you submit the form:
· LinkedIn provides the submitted information to us;
· we use it to administer your registration and for any additional purposes clearly described on the form;
· LinkedIn continues to handle information under its own privacy policy; and
· we may transfer the information from LinkedIn into our email, customer relationship management, registration or accounting systems.
Where the form offers a separate choice about receiving future marketing, your decision will not affect your ability to register for the training unless we clearly state otherwise.
The programme may invite you to submit or discuss examples of workplace writing.
You are responsible for removing or disguising:
· names of individuals;
· client or customer information;
· commercially sensitive information;
· security information;
· health or other sensitive personal information; and
· any material you are not authorised to share.
We may review submitted material to provide training, feedback or coaching. We will not knowingly use an identifiable participant document in promotional material or another training programme without permission.
We may use anonymised or substantially altered examples to improve our training, provided the material cannot reasonably be connected with you, your employer, a client or another identifiable person.
We may use reputable artificial intelligence and digital productivity tools to support limited administrative or training activities. These could include summarising anonymous feedback, developing generic course materials or demonstrating responsible AI-assisted writing.
We will take reasonable steps to avoid entering identifiable, confidential or sensitive participant information into public or generally available AI systems.
We will not intentionally use your identifiable training submissions to train a public AI model.
During demonstrations, participants must not enter confidential, commercially sensitive or personal information into an AI system unless they are authorised to do so and the system has been approved for that purpose.
AI-generated material may contain errors. We remain responsible for reviewing material we use in delivering the programme.
We will tell you before recording an online or in-person session.
Where a session is recorded, the recording may capture your name, image, voice, chat messages or contributions. We will explain:
· why the recording is being made;
· who will be able to access it;
· how it will be used; and
· how long it is expected to remain available.
Where reasonably practicable, you may participate without appearing in a recording by keeping your camera and microphone off and avoiding identifiable contributions in recorded areas.
We will not use an identifiable photograph, recording or participant testimonial for public promotion without obtaining appropriate permission.
Recordings intended only for registered participants must not be copied, shared or published without our permission.
We may disclose personal information to trusted providers that help us operate the programme, including:
· LinkedIn;
· website and registration-platform providers;
· video-conferencing and webinar providers;
· email and customer relationship management providers;
· payment processors and accounting providers;
· cloud-storage and information-technology providers;
· venues, caterers and event contractors where necessary;
· trainers, facilitators and administrative contractors; and
· professional advisers, insurers, regulators or public authorities where reasonably necessary or legally required.
We require service providers to handle personal information only for appropriate purposes and to apply reasonable safeguards.
If your employer purchased or organised the training, we may provide it with appropriate administrative information, such as whether you registered, attended or completed the programme. We will not ordinarily provide your private comments, individual exercises or evaluation responses unless we have told you this will occur or you have authorised it.
Some of our service providers may store or process information outside New Zealand or Australia.
These providers may be located in countries with privacy laws different from those applying in your country. Where applicable, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that overseas handling of personal information is appropriately protected.
By using services such as LinkedIn, videoconferencing platforms and cloud-based business systems, your information may also be handled in accordance with those providers’ international data arrangements.
We take reasonable administrative, technical and physical measures to protect personal information against:
· loss;
· misuse;
· unauthorised access;
· alteration;
· disclosure; and
· destruction.
These measures may include access controls, password protection, multifactor authentication, secure cloud services, staff or contractor confidentiality obligations and limits on who may access participant information.
No internet transmission or storage system is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security, but we will respond appropriately if we become aware of a privacy breach.
We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably required for the purpose for which it was collected, or to meet legal, tax, accounting, dispute-resolution or contractual requirements.
Retention periods may differ according to the type of information. For example:
· registration and attendance records may be retained for programme administration and business reporting;
· invoices and payment records may be retained for the period required by tax and accounting law;
· marketing contact information may be retained until you unsubscribe or ask us to remove it;
· course evaluations may be retained in identifiable form while they are being reviewed and then anonymised where practicable;
· recordings may be deleted after the period communicated to participants; and
· submitted exercises may be deleted when they are no longer required for feedback or programme delivery.
We will securely delete, destroy or anonymise information when we no longer have a legitimate reason to retain it.
You may ask us to:
· confirm whether we hold personal information about you;
· provide access to information we hold about you; or
· correct information that is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date.
We may need to verify your identity before processing a request.
In some circumstances, the law permits or requires us to withhold information. Where appropriate, we will explain the reason.
To make an access or correction request, contact us using the details below.
Depending on the circumstances and applicable law, you may ask us to:
· update or correct your information;
· stop sending marketing communications;
· withdraw a consent you previously provided;
· delete information that we no longer need to hold; or
· explain how your information has been used or shared.
Withdrawing consent does not affect processing that occurred before the withdrawal. It may also affect our ability to provide a service where the information is necessary to deliver that service.
Please contact us first if you have a concern about how we have handled your personal information. We will consider the issue and respond within a reasonable period.
You may also make a complaint to the relevant privacy regulator.
For matters arising in New Zealand, this is the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.
For matters covered by Australian privacy law, this may be the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
Privacy Officer
Department of Writing
2 Marshall Road
Glen Murray
2695
New Zealand
Email: info@departmentofwriting.co.nz
We may update this privacy policy when our services, technology or legal obligations change.
The current version will be published at [insert privacy-policy webpage address] and will show its effective date. Material changes affecting registered participants will be communicated where reasonably necessary.