The Development & Alumni Relations Office, on behalf of the University of Otago, is the legal owner of the Alumni & Friends Register. The Development & Alumni Relations Office places high importance on the relationship we have with Otago alumni and friends.
The Development & Alumni Relations Office will comply with the Privacy Act 2020 in the collection, storage, use and disclosure of personal information. Personal information held within the Alumni & Friends Register will only be accessed and used for legitimate University purposes in accordance with the University's Privacy Policy and Privacy Statement.
Website Privacy Policy
You can read the University of Otago Privacy Statement here.
The Alumni & Friends website operates alongside this. Any information we collect is to measure the number of visitors to the different sections of the site, help us make our site more useful and relevant to visitors, and understand the engagement we have with our alumni and friends who visit the website.
If you utilise a link from the Alumni & Friends website to another website please take the time to read their privacy statements.
Alumni and Friends Privacy Statement
The Development & Alumni Relations Office supports an international community of alumni and friends (students, former students, graduates, parents, donors, supporters, mentors, employers, current and former university staff including researchers and academics) for the engagement and outreach activities of the University (faculties, departments, residential colleges) and its affiliated organisations (such as student groups and alumni network groups).
We aim to develop a better understanding of our alumni and supporters, keep in touch and advise our alumni and friends of our activities and developments which are of mutual benefit including requests for financial and non-financial support.
How is personal information collected?
The Register holds personal information relating to alumni and friends from a number of sources. It can be provided by transactions such as filling in forms on the website, or by corresponding with us by telephone, email or through social media channels such as Facebook and LinkedIn.
Applications to become a member of the alumni and friends community are also considered.
The Office will obtain consent if any collection falls outside the scope of the Privacy Act 2020.
Some personal information of individuals who have studied at Otago is transferred from the University’s Student Management System at the time of graduation or departure from study.
This may include:
- biographical details, including residence information and family details
- contact details
- education record including your association with your secondary school, residential college and scholarships/awards received
- ethnicity
- iwi affiliation (if you were a Māori student)
In addition, we may also collect the following personal information about you:
- any people we link to you, including your spouse, partner or adult children, who are also alumni or friends
- links with other organisations and individuals (including alumni, friends, or donors)
- employment and business details including positions, associates, organisation, professional memberships and qualifications
- career highlights and other lifetime achievements
- outside interests and membership of groups
- wealth and philanthropic interests
- information about any legal proceedings you may be involved in
- interactions and communications with us and our ICT systems (including what you open or click on, any comments you make, and your location)
- credit card details and bank details (if you have provided these to us) for donations and paid event registrations
- events you have been invited to and whether or not you have responded or attended
- media articles, and
- any other information that you have decided to share with us
The Office also collects personal information from publicly available and third-party sources (e.g. LinkedIn and Facebook).
How is personal information in the Alumni & Friends Register used?
The main purpose for the University’s collection of personal information is to connect alumni and friends with the University and each other. Not only do we assist the University with its relationship management and engagement activities, we also assist academic departments, residential colleges and other university affiliates including Otago Foundations and Otago alumni network groups.
The Office also collects personal information to undertake research to assist the University with its engagement and philanthropic activities and to maintain the accuracy of the Register.
Activities can include (but not limited to) event promotion, news, updates and newsletters, fundraising appeals, academic/research surveys, programme accreditations and volunteer/mentor recruitment. We may also carry out research to assess your engagement and willingness to get involved with alumni community activities
On occasion, the University may send you information from third party organisations that may be of interest to you. Any such sending of information will be carried out by the Development & Alumni Relations Office as contact details of alumni is not made available to third parties. Sending of information to alumni will comply with the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007.
Finally, the University may collate personal information about you (including publicly available information) to satisfy our donations due diligence process. This is a formalised process for assessing the risks associated with accepting philanthropic gifts (including to identify any perceived or real conflicts of interest) and suitability of donors. This process is standard across Universities worldwide.
How is information in the Alumni & Friends Register shared?
Personal information stored in the Register is accessible to University departments by application and assurances of data protection is required.
Data sharing agreements are also required for Otago Foundations and Otago alumni network groups. This assists volunteer alumni with engagement activities carried out on behalf of the University of Otago. Personal information shared will be on a confidential basis and relevant to the activity.
In most instances, the Development & Alumni Relations Office sends any information through university communication systems.
It is not normal practice to share personal information with third parties. Where personal information is shared, it will only be done so where this is provided for under the Privacy Act 2020, or where consent is first gained from the person concerned. We never sell personal information.
If we need to share your personal information with a third party that is overseas, we will ensure this complies with principle 12 of the Privacy Act 2020. If the third party is not located in a country that has comparable privacy laws to ours, we will require them to agree to protect your personal information to New Zealand standards.
All data requests from third parties must be directed to the Advancement Services Manager in the Development & Alumni Relations Office. The University reserves the right to decline any external data request.
Donors
Donations from our alumni and friends enhance and assist the work the University of Otago undertakes in research, teaching and learning. In some instances, donations allow Otago to address issues that wouldn’t be able to be done with funding from our regular revenue streams.
We collect and process personal information about potential and actual donors for the primary purpose of acquiring and processing donations and to stay in touch.
The information we collect is outlined in How is information collected. If donors are not alumni, we collect personal information from donations forms, other publicly available sources, or from agencies that support the University.
Whether you are an existing or potential donor, we may carry out research to assess your likely ability and willingness to make a gift to the University of Otago.
We will manage our privacy obligations for donors as we do for our alumni and friends. Where we need to use personal information in a way we have not anticipated in our Privacy Statement, we will only do so if required or permitted by law.
We may share your personal information with:
- your nominated financial institution for processing your donation
- the public, where we publicly identify you as a donor
- University owned or related entities
- contracted service providers which the University uses to perform services on its behalf (such as mailing house services, logistics and IT service providers), within and outside New Zealand
If we need to share your personal information with a third party that is overseas (for example, where it is stored using a cloud-based service), we will ensure this complies with principle 12 of the Privacy Act 2020.
Donors can opt out of communications at any time as outlined in Contact Permissions.
Contact Permissions
We consider our relationship with the Otago alumni and friends community to be life-long and graduates are permanent members of the University of Otago community. As a public institution we retain data and certain information for statutory purposes.
You have the choice, at any time, to opt-out or opt-in to receiving communications/information on university activities or to cease all contact. Please email database.alumni@otago.ac.nz
You may also update your contact information previously provided to us using Update Your Details.
Access to personal information
Individuals may request access to, and correction of, personal information held about them in the Alumni & Friends Register, in accordance with Privacy Act provisions. Requests should be made to the Advancement Services Manager in the Development & Alumni Relations Office.
Sometimes we might need to withhold personal information, for example where the information is legally privileged, commercially sensitive or includes personal information about other people. If we need to withhold information, you will be told why.
You can ask us to correct information if you think the personal information we hold about you is wrong. You may also be able to ask us to delete it, but we are required to retain certain information under the Public Records Act 2005.
If we can’t correct or delete your information (for example, where we don’t agree that it’s wrong, or we need the information for a lawful purpose), you will be told why. You can ask us to attach your correction request to the information as a statement of correction.
Questions
Please do not hesitate to email us at alumni@otago.ac.nz if you have any questions which you feel have not been covered by this Statement.
8 October 2024