Disclaimer / Security / Privacy

Disclaimer

This statement applies to the information available on or through the Sexually Transmitted Infections Education Foundation (STIEF) websites: Herpes.org.nz, JustTheFacts.co.nz, HPV.org.nz and STIEF.org.nz.

The information hosted on these websites is based on best practice for educational purposes only, and is not a substitute for attending a consultation with a health professional for medical diagnosis or treatment. 

If you find any information on this website that you believe may be inaccurate, please contact us: [email protected]

Those accessing this website are advised that:

  1. The information on this website may be changed, deleted, added to, or otherwise amended without notice.
  2. The website provides links/contact details for sexual health services and clinics available in New Zealand (“Sexual Health Providers”) as a convenience only. These Sexual Health Providers are not under the control of STIEF and we do not accept any responsibility for services delivered by them. Any concerns regarding your experience with the listed Sexual Health Providers should be directed to the respective service/clinic to be managed as per their complaints policy; or alternatively to the Health & Disability Commissioner. 
  3. STIEF is not responsible for the content of other websites linked to, or referenced from, this website. STIEF also has no control over the conduct of the companies or organisations operating those sites.
  4.  Any reference to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacture, or otherwise does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by STIEF.

Privacy and security

This privacy statement applies to the websites and resources owned and administered by the Sexually Transmitted Infections Education Foundation.

No need to disclose personal information

You may browse and access information contained within this website without providing personal information.

Information provided when you contact us

Where you voluntarily provide personal information (e.g. through online forms, newsletter subscriptions or email requests), we will only use your personal information for the purposes for which you gave it to us. This information will be held by STIEF – Sexually Transmitted Infections Education Foundation of New Zealand. Health professional resource requesters will automatically be added to the STIEF newsletter database to ensure that you are kept up to date with STIEF resource developments. You can elect to unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time by following the "unsubscribe" prompt at the bottom of each newsletter issue.

We will hold your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1993 and the Health Information Privacy Code 1994. The Privacy Act 1993 regulates us through the Information Privacy Principles as to how we collect, use, hold, disclose, access, correct, manage and dispose of your personal information. For more information visit the Office of the Privacy Commissioner website.

Viewing or changing your information

To view any personal information held by us, or if you have any concerns about personal information that we hold and wish to request its correction, please write to:

The Privacy Officer
(STIEF) Sexually Transmitted Infections Education Foundation
PO Box 2437, Shortland Street
Auckland 1140
Email: [email protected]

If you are not satisfied with our response to any privacy-related concerns, you may contact the Privacy Commissioner.

Statistical information and cookies

We collect statistical information about your visit to our website to help us improve it. This information does not identify individuals. 

This website uses cookies for the purpose of monitoring website usage. A cookie is a piece of code that creates a file on your computer to track the pages that you view on our website. The cookies do not collect personal information. You can disable them or clear them out of your web browser without affecting your ability to use the website.

Google Analytics

We use Google Universal Analytics to collect and analyse details about the use of our website.

The information Google Analytics collects includes:

  • your IP address
  • the search terms you used
  • the pages you accessed on the website and the links you clicked on
  • the date and time you visited the website
  • the referring website (if any) through which you clicked through to this website
  • your operating system (e.g. Windows XP, Mac OSX)
  • the type of web browser you use (e.g. Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox)
  • other incidental matters such as screen resolution and the language setting of your browser.


No effort is made to identify individual visitors.

You may opt-out from having Google Analytics collect your information by disabling cookies in your browser, or by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out browser add-on.

Google Analytics privacy policy.

Use of statistical information

The statistical information referred to above will be viewable by website administrators and appointed STIEF representatives. It may also be shared with government agencies or STIEF educational grant providers.

Disclosure of your information to third parties

We will not disclose any of your personal information for purposes that you did not give it to us for.  Your information may be shared with, and held by, third-party contractors to the extent necessary for those contractors to provide web services, such as website hosting and maintenance.

We will not disclose your personal information to government agencies or other organisations without your consent, unless required by law.

STIEF newsletter subscriptions

When you subscribe to the STIEF newsletter we will only use your personal information for managing your subscription and assessing STIEF resource effectiveness. You can unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time by following the "unsubscribe" prompt at the bottom of each newsletter issue.

Our newsletter may be managed using a third-party tool called Mailchimp. Mailchimp provides analytics to STIEF on how people interact with our newsletters (e.g. how many subscribers have opened emails or clicked on links). This means that STIEF and Mailchimp will be able to see your name, email address and details about which links in STIEF newsletters you have clicked on. STIEF only uses this information to assess newsletter performance. 

Helpline enquiries
Phone enquiries

If you access the STIEF Herpes and HPV Helpline by phone, you will be asked to provide us with the following information:

  • Gender
  • Age band e.g. 20 - 29
  • Ethnicity
  • NZ region (specifically for recording NZ District Health Board region)


This information is required as part of our contract with Auckland District Health Board, on behalf of collective NZ District Health Boards. Your name, or any identifying information, is not collected or kept in our records.

Email enquiries

If you submit a Herpes or HPV Helpline enquiry via email, your enquiry may be anonymised (your name, email address, and any other identifying information removed) and catalogued for the purposes of STIEF resource development and education. You will not be able to be identified from any information saved. All original email enquiries with identifying information are securely deleted.

Helpline feedback form

If you contact our HPV and Herpes Helpline, you will be invited to complete our short feedback form. The purpose of this form is to monitor the quality of our helpline services and identify areas for improvement. Feedback data is collated and securely stored in order to evidence our impact to government agencies, partner organisations and current or prospective funding providers. It may also be used to showcase the impact of our work via the STIEF websites and social media.

The feedback form is anonymous and does not ask for any identifying information. In the event that a respondent shares identifying information through a written response, this will be anonymised by a STIEF adminstrator.

Changes to our privacy policy

If we make changes to our privacy policy, we will post those changes on this page.

Page last updated: 6 December 2022