Privacy statement, and social media terms of use

Site visits

When you visit this website some data about the visit will be recorded on the server logs. We use this information to produce web statistics to help us improve the content and navigation of the website. The information that gets collected is:

  • server addresses
  • top level domain names (for example .com, .govt, .nz, .uk etc)
  • the date and time of visit to the site, and
  • the pages accessed and documents downloaded.

We do not use this information to identify personal details about our site visitors.

Storage and use

Any information provided to the Ministry will be stored securely, and may be collected, and provided to relevant third parties, for information assurance purposes. 

Cookies

Cookies are only used on this site to maintain session state, not to store user information. This is in accordance with section 19 of the New Zealand E-Government Web Standards.

Pixel Privacy

The Ministry of Defence operates this website. As part of our operations; we may gather certain types of information about the users of this site.

Non-personal Information

This information is generated by our systems and common third-party tools such as Facebook, and Google via tracking pixels as you browse through the Engage section of our website (www.defence.govt.nz/engage). This information does not and will not be used to identify you personally and is not linked to the personally identifiable information that you may have provided, as it is anonymised by the tracking systems of Google and Facebook. This tracking may also be used on social networks to provide better-targeted and relevant information to you. Additional examples of this type of information include:

  • The type of Internet browser you use

  • The type of operating system you use

  • The screen resolution of your computer

  • The date and time you access our site

  • The pages you have accessed and the documents downloaded

  • The internet address from which you accessed our site (i.e. IP address)

  • The search terms you used to find content on our website

Social media terms of use

New Zealand Ministry of Defence the Government’s lead civilian advisor on defence. We also purchase major equipment which becomes a capability when it is used by service men and women of the New Zealand Defence Force.

We use social media to share information about defence in New Zealand, to enable conversations and feedback, and to be responsive to the views and needs of New Zealanders.

Our followers can expect to receive regular updates including:

  • News and information about the New Zealand Ministry of Defence

  • Information about purchasing major equipment

  • Invitations to provide feedback on specific issues

  • Information about recruitment

Social media channels

These terms of use apply to all of our social media accounts. We invite you to connect with us on:

  • LinkedIn

  • Youtube

At different times we may operate other social media channels for a specific purpose or audience.

Acceptable use

We reserve the right to remove content posted to our social media accounts that:

  • is deemed offensive, abusive or obscene

  • is not relevant

  • is potentially libellous

  • constitutes unlawful use of imagery that violates copyright or breach of a licence agreement

  • links to sites that may be obscene, abusive, offensive or indecent

  • has political bias

  • constitutes spam

  • refers to any commercial activity, including advertising.

We may report, block, or ban anyone who posts the above content or comments, or who breaches the terms of use of the relevant social media platform:

Engagement

We welcome feedback and ideas from our followers and try to join these conversations where possible. However, we do not guarantee individual replies to every comment, post, or direct message.

Monitoring

Our social media accounts are monitored between 9am–5pm on business days, and periodically in the evenings and on weekends and public holidays.

Use of social media by Ministry employees

Employees of the Ministry of Defence are free to engage in social media in their personal lives. Any opinions or views expressed in these posts or discussions belong to the individual staff member.

Our political neutrality

The Ministry is politically neutral. We do not advocate for a particular political party, and our social media channels will not be used to promote any party’s political messages or other content.

We reserve the right to remove any comments that may compromise our obligation to maintain political neutrality.

Our approach to connections on social media

The Ministry may choose to 'follow', 'like' or otherwise establish connections with other organisations and individuals using social media.

Once ‘liked’ or ‘followed’, we will not remove a profile from its network unless there is reason to do so, e.g. because it poses a significant and material risk to our reputation and credibility, or there is a significant and material breach of our obligations to maintain political neutrality. Each case will be considered on its own merits.

Endorsement

The Ministry does not implicitly or explicitly endorse any individual or organisation merely by creating a social media connection, regardless of the terms used by social media providers such as 'follow' or 'like'.

We will maintain social media connections with individuals and organisations that are critical and/or have opposing views. We do not hold any responsibility for the content of such profiles.