Privacy policy

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Bluecurrent 2024

The information contained in this document is proprietary to Bluecurrent. Please keep it confidential. By using this document, you agree to protect it from loss, misuse, and disclosure to any person who does not need to know the information within it to fulfil obligations owed to Bluecurrent.

Purpose
Bluecurrent is committed to protecting the personal information we collect, hold and process as a metering service provider. This privacy policy will help you understand how we collect, hold, and disclose personal information relating to consumers when we deliver metering services. It covers the following topics:

  1. Our role in the electricity industry
  2. Personal information we collect
  3. How we use personal information
  4. When we share personal information
  5. How we protect personal information
  6. How you can access or update your information
  7. Questions or complaints about our privacy practices
  8. Changes to our privacy policy

This privacy policy applies to Bluecurrents operations in New Zealand and Australia.

Our Role in The Electricity Industry
Bluecurrent provides electricity and gas metering services to power companies (such as electricity retailers and network distributors) throughout Australia and New Zealand. Because we are a metering service provider, we do not generally collect or generate personal information for our own purposes. We do this on behalf of our customers the power companies which use our services.

Throughout this privacy policy, customers are the power companies we deliver services to, and consumers are the individuals who use energy services.

While we provide information in this privacy policy about the ways we process personal information for our customers, you should also check the privacy policy provided by your energy retailer, which will explain how it uses and shares the personal information we manage on its behalf.

Personal Information We Collect
We collect and generate personal information in several ways as part of delivering metering services, including the following:

  • We collect information about electricity usage (or consumption) at individual properties or connection points. We collect this information from the smart meter at each property. We call this consumption data.
  • Electricity retailers may provide us with personal information about consumers including names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, information about medical dependencies, or information about property risks that we need to complete service requests on our customers behalf relating to the installation and maintenance of meters.
  • We may also collect or generate personal information when interacting with consumers as part of delivering our services, including call recordings, CCTV footage, correspondence with consumers, or information about the use of our websites (you can find out more about this in our website terms of use.
  • We may also collect information from individuals in the course of our functions and activities, such as service providers, contractors, employees, and job applicants.

How We Use Personal Information
As a metering service provider, we only use the personal information that we hold including consumption data to deliver services to our customers, or to consumers on behalf of our customers. This means we may use consumption data we hold in the following ways:

  • To deliver the products and services requested from us by our customers, including collecting and reporting electricity usage, assisting with billing, and installing and maintaining meters; and
  • Meeting the requirements of relevant electricity regulations or laws.

For other personal information we hold, we may use it for the above purposes and additional purposes such as:

  • Carrying out internal activities to ensure we can deliver the services our customers request or may request, such as personnel training, quality control, network monitoring, testing and maintenance of computer and other systems as well as product and service research and development.
  • Ensuring the health, safety and security of staff, contractors, and consumers; and
  • If you are a job applicant, to assess your job application and suitability for employment with us.

If we are unable to collect your personal information, it may affect our ability to perform these functions.

When We Share Personal Information
As a metering service provider, we only disclose consumption data as instructed by our customers or as authorised by law or regulation.

For other personal information we hold, we may disclose personal information to:

  • Relevant customers or as instructed by them, on the basis that we have been engaged by customers to collect metering information relating to consumers;
  • Relevant network distributors, where required for billing and other purposes;
  • Regulators or other third parties where authorised by law or regulations;
  • Any other third parties which the relevant customer has requested or authorised us to, including as part of a relevant Consumer Data Right scheme;
  • Those who provide us with products or services that support the services we provide, such as our field service providers and sub-contractors; or
  • Our trusted service providers, such as cloud storage providers, data centres and service platforms.

Storage And Security of Personal Information
As custodians of personal information for our customers, information security sits at the heart of what we do. We take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information we hold is protected against loss or unauthorised access, use, modification, or disclosure. This includes ensuring we can meet any specific data security requirements contained in electricity regulations. We use a range of security processes and procedures to protect the confidentiality and security of the information that we hold, and we update these from time to time to address new and emerging security threats.

Consumption data is handled and stored in accordance with relevant laws and regulations (including the Australia National Electricity Rules and Market Operations Rules where applicable).

For other types of personal information, we will generally store the personal information that we collect in electronic databases, some of which may be held on our behalf by third party data storage providers. Sometimes we also keep hard copy records of this personal information in physical storage facilities.

We may provide personal information to employees which may be based outside the location where the personal information is collected. For example, our employees in Australia may provide personal information to our employees or related parties in New Zealand (or vice versa). Where we do this, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that the overseas recipient handles that personal information in accordance with the privacy law in place in the country it was collected.

We store personal information for as long as it is needed for the purposes which it was collected or as required by law. In the case of consumption data, we retain it for a minimum of 7 years (as required by electricity regulations).

How You Can Access or Update Your Information
Consumers who would like to access their consumption data, should make a request directly to their electricity retailer. Their retailer has the primary relationship with them, and will be able to take steps to verify identity and ensure they are providing the right information to the right person. We will assist electricity retailers to respond to your request.

Because we generally obtain other information about you such as your name or contact details from your electricity retailer, you should also contact your retailer in the first instance if you believe your information is incorrect or out of date. Your retailer will then update this information with us if necessary.

In the event we have collected or generated personal information when interacting with you as part of providing our services or in some other function (for example, as part of our recruitment practices) then you may contact us by emailing us at the details below.

Questions Or Complaints About Our Privacy Practices
If you would like to know more about the ways we process personal information to deliver metering services, or if you would like to make a complaint about your information, you can contact our Privacy Officer by emailing us at privacy@bluecurrent.co.nz

Changes To This Privacy Policy
We may change this privacy policy from time to time. Changes to this privacy policy will be displayed as an updated version on our websites. We encourage you to periodically review this privacy policy, so you remain informed about how we handle personal information. Any change we make applies from the date we post it on our websites.

This privacy policy was published on 1 June 2023 and replaces all previous Bluecurrent privacy policies.

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Doc 0035a (Public), version 2.1

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