Privacy policy

NZ Optics is a trade publication published by Old Butcher Holdings Ltd ("we", "us", "our"). This policy explains how we collect and use your personal information when you visit nzoptics.co.nz, subscribe to our newsletters, register an account, or interact with the advertising on the site.

We comply with the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020. If you visit from the EU or UK we also honour the relevant requirements of the UK GDPR and EU GDPR — in particular, no analytics or advertising signals fire on your visit until you give explicit consent through the cookie banner.

What we collect

Account and subscription data

• Name, email address, profession and country (when you register or subscribe)
• HPI / professional registration details (optional, for verified-member access)
• Postal address (only if you opt into print magazine delivery)
• Payment metadata from Stripe (we never see your card details)

Analytics — Google Analytics 4

With your consent we use Google Analytics 4 to measure which pages and articles people read. GA4 sets the _ga, _ga_* and _gid cookies. EU and UK visitors must opt in via the banner before any of these fire; visitors from New Zealand, Australia, the US and elsewhere see the banner with analytics pre-selected and can opt out at any time.

First-party ad-events tracking

When an advertisement is shown or clicked on the site, we record a small event server-side containing the ad identifier, the placement slot, a timestamp and the visitor's IP address. We use this to report campaign performance to our advertisers (the businesses that pay for the ads). This tracking is essential to keep the publication running and does not depend on third-party cookies.

IP retention: raw IP addresses are kept for at most 48 hours in a de-duplication cache. After that the IP is hashed (one-way) and only aggregate counters remain. We never sell ad-events data or share it outside the relationship with the advertiser whose ad was shown.

Newsletter tracking

Our newsletters are delivered through Resend. With your consent (Analytics category), we use a 1×1 tracking pixel to record opens and we log link clicks so we can see which stories resonate. You can opt out of every list via the unsubscribe link in any email, or by editing your preferences from your account.

On-site search

We log the queries readers type into our search box so we can spot content gaps. Search logs are kept for 24 months and then automatically deleted by a scheduled job. We do not store your IP address alongside the search term.

Cookies and similar technologies

For a per-cookie breakdown, see our cookie policy. The high level:

• Necessary — session login, the healthcare-professionals disclaimer acknowledgement, and your cookie-banner choice itself. Always on; cannot be disabled through the banner.
• Analytics — Google Analytics 4 cookies (_ga, _gid) and the Resend newsletter tracking pixel. Off until you opt in.
• Marketing — Google ad-measurement signals so our advertisers can see campaign reach. Off until you opt in. We do not use third-party retargeting cookies.

Retention

• Account records: kept while your account is active; deleted on request.
• Subscription history: kept for 7 years to meet NZ tax obligations.
• Ad-events counters: kept indefinitely in aggregate; raw IP dedup cache 48 hours, then hashed.
• Search logs: 24 months, then deleted.
• Newsletter engagement: kept while you remain subscribed; cleared on unsubscribe.

Sharing

We don't sell your data. We share information with a small number of processors that operate the site for us:

• Stripe (payment processing)
• Resend (email delivery and newsletter tracking)
• Google Analytics (visit analytics, only with your consent)
• Cloudflare (CDN and DDoS protection)
• Hetzner Cloud (hosting)

Your rights

You can request a copy of the personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct anything that's wrong, or ask us to delete it. Email [email protected] or contact us via the contact page.

You can also lodge a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (NZ), the Information Commissioner's Office (UK), or your local EU data protection authority.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The date this page was last edited (visible to admins in the CMS) reflects the most recent change.

AI chat assistant

The "Alfred Eye" AI chat assistant on this site uses Google Gemini to answer questions about NZ Optics content. We store your chat messages and our responses for up to twelve months for quality review and abuse prevention. We do not share these conversations with advertisers or with third parties beyond what Google Gemini requires to generate a response. You can request deletion of your chat history at any time by emailing [email protected], and please do not share patient-identifying clinical information in chat.

Reading history and personalised recommendations

When you are signed in to your NZ Optics account, we record which articles you open so we can show personalised "Recommended for you" suggestions. This history is private to your account, capped at your most recent fifty articles, and is never used for advertising or shared with third parties. You can clear it at any time by emailing [email protected].