Privacy Policy

Your privacy is important to us. We will treat your information sensitively and with the utmost care.
Dated: March 2025


Your privacy is important to us. We will treat your information sensitively and with the utmost care. This policy sets out how we collect your information, how we use it and your rights in respect of your personal information, and is prepared in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020 and the Health Information Privacy Code 2020.

Changes in this March 2025 policy

We’ve refreshed our privacy policy to make it easier to see what purposes we collect your information for and how it might be used. We’ve included more information on the third parties who we receive information from and the third parties who we disclose information to.

Who are we?

We are Tend Health Limited and the Tend Health group of companies. Where we refer to Tend Health, Tend, or “we” or “us” we mean Tend Health Limited or another member of the Tend Health group as relevant.

What personal information do we collect about you?

Background and identity information
  • Name, date of birth, gender, address, ethnicity, citizenship, National Health Index (NHI) number and proof of your identity, for example driver’s licence or passport, and other relevant information. We may also collect information about your eligibility for public health services, for example if you are enrolling with Tend Health as your primary healthcare provider.
  • Contact details including email address and mobile phone number and emergency contact details.

Health information

  • Information about your health, medical history, health services previously provided to you, medical insurance. This includes a copy of your health records when you are enrolling with Tend Health and consent to this transfer of records to us.
  • Information collected in the course of, or related to, any consultation, communication with you, or other health service we provide to you. 
  • Tend Health clinicians may use an artificial intelligence (AI) tool to help create clinical notes from a transcript of the audio of your consultation alongside summary data from your health records, if you consent to this. Your clinician will review and edit the notes, then add them to your health records.

Payment information

  • Bank account or credit card number, account holder name(s), and other information needed to process payments.


Information about your device and Tend Health interactions

  • Location, internet protocol (IP) address and session information, cookies.
  • Analytics and usage data relating to your interaction with the Tend Health app and website and Tend Health online advertising.

In some instances, withholding information may affect whether Tend Health can provide services to you or the quality of care you receive.

What are the purposes that we collect your personal information for?

Tend Health collects and uses your personal information for the following purposes, and other directly related purposes: 

  • To confirm your identity and create your Tend Health account, and confirm your eligibility to enrol for public health services if you are enrolling with Tend Health, and eligibility for public funding.
  • To provide Tend Health services to you and maintain your record of care in line with our legal obligations to retain healthcare records, co-ordinate your care and provide referrals to other healthcare providers.
  • To help administer Tend Health services and the arrangements with the third parties we contract with, including to obtain funding for you or us from third parties for consultations or treatments that are funded or subsidised by others.
  • To respond to funding, clinical audit requests or other enquiries and information requests, when required to do so.
  • To enable shared digital health records to be created and maintained by or on behalf of Health New Zealand/Te Whatu Ora and/or other health agencies.
  • To carry out research under the governance of an ethics committee, and to develop and train healthcare professionals.
  • To provide data, analysis and reporting to measure how well health services are delivered and to plan and fund future health services and improvements to health services, at both Tend Health and overall health system levels.
  • To communicate with you about services we are providing to you, updates and new products and services, and provide health promotion information.
  • To improve and enhance the services that Tend Health provides and how we provide and promote those services.

In connection with the purposes set out above, Tend Health may disclose your personal information to:

  • Tend Health clinicians and other employees, contractors and and third parties who are involved in providing healthcare services to you. Examples of third parties include the general practice you are enrolled with, pharmacies, other healthcare providers and agencies. 
  • Government agencies such as the Ministry of Health, Health New Zealand/Te Whatu Ora, Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC), Work and Income and third parties operating on their behalf.
  • Other government agencies and regulators when we are required to do so, including the Coroner, Medical Council or Nursing Council of New Zealand, and Health and Disability Commissioner.  
  • Any Primary Health Organisation (PHO) that your practice has funding or contractual arrangements with.
  • Your health insurer, employer or other third party if they are providing Tend Health as a benefit or contributing to the service cost. 
  • Other third parties that help us carry out our service, such as credit reporting agencies and the New Zealand Transport Agency, Ministry of Social Development, ACC or Department of Internal Affairs to verify your identity or complete payments.
  • Third party partners such as marketing partners (such as Google and Meta) who may be provided with your hashed contact information to create custom audiences and lookalike audiences, enabling us to deliver targeted advertisements to you and individuals with similar interests.​

How do we collect personal information?

Directly from you:

  • Directly from you when you sign up for Tend Health services and interact with the Tend Health app or otherwise communicate with the Tend Health team.
  • From your consultation, whether it is in person or online. Your healthcare professional will record relevant health information from your consultation in your healthcare records. 

Indirectly, from other sources:

  • From your previous registered general practitioner -  if you enrol with Tend Health as your primary care provider and agree to transfer your health records.
  • From Health New Zealand/Te Whatu Ora or any other other agency holding your shared digital health record.
  • From other health agencies you or we interact with, which provide us with results, treatment and other health related information to enable us to provide healthcare services to you and to maintain your health records. These agencies may include laboratory testing and screening services, radiology, specialists, hospitals and other healthcare providers.  
  • From other service providers, such as credit reporting agencies to verify your address and identity.
  • From your bank and from payment service providers, relating to the payment of consultation fees.
  • From health insurers, where we are helping with the insurance claim and assessment process.
  • Where we have an arrangement with a third party to provide services to you, for example your employer or health insurer, or a third party service provider, from that third party.

Where is your personal information stored?

  • Your health records are stored in our Patient Management System (PMS) Indici.
  • We store all our data (including your information) on a secure Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud platform and we use Google GSuite applications.
  • We protect our data with all reasonable technical and process controls.

How do we manage the health information of dependents and young adults?

  • If you are under the age of 16 and wish to register with Tend Health, your account will usually be linked to your parent or guardian's account.
  • Parents (and legal guardians) also have some rights to access their children's/dependent’s health information, up until they turn 16.
  • Usually your parents and/or guardians will be able to access and view your medical information. However, there may be times where we need to limit the information shared with parents and/or guardians in order to respect the confidentiality and best interests of the child or young adult.
  • As a young adult you may specifically ask us not to share your health care information with your parents and/or guardians and we will assess these requests on a case by case basis in accordance with the Health Information Privacy Code, Privacy Act and Health Act 1956.

What are my rights to access my information and keep it accurate?

  • We are required to take reasonable steps to ensure that your information is accurate, up-to-date and relevant for your treatment and care.
  • You have the right to request access to, and correction of, your personal information.
  • You have the right to see and request a copy of your health information.
  • You do not have to explain why you are requesting that information, but may be required to provide proof of your identity, and you may have to pay an administration fee.
  • You can ask for health information about you to be corrected and can provide a statement of correction.  If our team is not willing to change that information as requested, they will attach the statement of correction to your file.
  • You can exercise these rights at any time by contacting us using the contact details provided under “Contact us” below.

How long will my information be kept for?

  • We will retain your information in accordance with our obligations under New Zealand law. Generally this means that we will keep your information securely for at least 10 years after the date of your last appointment with Tend Health.
  • Where a Tend Health clinician uses the Scribe AI tool to help create clinical notes, a transcript of the audio of your consultation will be retained securely for 14 days and then deleted unless otherwise agreed with you.
  • If you want to enrol with a different primary healthcare practice we will transfer your records to that practice if you consent to this, though we may retain a copy to meet legal and regulatory requirements.


Special information for South Island patients only

  • Please note that Tend Health is contributing to, and accessing healthcare information from, HealthOne.
  • HealthOne is a South Island based secure electronic record that allows registered healthcare providers directly involved in your healthcare, to quickly access information such as your test results, allergies, medications, GP summaries and hospital information. HealthOne strictly adheres to the principles of the Privacy Act 2020 as well as the Rules set out in the Health Information Privacy Code 2020. Access is only possible via an approved highly secure healthcare information network which is regularly audited and tested. Privacy auditing is used to check that only those directly involved in your care are accessing your information.

To find out more about HealthOne please visit https://healthone.org.nz/. Please note that you are entitled to restrict the sharing of your healthcare records by contacting 0508 837 872 or emailing HealthOne.privacy@pegasus.health.nz


Cookies (and similar technologies)


‍We use various tracking technologies, including cookies, web beacons, and local storage, across our websites, web services, and applications to provide and improve our services. These technologies allow us to identify you across sessions, customise your experience, analyse usage patterns, and deliver relevant advertising. 

Web beacons are small graphic files containing unique identifiers that help us track when users visit our websites or open our emails. A cookie is a small piece of data stored on your device that helps us recognise you when you return. We use both our own cookies and third-party cookies. Third-party cookies enable features like advertising, interactive content, and analytics, and may track your activity across multiple websites. While you can modify your device settings to control cookie acceptance, please note that some features of our services may not function properly if cookies are disabled. By using our services, you consent to our use of these tracking technologies in accordance with this policy.

Changes to our Privacy Policy

This document sets out our current Privacy Policy. We may review this policy from time to time and will post an updated version on our website.


Complaints

If you wish to make a complaint about your personal information or how it is collected, used or disclosed, please contact your Tend Health care provider in the first instance. If you are unable to resolve the issue with us then you are entitled to take your complaint to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC). You can find more information on the OPC website https://privacy.org.nz

Contact us

If you have any questions regarding our Privacy Policy, please contact our Privacy Officer:

Email: kiaora@tend.nz

Attention: Tend Privacy