Privacy Policy
Effective date: 14 October 2026
Proteus Research and Consulting Limited (trading as Proteus) respects your privacy. This policy explains what personal information we collect through our website, why we collect it, how we use and protect it, and the rights you have. We follow the Privacy Act 2020 and its Information Privacy Principles.
In this policy, "Proteus", "we", "us" and "our" mean Proteus Research and Consulting Limited. "You" means anyone who visits our website or gets in touch with us through it.
1. Who we are
Proteus is a New Zealand team of biometricians and quantitative ecologists. We're responsible for the personal information collected through our website, proteus.co.nz.
Proteus Research and Consulting Limited
176 Puddle Alley
Mosgiel
New Zealand
2. What information we collect
Information you give us
When you fill in a form on our website (for example, on our Contact or Get Started pages), we collect what you choose to enter. This may include:
your name
your email address
your phone number
the name of your organisation
details about your project or enquiry, and anything else you include in your message.
Please don't include sensitive personal information in a form unless it's needed for your enquiry.
Information collected automatically
Our website is built and hosted on Squarespace. When you visit, Squarespace automatically collects some technical information so the site can work and stay secure. This may include your IP address, browser and device type, the pages you visit, the date and time of your visit, and the website that referred you. Squarespace also places a small number of essential cookies on your device (see section 10).
3. Why we collect it
We collect personal information so we can:
respond to your enquiry or request
understand your project and talk with you about how we might help
provide our services if you go on to work with us
keep our website running properly and securely
We only collect the information we need for these purposes.
4. How we use your information
We use your information to:
reply to you and keep in touch about your enquiry or project
prepare proposals, quotes or other information you've asked for
manage our working relationship with you if you become a client
maintain and protect our website
meet our legal obligations.
We won't use your information for any other purpose unless you agree, or unless the law allows or requires it. We won't add you to a mailing list without your permission.
5. Storage and security
We take reasonable steps to protect your personal information from loss, and from unauthorised access, use, changes or disclosure. Access is limited to people at Proteus who need it to respond to you or to work with you.
No method of storing or sending information over the internet is completely secure, but we work to keep your information safe. If a privacy breach happens that has caused, or is likely to cause, serious harm, we will notify you and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner as the Privacy Act 2020 requires.
6. Overseas storage
Our website is hosted by Squarespace, which is based in the United States. This means information you submit through our website, and the technical information Squarespace collects, is stored on servers outside New Zealand, and may be processed in the United States and other countries where Squarespace or its service providers operate.
Squarespace holds this information on our behalf to provide its website hosting and form services. Overseas countries may not have privacy laws that give the same protections as New Zealand's. Under the Privacy Act 2020, we remain responsible for protecting your personal information when we use an overseas service provider in this way. We choose providers that we reasonably believe protect personal information appropriately. You can read about how Squarespace handles information in its own privacy policy at squarespace.com.
7. Sharing your information
We do not sell, rent or trade your personal information.
We only share personal information:
with service providers who help us run our website and business (such as Squarespace, our website host), and only so they can provide those services to us
where the law requires or allows it, for example to comply with a legal obligation, court order or lawful request from a government agency
with your agreement, or where you have asked us to.
8. How long we keep it
We keep personal information only for as long as we need it for the purposes described in this policy, or as long as the law requires (for example, for tax or business record-keeping). When we no longer need it, we securely delete or destroy it.
9. Your rights: access and correction
Under the Privacy Act 2020, you have the right to:
ask whether we hold personal information about you, and to see it
ask us to correct any personal information that you think is wrong, incomplete or out of date.
How to make a request
Email us or write to us at the address in section 14. Please tell us what information you'd like to see or correct. We may need to confirm your identity before we act on your request.
We'll respond as soon as we reasonably can, and no later than 20 working days after we receive your request, as required by the Privacy Act 2020. Making a request is free. If we decide not to correct your information, you can ask us to attach a statement of the correction you asked for to the information.
10. Cookies
Cookies are small text files that a website stores on your device.
Our website currently uses only essential cookies placed by Squarespace. These cookies are needed for the website to work properly and securely — for example, to protect our forms against misuse and to keep the site functioning as you move between pages. They don't track you for advertising.
We don't currently use analytics, advertising or other tracking tools on our website. If we add them in the future, we'll update this section to explain what we use and why, and give you choices where appropriate.
You can set your browser to block or delete cookies, but parts of our website (such as our forms) may not work properly if you do.
11. Links to other websites
Our website may contain links to other websites. We aren't responsible for the content or privacy practices of those sites. We encourage you to read the privacy policy of any website you visit.
12. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time, for example if we change how we use personal information or add new features to our website. We'll post the updated version on this page and change the effective date at the top. Please check back now and then.
13. Concerns and complaints
If you have a question or concern about how we've handled your personal information, please contact us first using the details below, and we'll do our best to sort it out.
If you're not satisfied with our response, you can make a complaint to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner:
Website: www.privacy.org.nz
14. Contact us
For any questions about this policy, or to make a privacy request, please contact our privacy officer:
Privacy Officer, Proteus Research and Consulting Limited
Post: 176 Puddle Alley, Mosgiel, New Zealand