Your privacy, handled with care

Ascend Digital ("we", "us") is a New Zealand digital marketing agency helping small businesses with website design, website management and paid advertising. This policy explains how we handle your personal information under the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020.

We only collect what we need to help you. This may include:

• Contact details such as your name, email address, phone number and business name.
• Project information you share in our enquiry form or portal questionnaire, like your goals, timeline and website needs.
• Brand files and content you upload to the client portal, such as logos, photos, videos and brand guidelines.
• Messages you send us by email or through the client portal.
• Portal account details such as your login email. Passwords are stored securely and we can never see them.
• Basic technical information like your browser type and pages visited, used to keep the site working and secure.

• To reply to your enquiry and recommend the right service.
• To plan, design, build and manage your website or advertising.
• To give you secure access to your private client portal.
• To send you project updates and notifications (you can change optional email settings in the portal).
• To prepare brand guideline drafts. Some of these drafts are created with AI assistance and are always reviewed by our team.
• To meet legal, tax and accounting obligations.

We will not add you to a marketing list without your permission. If you agree to hear from us, you can unsubscribe at any time.

We use trusted, secure service providers to host our website, client portal and files. Some of these providers may store information outside New Zealand. When that happens, we choose providers with strong security and privacy protections comparable to New Zealand law.

Portal access is invitation-only. Each client can only see their own project, and private files are shared using short-lived secure links.

We never sell your personal information. We only share it when needed, for example with:

• Service providers who help us run our business, such as hosting, file storage, email and AI tools.
• Advertising platforms like Google or Meta, only when running campaigns you have asked us to manage.
• Authorities, if required by law.

We keep your information only for as long as we need it for the purposes above, or as required by law (for example, financial records for seven years). When we no longer need it, we delete it securely.

You can ask to see the personal information we hold about you and ask us to correct it. Just email us and we will respond within 20 working days.

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, please talk to us first. You can also contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner at privacy.org.nz.

Our website uses essential cookies and similar storage to keep things working, such as keeping you signed in to the client portal. You can control cookies in your browser settings.

We may update this policy from time to time. The latest version will always be on this page.

Questions about your privacy? Email us at hello@ascenddigital.co.nz.