Theophora ("we", "us", "our") is a New Zealand-based creative business committed to protecting your personal information. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and store personal information when you interact with our website, services, or products. 

1. Information We Collect

• Personal details you provide - such as your name, contact information, and anything submitted through our contact forms, newsletter sign-ups, service bookings, intake forms, or recipe submissions.

• Billing, purchase, and payment information - including details you provide so we can pay you, such as under a cashback offer.

• Website usage information (cookies, analytics, IP address) to help us improve our site and services.

• Photographs and images you choose to share with us - such as professional wedding or event photographs featuring our work - together with any photographer details you provide so that we can credit them. 

Some information is optional. If you choose not to share certain details, we may not be able to provide specific services or offers.

2. How We Use Your Information 

• To process orders, bookings, or service requests.

• To communicate with you about your enquiries, quotes, or purchases.

• To improve our website, products, and services.

• To send newsletters or promotional content you have opted in to receive.

• For our Hestia 'Curated Collections', we may collect and publicly display the initials of recipe contributors (e.g., 'CCH'). This is done solely for the purpose of attribution and preserving family heritage. By submitting a recipe, you confirm you have the authority or permission to include these identifiers.

• Where you share photographs with us - for example, through our marketing offers - we may use and publicly display those images across our website, social media, print, and other marketing materials. We do this only with your permission and credit the photographer where possible. By sharing images with us, you confirm you have the right to do so, and that any identifiable people in them consent to appearing in our marketing. You may ask us to remove an image from future marketing at any time. 

3. Information Storage and Third-Party Services

• Personal information collected by Theophora may be stored securely using trusted third-party services. This includes cloud-based tools and communication platforms used in the ordinary course of business.

• These may include:

  • Google services (such as email, cloud storage, or forms);

  • Stripe and Hnry, which securely process payments; and

  • Messaging platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram Messenger, where you choose to contact us via those services.

• Some of these providers (such as Google, Stripe, Hnry and Meta) store and process information on servers outside New Zealand. Where your information is held overseas, we take reasonable steps to ensure it is protected by safeguards comparable to those required under New Zealand's Privacy Act 2020.

• Information shared through third-party platforms is subject to their respective privacy policies and terms. Theophora takes reasonable steps to ensure information is handled securely and used only for the purposes for which it was provided.

• By contacting Theophora via Messenger or other third-party platforms, you acknowledge that your information may be processed and stored through those services.

4. How We Store and Protect Your Information

• Personal information is stored securely and only accessible by authorised personnel.

• We take reasonable steps to protect your information from misuse, loss, or unauthorised access.

5. Data Retention

• We keep billing and purchase information for seven years, as required for tax and business record-keeping, after which we securely destroy it.

• Contact information - such as contact-form messages or newsletter details - is kept only as long as we need it, or until you ask us to delete it or unsubscribe.

• Recipes submitted to Hestia are preserved for a minimum of ten years, in line with that service.

• Photographs shared for marketing purposes are kept and used only while they remain relevant to promoting our work, and are removed from active use on request. 

• Where you provide bank account details to receive a payment from us - such as a cashback - we use them to make that payment. We do not store them separately, though they may appear in our transaction records, which are retained for seven years in line with our billing and tax obligations. 

6. Sharing Your Information 

• We do not sell or trade your personal data.

• We may share information with third-party service providers to process payments or deliver services, only as necessary.

7. Your Rights

• You may request access, correction, or deletion of your personal information at any time.

• You may unsubscribe from promotional emails at any time.

• If you're not satisfied with how we've handled a privacy concern, you can contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (privacy.org.nz), New Zealand's independent privacy regulator.

• To request a copy of your information or to have it corrected, contact us at hello@theophora.nz or 0210 812 1538.

8. Cookies and Tracking

• We use cookies and analytics to improve user experience. You can adjust your browser settings to manage cookies. 

9. Contact

• For questions about privacy, email us at hq@theophora.nz or call 0210 812 1538.