This policy explains how Thomson Wilson collects, uses, stores and shares personal information, and the rights you have to see and correct what we hold about you.
Last updated: October 2026
Application
Clients of Thomson Wilson, and the people connected with their matters. Anyone who applies for a job with us, contracts to us, contacts us or visits our website.
Purpose
To explain how Thomson Wilson collects, uses, stores, shares and destroys personal information, and the rights people have in relation to the information we hold about them.
Background
We collect personal information only for purposes linked to our legal services and the running of our business. We tell people why we collect it, and how they can access it.
The personal information we collect may include your name, date of birth, addresses, email address, telephone numbers, gender, identity documents, financial information, and other personal information you choose to give us, or authorise others to give us, so we can provide our services.
This policy applies to Thomson Wilson and Mansfield Services Limited.
1.0 Collecting your information
We collect personal information from a variety of sources, including the courts, the Ministry of Justice, New Zealand Police, Ara Poutama Aotearoa (Department of Corrections) and other government agencies.
We may also collect personal information when you, or someone acting for you, gives it to us directly. For example, when you:
- apply for employment;
- contract to us;
- correspond with us in person, by letter, phone, email or other electronic means;
- use our services;
- follow or comment on our social media;
- visit our website, where we may use cookies.
While acting for a client, we may collect and hold information about that client and the people connected with their matter.
2.0 Using your information
We may use and disclose your personal information to:
- identify you;
- provide legal services;
- communicate with you or your authorised representative;
- make credit enquiries about a client, or anyone guaranteeing payment of our fees (a guarantor);
- manage credit and collect debts;
- meet our obligations under anti-money laundering and countering financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) and tax laws;
- do anything you have asked or authorised us to do;
- do anything allowed or required by law or the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2008;
- run our business, including record keeping and processing payments;
- take on any new matter you ask us to;
- improve our services;
- contact you about research or marketing;
- meet our obligations as an employer;
- any other purpose we tell you about.
We may send newsletters or other material of interest. If you don’t want to receive these, let us know.
3.0 Sharing your information
We will not sell, trade, rent or otherwise give your personal information to others without your consent. To carry out work for you, we may share your information with:
- anyone, where the information is already public;
- a person or service provider we engage to provide services to you or on your behalf;
- any third party where the law requires us to provide it;
- anyone you have authorised us to give it to;
- anyone dealing with a situation affecting your wellbeing where you cannot give the information yourself, such as a medical emergency;
- any agency helping us investigate or prevent criminal activity, including fraud;
- any agency helping us monitor the safety and security of our services;
- any agency giving us information to assess your suitability for employment, including the Ministry of Justice and New Zealand Police;
- other people or organisations we tell you about.
We hold in strict confidence all information about our clients and their affairs that we obtain as lawyers. We will not disclose it except where:
- you have expressly or impliedly authorised it;
- it is necessary or desirable to carry out your instructions; or
- the law or the Law Society rules allow or require it.
We will not disclose one client’s confidential information to another client.
If a client or guarantor does not pay what they owe us, we may give information about that default to credit reporting and debt collection agencies. Those agencies may keep it, use it for credit reporting and pass it to their other customers.
Anyone we share your information with to provide services may use it only for purposes consistent with this policy.
4.0 Storing and destroying your information
We keep personal information in our current or archived records for as long as we need it, or for as long as the law requires.
We keep ownership of all opinions and documents we create, and of documents you or others involved in your affairs give us. After our work on a matter ends, we keep the file and any documents you leave with us for at least 10 years. We may then destroy them without further notice, except documents we have agreed to hold in safe custody for you. We may destroy paper files earlier if we hold an electronic copy.
We may make a reasonable charge for copies of documents we hold.
We may store personal information in hard copy or electronically, at our offices or with our agents, including file storage and cloud providers in or outside New Zealand, until it is destroyed. We use providers outside New Zealand only where they protect information to a standard comparable to the Privacy Act.
5.0 Email and electronic communications
We may communicate with you and others by email and other electronic means. Electronic communications are not always reliable, secure or free of defects. We take reasonable care, but are not responsible for loss or damage caused by an email not being received, or by viruses, defects, interception or interference.
We comply with the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007. If you subscribe to our marketing emails or texts, you agree to receive them. You can unsubscribe at any time, and we will remove you from the list as soon as reasonably practicable.
6.0 Security
We are committed to keeping your information secure. We maintain reasonable safeguards against loss, misuse and unauthorised disclosure, and only people who need it for their work can access it. We protect our systems from outside access, back up our data regularly, and follow good practice in information security.
7.0 If something goes wrong
If your personal information is lost, or disclosed without authorisation, we act promptly to contain it and reduce any harm.
If a breach is likely to cause you serious harm, we will tell you and the Privacy Commissioner, as the Privacy Act 2020 requires. If you are our client and your confidential information has been disclosed in error, we will normally tell you even where the Act does not require it.
8.0 Accessing and correcting your information
You can ask whether we hold personal information about you, ask to see it, and ask for anything inaccurate to be corrected. We respond as soon as practicable, and within 20 working days, as the Privacy Act requires. We need to confirm your identity before releasing anything, and some information may be withheld where the Act allows. We may charge a fee where the Act allows.
9.0 Choosing not to provide information
Giving us your personal information is optional. If you don’t give us information we ask for, we may not be able to act for you or respond to you.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The current version is on our website. Your continuing relationship with us following any updates constitutes acceptance of this policy as amended.
We recommend that you check back from time to time to make sure you are aware of any updates. If you do not agree to any updated terms from time to time, you must immediately cease using any of our services.
Contact
Our privacy officer can help with questions, requests or complaints about privacy:
Privacy Officer: Tareen Ellis, general manager
Email: te@thomsonwilson.co.nz
Postal address: PO Box 1042, Whangārei 0140
If you are not satisfied with our response, you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner at privacy.org.nz or on 0800 803 909.
Definition
Personal information means information about an identifiable individual. A person does not have to be named to be identifiable.
Key relevant documents
- Privacy Act 2020
- Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006
- Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2008
- Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Trust Account) Regulations 2008
- Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009
- Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007
- Employment Relations Act 2000
- Tax Administration Act 1994
- Companies Act 1993
- Land Transfer Act 2017
- Limitation Act 2010
- Public Records Act 2005