How we handle your personal information under the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020.
Last updated: 24 May 2026
BuildersLink connects New Zealand homeowners with local tradespeople. This policy explains what personal information we collect, why, how we use and protect it, and the rights you have. We handle personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020 and its Information Privacy Principles (IPPs).
Depending on how you use BuildersLink, we may collect: your name and contact details; account and profile information; job details, messages and photos you provide; reviews and ratings; for tradies, business, licensing and verification details; payment-related information needed to run the service; and technical data such as your IP address, device and usage information.
Tradies can choose to display reviews they have received on third-party platforms — currently Google Business Profile and BuildersCrack — on their BuildersLink public profile. We handle the two sources differently, according to what each platform makes publicly available:
Imported review data is collected at the tradie's direction. A tradie can disconnect Google at any time, can hide any individual Google review from their profile, and can update or remove their BuildersCrack summary. Disconnecting a source stops further imports, and we take reasonable steps to delete or de-identify imported data we no longer need in line with our retention practices below. If you are the author of a review on a source platform and want it changed, you can amend or delete it on that platform, or contact us using the details below.
We collect personal information for purposes connected with running the marketplace — creating and managing your account, matching jobs with suitable tradies, enabling communication, processing payments and subscriptions, maintaining trust and safety, meeting legal obligations, and improving the service. We only collect what we reasonably need for these purposes.
Wherever practical we collect personal information directly from you — when you sign up, complete your profile, post or quote on a job, or contact us. We collect it by lawful and fair means, and some information (such as usage and device data) is collected automatically as you use the site. We'll generally make clear what's required and why at the point we ask.
We use personal information for the purposes it was collected for, or a directly related purpose you'd reasonably expect. We share information between customers and tradies as needed to quote, arrange and carry out a job. We may disclose information to service providers who help us run BuildersLink (under confidentiality obligations), where you ask us to, or where the law requires or permits it. We don't sell your personal information.
We take reasonable steps to keep personal information secure wherever it is held. Some of our service providers may store or process information outside New Zealand. Where personal information is disclosed overseas, we take reasonable steps to ensure it is protected by comparable safeguards, consistent with IPP 12.
We keep personal information only for as long as we need it for the purposes described above, or for as long as the law requires. When we no longer need it, we take reasonable steps to delete it or de-identify it.
You have the right to ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you, and to ask us to correct it if it's wrong. Contact us using the details below and we'll respond as required by the Privacy Act 2020. If we decline a request, we'll explain why.
We use reasonable technical and organisational safeguards to protect personal information against loss, misuse and unauthorised access, use, modification or disclosure. No system is perfectly secure, so we can't guarantee absolute security, but we work to protect your information and to limit access to those who need it.
We use cookies and similar technologies to keep the site working, remember your preferences, and understand how the site is used so we can improve it. You can control cookies through your browser settings; disabling some cookies may affect how the site works.
If we send you marketing or promotional emails, we comply with the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007: we send them on the basis of your consent, identify ourselves clearly, and include a working unsubscribe option in every message. You can opt out of marketing emails at any time using that link, and we'll action it promptly. We'll still send you essential service messages about your account and jobs.
We take privacy breaches seriously. If a privacy breach occurs that has caused, or is likely to cause, serious harm, we will notify the affected individuals and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner as required by the Privacy Act 2020, and take steps to contain and remedy the breach.
If you have a question, request or complaint about privacy, please get in touch. You can reach us through our Help & Support page. You can also raise a privacy concern with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.