Privacy Policy

Big Chats is a free website for anyone who wants to be there for a mate through tough stuff. You never need to sign up or tell us who you are to use it. We only collect information that helps us do what we’re here for: making sure the site actually helps people have big chats, and staying in touch with those who ask us to. This page covers what we collect, why, and what you can do about it.

How we look after what you share

Some people who get in touch with us are going through a lot, or supporting someone who is. So we treat anything you share with the same care we’d give health information. Only the people at Big Chats who need to see it can see it, and we don’t sell it or hand it to anyone for marketing.

Seeing how the site is used

We use Google Analytics to understand how the site is used: which pages people read, how they found us, and roughly where in Aotearoa they’re from. It also gives us a rough picture of visitors’ ages. That helps us check we’re reaching the people we built this for, and work out what to create next. We only ever see the big-picture numbers, never who you are.

Google Analytics uses cookies (small files your browser keeps) to tell when someone comes back to the site. You can clear or block cookies in your browser settings at any time. The age picture comes from Google accounts, so if you’d rather not be counted in it, you can turn off ad personalisation in your Google account settings.

Our newsletter

If you sign up to hear from us, we use Mailchimp to send the emails. We only need your email address. Every email has an unsubscribe link, and once you click it, you won’t hear from us again unless you sign back up.

Telling us what you think

You might see a quick survey pop up on the site. It’s completely optional, and you can skip any question. It asks things like whether you found what you were looking for, how confident you feel about having a big chat, your age and your region. We use the answers to make the site better and to show funders the difference Big Chats is making. When we report to anyone, we use totals, never individual answers. If you choose to leave your email for updates, it goes onto our newsletter list and you can unsubscribe any time.

Donating

Donations go through Raisely, a fundraising platform, which handles your payment details. We get your name, your email and the amount, so we can say thanks and send you a receipt if you’d like one.

Getting in touch

You can email us at info@bigchats.org.nz or use the contact form. We’ll use what you send to reply, and for nothing else. We’re an information site, so we can’t give one-on-one advice. If you need to talk to someone, free call or text 1737 any time. If someone’s safety is at risk right now, call 111.

Messaging us on social media

You’ll find us on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and LinkedIn. If you message us there, the platform holds that conversation under its own privacy rules, as well as us. We don’t chat one-on-one on social media, but we’ll always point you towards resources and people who can help.

Where your information lives

We use a few trusted services to run the site, and some of them store information overseas. We choose services that protect your information properly, and we only share what each one needs to do its job.

How long we keep it

We keep information only as long as we need it, then delete it. Newsletter details stay until you unsubscribe. Emails and messages are kept while we’re dealing with them. Survey answers are kept as totals.

Your rights

Under the Privacy Act 2020, you can ask us for a copy of any personal information we hold about you, and ask us to fix anything that’s wrong. Just email info@bigchats.org.nz and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can. If you’re not happy with how we’ve handled your information, let us know and we’ll try to sort it. You can also complain to the Privacy Commissioner at privacy.org.nz.