Last updated: 13 November 2025
This Privacy Policy explains how Little Engineers (“we”, “us”, “our”) collects, uses and protects personal information, in line with the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020.
By using our website littleengineers.co.nz, or by purchasing our products or contacting us, you agree to this Privacy Policy.
If you have any questions, you can contact us at:
Email: info@littleengineers.co.nz
1. Who we are
Little Engineers provides hands-on STEM resources, kits and workshops for New Zealand schools and educators. We operate an e-commerce website where you can browse products, place orders and contact us.
For the purposes of the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020, we are the “agency” responsible for the personal information we collect through this website.
2. Personal information we collect
We only collect personal information that we reasonably need to run our business and provide our services. This includes:
2.1 Information you give us directly
For example, when you:
- Place an order or create an account
- Name
- Email address
- School or organisation (if provided)
- Billing and delivery address
- Phone number (if provided)
- Order details and purchase history
- Login details (username and a password you choose)
- Contact us (e.g. via our contact form or email)
- Name
- Email address
- Any information you include in your message (which may include school name, role, and other details you choose to share)
2.2 Information collected automatically
When you visit our website, we and our service providers may automatically collect:
- IP address
- Browser type and version
- Device type and operating system
- Pages you visit and actions you take on the site (e.g. items added to cart)
- Basic cookie information (see Section 7 below)
2.3 Payment information
When you pay online, your payment card details are collected and processed by our payment processors, not by us. We do not store full credit card numbers on our own servers.
We may receive confirmation that a payment was successful, plus limited details such as the last few digits of the card or payment method type, for reconciliation and record-keeping.
3. How we use your personal information
We use personal information for purposes such as:
- Processing orders and payments
- To accept and process your order
- To deliver products to the correct address
- To send order confirmations, invoices and updates about your purchase
- Running your account
- To create and manage your customer account
- To show your past orders and saved details
- Communicating with you
- To respond to enquiries and provide customer support
- To follow up on issues with orders or delivery
- To send important notices about changes to our services or policies
- Improving our website and services
- To understand how people use our website
- To fix problems, improve navigation and enhance your experience
- Security and fraud prevention
- To protect our site from spam, bots and malicious activity
- To detect and prevent fraud or misuse of our services
- Legal and compliance
- To comply with our legal, tax and accounting obligations
- To respond to requests or notices from regulators or law enforcement, where required by law
We do not sell your personal information to third parties.
4. Third-party service providers
We use trusted third-party service providers to help us operate our website and deliver our services. These providers may process personal information only as needed to perform services on our behalf. They are not permitted to use your information for their own unrelated purposes.
Examples of the types of service providers we use include:
- Web hosting and website infrastructure providers
Host our website and database so the site can function. - Shopping cart / e-commerce tools
Power the online shop and manage orders and customer accounts. - Payment processors
Securely process your payment information when you place an order. - Email delivery providers
Send order confirmations, account emails and responses to contact form submissions. - Security and anti-bot services
Help protect our website and contact forms from spam, abuse and malicious traffic (for example, visual or invisible challenges to verify you’re a real visitor). - Image and performance optimisation services
Optimise images and improve website loading speed.
Some of these providers may be located outside New Zealand. Where personal information is sent or stored overseas, we take reasonable steps to ensure it is protected by safeguards that are comparable to the protections in the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020.
5. How long we keep your information
We keep personal information only for as long as we reasonably need it for the purposes set out in this policy, or to meet legal and regulatory requirements.
For example:
- We may keep order and account records (including your contact details and address) for several years to comply with New Zealand tax and accounting laws and to help with any warranty, returns or customer service queries.
- Contact enquiries may be kept for a period needed to manage follow-up and improve our services.
When personal information is no longer needed for these purposes, we will take reasonable steps to anonymise or securely delete it.
6. How we protect your information
We take reasonable steps to keep personal information safe from loss, unauthorised access, use, modification or disclosure. These steps include:
- Using secure (HTTPS) connections to our website where appropriate
- Limiting access to personal information to people who need it to do their job
- Using passwords and other security measures on our systems
- Working with reputable service providers who also have appropriate security measures
However, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security, but we aim to protect your information using reasonable safeguards.
7. Cookies and similar technologies
Our website may use cookies and similar technologies to:
- Remember items in your cart
- Keep you logged into your account during a session
- Help the website function properly and securely
- Understand basic usage patterns (for example, which pages are visited most)
At the moment, we do not use advanced analytics or advertising cookies such as Google Analytics or Meta tracking pixels. If we add these in future, we will update this Privacy Policy (and, if required, provide a cookie/banner notice and additional options).
You can control cookies through your browser settings. If you choose to block certain cookies, some features of our website (such as the shopping cart or login) may not work correctly.
8. Your rights under New Zealand privacy law
Under the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020, you have rights in relation to your personal information, including:
- Right to access
You can ask us to confirm whether we hold personal information about you and request a copy of that information. - Right to correction
You can ask us to correct any personal information that you believe is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date. - Right to withdraw consent (where applicable)
If we are relying on your consent for a particular use (for example, optional marketing emails), you can withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect processing that has already occurred.
To exercise these rights, please contact us at info@littleengineers.co.nz. We may need to verify your identity before acting on your request. In some cases, we may be unable to provide certain information where an exception in the Privacy Act applies, but we will explain this if it occurs.
If you are not satisfied with how we handle your request, you can lodge a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (New Zealand):
privacy.org.nz
9. Children and young people
Our website and online shop are primarily intended for schools, teachers, and other adult representatives, and sometimes parents or guardians, who purchase and use our resources with students.
- We do not knowingly allow children to create their own customer accounts or place orders on the website without the involvement of a parent/guardian or school representative.
- We do not actively collect information about a user’s age, and our forms are not designed to ask students to provide their own personal information directly.
If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information directly (for example, by creating an account or placing an order in their own name), please contact us at info@littleengineers.co.nz. We will review the situation and, if appropriate, delete or anonymise that information.
10. Sharing information in special situations
We may also share personal information:
- If required by law
For example, in response to a lawful request by a government agency, regulator or law enforcement, where we are satisfied that disclosure is required or permitted by law. - If our business changes
If we undergo a business restructure, merger, acquisition or sale, personal information may be transferred as part of that process. We will ensure any new owner is subject to similar privacy obligations.
We will not disclose your personal information without a valid reason and, where it is reasonable, we will try to tell you about any significant disclosures that are not obvious in the normal operation of the website.
11. Links to other websites
Our website may contain links to third-party websites (for example, external resources, payment portals, or social media). These sites are not controlled by us, and this Privacy Policy does not apply to them.
We recommend checking the privacy policy of any website you visit via a link from our site.
12. Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, technology, or legal obligations.
When we make changes, we will update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page. If the changes are significant, we may also publish a notice on our website.
Your continued use of our website after any changes indicates that you accept the updated Privacy Policy.
13. How to contact us
If you have questions, concerns, or requests relating to your personal information or this Privacy Policy, please contact:
Little Engineers
Email: info@littleengineers.co.nz