Privacy Policy

Crowdsphere Holdings Limited is the parent company of Crowdsphere Limited (also trading as Lendcap) and Fundsmart Limited, along with other partially or fully owned subsidiaries. In this document, we refer to all subsidiaries and associated entities under this Privacy Policy as “we, us, our, Crowdsphere or Group” and this policy applies across all entities noted above.

The Group complies with the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020 (the Act) when dealing with personal information. Personal information is information about an identifiable individual (a natural person). This policy sets out how we will collect, use, disclose, and protect your personal information.

This policy governs the way the Group collects, uses, maintains and discloses information collected from users of www.fundsmart.co.nz, www.crowdsphere.co.nz, www.lendcap.co.nz or any other website linked to the Group, including data sourced and captured by any of our advisers.

This policy does not limit or exclude any of your rights under the Act. If you wish to seek further information on the Act, you can contact our Privacy Officer by email at the address below or visit www.privacy.org.nz.

We may change this policy by uploading a revised policy onto the relevant website. The change will apply from the date that we upload the revised policy. We encourage users to frequently check this page for any changes to stay informed about how we are protecting the personal information we collect. It is your responsibility to review this privacy policy periodically and become aware of modifications.

Personal information is information about an identifiable individual. It includes (but is not limited to) name, address, contact details, date of birth, occupation, payment details, employment history and/or details, financial information, evidence of source of funds or source of wealth (in some cases), and other information provided to us. A more comprehensive list is shown below.

The Group needs to collect certain personal information from you and from others, and share your information with others, in order to:

• Assess your application for credit.
• Offer a service or market a product to you that is either our product or a product that we market.
• Administer or conduct market research, where the information is combined with other information and in a form that does not identify you, or to meet our internal operational requirements such as for credit and risk management, system or product development and planning, insurance, audit and administrative purposes.
• Facilitate the transfer or assignment of our rights.
• Manage any loans or investments you may have made via Crowdsphere or Lendcap.
• Enable other entities in the Group to provide you with information on products and services that may be of interest to you.

By agreeing to this Privacy Policy, you consent and authorise us to:

• Provide your personal information to credit reporting agencies for identity verification, credit reporting, and monitoring of the services you have obtained from entities in the Group, both now and in the future.
• Disclose any personal information to any third party that provides services to us, including but not limited to any bank, law firm, other professional, debt collection agency, market research firm, insurer, potential assignee, or any other person or organisation authorised by you.
• Disclose and receive your personal information, including but not limited to details of any loan, any associated loan application, any financial dealings you may have with us, your address, telephone number, your place of work, details of your income and any convictions you may have.
• Share your details with other Group entities where such usage is deemed to add value to you or provide you with information on products and services the Group entities can provide.

Please note:

• If you do not consent, we cannot consider your application.
• The funding providers we work with may also use your personal information in the above ways.
• By using our services, you accept this Privacy Policy.
• If you do not agree to this policy, please do not use our website or services.

Personal identification information including, but not limited to, name, address, contact details, date of birth, occupation, demographic information such as post code, preferences and interests, payment details, employment history and/or details, education and qualifications, financial information, testimonials and feedback, evidence of source of funds or source of wealth (in some cases), identity information such as date of birth, driver licence or passport number, gender, login and account information such as username, account number and password, preference information such as favourites lists, transaction history and marketing preferences, and business information such as company name, company size, business type and professional profile (if you list your company with us), and other information relevant to surveys and/or special offers.

We also gather certain information automatically and store it in log files, including internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service provider, referring/exit pages, operating system, date/time stamp, and clickstream data. This information does not identify individual users and is used to analyse trends, administer the site, and gather demographic information.

Some details we collect will be from public sources, where we will be provided your contact details. We may also collect non-personal identification information about users whenever they interact with our website. This may include the browser name, type of computer, operating system, internet service provider, and other technical connection information.

Where we collect your personal information from someone other than you, we will take reasonable steps to notify you that we have collected your personal information, the purpose of the collection, the intended recipients of the information, the name and address of the agency collecting and holding the information, whether the collection is authorised or required by law and, if so, the law that authorises or requires the collection, and your right to access and request correction of that information, unless an exception applies under the Privacy Act 2020.

We will use your personal information:

• To verify your identity.
• To provide services and products to you.
• To run and operate our website and display content correctly.
• To ensure that content on our website is presented in the most effective manner for you.
• To carry out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into between you and us.
• To assess and administer loan applications or other financial service applications.
• To arrange business and lending opportunities that may be suitable for you.
• To market our services and products to you, including contacting you electronically (for example by call, text, or email).
• To personalise your experience and understand how users as a group use our services and resources.
• To improve our website, products and services.
• To comply with legal and regulatory requirements, including identity verification requirements.
• To respond to communications from you, including any complaint.
• To protect and/or enforce our legal rights and interests, including defending any claim.
• To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations, including under the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 and the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009.
• For any other purpose authorised by you or the Act.

We do not sell, trade, or rent users’ personal identification information to others. We may share your personal information with:

• Other companies or individuals who assist us in providing services or who perform functions on our behalf (such as mailing houses, hosting and data storage providers, specialist consultants, and legal advisers).
• Credit reporting agencies for identity verification and credit reporting purposes.
• Product providers such as funding providers and insurance companies.
• Financial advisers and financial advice providers who may use our services.
• Third party proof of identity providers such as Aply Limited, to fulfil our obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009.
• Link Market Services Limited, or GoCashless Limited, contracted to provide direct debit services and handle investor and lender funds.
• Any member of our Group (which means our subsidiaries, our ultimate holding company and its subsidiaries) and its related parties.
• Other companies or individuals who perform compliance reviews and audits that are necessary or desirable under the law.
• Other companies, agencies or individuals that maintain databases against which your identity may be verified, including but not limited to the New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs and the New Zealand Transport Agency.
• Courts, tribunals, and regulatory authorities such as the Financial Markets Authority and the Ministry of Justice in New Zealand.
• The Office of the New Zealand Privacy Commissioner, where a complaint relates to a breach of the Privacy Act 2020.
• CERT NZ, where appropriate to assist with the management of a voluntarily notified privacy breach.
• Any person or agency we believe could assist in responding to a serious privacy breach.
• Anyone else to whom you authorise us to disclose it.
• Any party where, in our view, such disclosure is valid and designed to present offers, for products or services, to you that may be of use to you.

Except as described above, we will not disclose your personal information without your written or oral consent, unless we are required to do so by applicable law. Confidentiality agreements are in place with all third party service providers along with a requirement to act in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020.

We adopt appropriate data collection, storage and processing practices and security measures to protect against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure or destruction of your personal information, username, password, transaction information and data stored on the website or our external file and data storage systems.

In terms of the websites, we will take reasonable steps to keep your personal information safe from loss, unauthorised activity, or other misuse. Specifically:

• Data stored on the Crowdsphere website is protected by username and password and is operated in a secure environment with SSL certificate encryption.
• The website also has malware scanning and protection against brute force attacks.
• All other data is held electronically on Microsoft Office 365 SharePoint cloud folders and it is company policy that no data is stored on personal desktops or personal folders.
• Paper files, where necessary, are stored in a marked folder in a locked cupboard.
• When you enter sensitive information (such as bank account information), we encrypt the transmission using Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology.

No method of transmission over the internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security. If you have any questions about security on our website, please contact us using the contact details below.

We will only retain personal information for as long as it is required for the purposes for which the information may lawfully be used. All data stored online is backed up and can be retrieved in the event of data loss or corruption.

As per the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013, we must retain client and investor information on successful and unsuccessful campaigns or loan applications for 7 years.

The data that we collect from you may be transferred to, and stored at, a destination inside or outside New Zealand. It may also be processed by staff operating inside or outside New Zealand who work for us or for one of our suppliers. By submitting your personal data, you agree to this transfer, storing and/or processing.

Our Privacy Officer has processes and systems in place in the event of a data breach. If such an event occurs, we will promptly identify, report, and examine the personal data breach and notify affected individuals and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner as required under the Privacy Act 2020.

Once data is deemed to be no longer required, all electronic files are purged and all paper documents containing the information are destroyed using a contracted secure destruction service.

Subject to certain grounds for refusal set out in the Act, you have the right to access your readily retrievable personal information that we hold and to request a correction to your personal information. Before you exercise this right, we will need evidence to confirm that you are the individual to whom the personal information relates.

If we think a requested correction is reasonable and we are reasonably able to change the personal information, we will make the correction. If we do not make the correction, we will take reasonable steps to note the personal information that you requested to be corrected.

To exercise either of these rights, email us at the email address listed in the contact details below. Your email should provide evidence of who you are and set out the details of your request.

We use cookies (an alphanumeric identifier transferred to your computer’s hard drive) to monitor your use of the website. Cookies help us improve our site and deliver a better and more personalised service. They enable us to:

• Estimate our audience size and usage pattern.
• Store information about your preferences and customise our site to your individual interests.
• Speed up your searches.
• Recognise you when you return to our site.

You may disable cookies by changing the settings on your browser, although this may mean that you cannot use all features of the website. The use of cookies by our partners, affiliates, advertisers or service providers is not covered by this privacy policy.

Our website may offer a publicly accessible blog and community forum. Any information you provide in these areas may be read, collected, and used by others who access them. To request removal of your personal information, contact us using the contact details listed below.

If you use our referral service, we will ask for your friend’s name and email address to send a one-time email inviting them to visit the site. This information is stored solely for the purpose of sending this one-time email and tracking the success of our referral programme.

Our website includes social media features, such as the Facebook Like button. These features may collect your IP address, which page you are visiting, and may set a cookie. Your interactions with these features are governed by the privacy policy of the company providing them.

This website uses Google Analytics to help analyse how visitors use this website. Google Analytics uses cookies to collect standard internet log information and visitor behaviour information in an anonymous form. The anonymous information generated is transmitted to Google and processed to compile statistical reports on website activity.

We may use Google AdWords Remarketing to advertise a company within the Group across the internet on the Google Display Network. This may display ads based on parts of the company within the website you have previously visited. The cookie used does not in any way identify you individually or give access to your computer or mobile device. If you do not wish to see these ads, you can opt out via Google’s Ad Settings or the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out page.

While we take reasonable steps to maintain secure internet connections, if you provide us with personal information over the internet, the provision of that information is at your own risk. If you follow a link on our website to another site, the owner of that site will have its own privacy policy relating to your personal information. We suggest you review that site’s privacy policy before you provide personal information.

Users may find advertising or other content on our website that links to the sites and services of our partners, suppliers, advertisers, sponsors, licensors and other third parties. We do not control the content or links that appear on these sites and are not responsible for the practices employed by those websites. These sites may have their own privacy policies and customer service policies.

You consent to us communicating with you electronically in respect of your application and/or loan. You also consent to us sending you marketing material and/or messages electronically or otherwise, even after you have repaid your loan in full. We will always give you the ability to opt out or unsubscribe from our emails. We may use third party service providers to help us send out newsletters or surveys.