• Hide your number is a free service that lets you keep your number hidden when you make phone calls. 
• It means the person you’re calling won’t see your number come up on their phone. 
• You can choose to hide your number from all calls you make or selected calls only. 
• This service doesn’t hide your number from 111 Emergency Services or Spark.
• To hide your number for your landline, you'll need to sign into MySpark or use Live Chat:
  • Sign in to MySpark
  • Start Live Chat

• Caller display lets you see the number of the person calling you, before you answer the phone. 
• It won’t show numbers from callers using Hide your number. 
• Caller display costs $3.99 per month with a copper landline or comes free with a wireless or fibre landline.
• Learn more about Caller display

• Dealing with repeated unwanted calls or text messages can be stressful. If the calls or texts are of a life-threatening nature, contact the Police immediately. Find out how to contact police
• If you’re getting annoying calls or texts, fill out our unwanted calls and texts form. You’ll need the information from a text. Go to form
  
• See our Scams and safety page for more information and tips. Help with scams and safety

It’s important to know how you can keep yourself and loved ones safe and secure online. We offer a range of resources to help you do this:

• Our Stay safe online page has ways to protect yourself and your family online. Go to Stay safe online page
• Our Learn how to spot a scam page has information, tips and downloadable resources to help you spot and avoid scams. Go to Learn how to spot a scam page
• There’s also our Spam policy which outlines what spam is and how Spark manages Xtra Mail spam. Go to Spam policy
• Our Online bullying page has information about how to deal with harassment and bullying on the internet. Go to Online bullying page
• We also offer a range of tools to help you keep your computer secure and to block harmful online content. See below for more on Spark Security Suite and Net Shield. 

Spark offers McAfee and Net Shield, powerful security tools to help you stay safe while using your computer. Free for Spark broadband customers, these tools stop malware, spam and inappropriate content.

• McAfee is a security tool for protecting your computer from malware, spyware and other threats. Safeguard your personal data, block pop-up ads and prevent unauthorised computer access with McAfee from Spark. Spark broadband customers get five McAfee licences for free. This means that you can install the software on up to five computers. Each license is worth $95. To activate the McAfee security tool from Spark, go to your online MySpark account. 
• Net Shield is a tool that blocks harmful content on the internet. It’s a simple way to keep everyone safe online. Spark broadband customers get Net Shield Basic for free. To activate the Net Shield security tool from Spark, go to your online MySpark account. Sign in to MySpark

Your internet browser allows you to control the use of cookies. 

You can opt-out of Google Analytics advertising features, or use a browser plugin to opt-out of Google Analytics cookies.

Go to Google terms page to opt out of advertising features

Download a browser plugin to opt out of cookies

These help safeguard customer information throughout business activities. For example:

• Designing new products and services. Privacy is a key tenet in the design of new products and services at Spark. Spark equips its people with tools to help them make decisions that line up with our Privacy Policy. New products and services with greater privacy and security design requirements are assessed by Spark’s Legal, Digital Trust and Security teams.
  
• Managing personal information requests. Spark customers can request copies of their information. Spark’s Call investigation Centre (CIC) manages these requests.
  
• Privacy complaints. Our privacy complaints process enables customers to raise any issues with us. Read the Privacy Complaints Process 
• Data breach reporting. We work hard to foster a culture where Spark people feel safe reporting any possible privacy issues or data breaches. This means breaches can surface and be dealt with quickly and effectively. To make this easy for our people, we have a dedicated Data Breach Register where breaches can be reported and managed. We also have an Honesty Box where any privacy issues can be reported anonymously. Where a data breach has potential to compromise the privacy or safety of our customers, we directly notify those concerned and work to reduce any potential impact as much as possible. We also comply with the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020.
  

Spark people must complete privacy training when they join Spark. Our people can also voluntarily retrain, as often as needed. Customer services teams have extra privacy training specific to their tools. Internal communications campaigns remind Spark people of our privacy obligations. Spark people can also access Privacy Act summaries, policies, processes and how-to guides. For example, our Spark Policy Playbook includes a section on data and privacy. This helps make our privacy policy more easily actionable for our people.

We offer a range of tools and services to help customers stay safe and manage their privacy and security. These include things like security tools and call and number display options. Spark also has an online Scams and Safety centre. It highlights common and recent scams. It also provides resources to help customers protect their information.

From time to time, Spark contacts customers directly to tell them about choices they have with their information. At times we also run campaigns and hold events aimed at helping customers protect themselves online.

Go to the scams & safety centre

Read more about your privacy choices

Privacy at Spark is supported by one of the largest teams of certified security professionals in New Zealand. Spark's Security Operations Centre is a team of over forty cyber security experts, who work around the clock to keep Spark’s and our customers’ data safe.

In addition, access to customer information at Spark is restricted to only those who need to access it as part of their role. We also actively encourage customers to use unique passwords and PINs, and to keep these secure.

These reports cover requests by New Zealand government agencies for Spark customers’ personal information. They also show instances where we provided all, some or none of the information requested and the agencies that most of the requests came from.

Information provided can include SIM and device information, call logs, text logs and content, browsing information, voicemail, account notes and billing information. It can also include location information from cell towers.

What’s not included

The reports don’t include requests made under the Intelligence and Security Act 2017. The reports also exclude instances where information has been shared with emergency services providers through the Police TESA database or the Emergency Caller Location Information (ECLI) initiative.

Find out more about the TESA database

Find out more about ECLI

Our specialist Call Investigations Centre (CIC) manages requests for personal information from the New Zealand government, excluding requests made under the Intelligence and Security Act 2017.

When they receive a request, the CIC check whether it has been made according to the relevant legal process. For example, some types of requests can only be made by certain people, certain agencies or using certain forms. We only voluntarily share your personal information if you’ve said we can or in exceptional circumstances such as where there’s an immediate threat to public health, safety or lives. Other than that, we only share personal information with government agencies when the law says we have to and the correct processes have been followed.

Our CIC team works with Spark’s legal and privacy teams to ensure we’re doing what we need to under law, while maintaining high standards for protecting our customers’ privacy.

When we provide all, some or none of the information.

When we have the information requested, and there’s no doubt that we legally must provide it, then we’ll fulfil the request.

Where we supply either none of the information, or only some of it, this may be because we don’t have the information requested, or because we don’t have enough information from the government agency to identify the customer with confidence. Occasionally, we challenge a request because we don’t believe there’s a reasonable legal basis for it.

Spark received 2003 requests from more than 11 government agencies.

These resulted in: 

• All requested information supplied: 1256
  
• Some requested information supplied: 342
  
• No information supplied: 405
  

Of the total requests made, most came from:

• New Zealand Police Ngā Pirihimana o Aotearoa: 1444
  
• Coronial Services Pūrongo o te Ao Kakarauri: 290
  
• Inland Revenue Te Tari Tāke: 104

Spark received 2298 requests from more than 11 government agencies.

These resulted in: 

• All requested information supplied: 1477
  
• Some requested information supplied: 414
  
• No information supplied: 407
  

Of the total requests made, most came from:

• New Zealand Police Ngā Pirihimana o Aotearoa: 1770
  
• Coronial Services Pūrongo o te Ao Kakarauri: 300
  
• Inland Revenue Te Tari Tāke: 100

Spark received 1972 requests from more than 11 government agencies.

These resulted in:

• All requested information supplied: 1244
  
• Some requested information supplied: 431
  
• No information supplied: 297
  

Of the total requests made, most came from:

• New Zealand Police Ngā Pirihimana o Aotearoa: 1590
  
• Coronial Services Pūrongo o te Ao Kakarauri: 229
  

Spark received 1907 requests from more than 11 government agencies.

These resulted in:

• All requested information supplied: 1177
  
• Some requested information supplied: 441
  
• No information supplied: 289
  

Of the total requests made, most came from:

• New Zealand Police Ngā Pirihimana o Aotearoa: 1474
  
• Coronial Services Pūrongo o te Ao Kakarauri: 200 
• New Zealand Customs Service Te Mana Ārai o Aotearoa: 129

Spark received 1936-1945 requests from more than 12 government agencies.*

These resulted in:

• All requested information supplied: 1200-1209*
  
• Some requested information supplied: 402
  
• No information supplied: 334
  

Of the total requests made, most came from:

• New Zealand Police Ngā Pirihimana o Aotearoa: 1393
  
• Coronial Services Pūrongo o te Ao Kakarauri: 228
  
• New Zealand Customs Service Te Mana Ārai o Aotearoa: 100
  

*In the first half of 2019 this data was recorded in a different system. Because of this, the total count is recorded as a range rather than an exact count for this period.   

The ECLI informs Police, Fire and Ambulance of your location when you call 111 from a mobile phone. You still need to tell the emergency call taker where you are or as much information about your location as you can. But the system helps emergency services find you faster, even if you’re not sure of your exact location.

ECLI works with all mobile phones and you don’t need to do anything different when you call 111, even if your phone’s location services are turned off. Your data is protected and your location is only provided when you call 111.

The ECLI service is also supported by registered Android devices using the 111 TXT service. Learn about the 111 TXT service

More information about how the ECLI system operates is available from MBIE. Go to MBIE website

The ECLI Service is a collaboration between the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), emergency service providers and mobile network operators (like Spark). 

Spark provides network cell site data to a 111 Location Area Service (LAS) system operated by MBIE. The LAS system receives and processes ECLI, then sends it to the relevant authorised emergency service provider.

Authorised emergency service providers — New Zealand Police, Fire and Emergency New Zealand, St John and Wellington Free Ambulance — can use this location information to help them verify where you are calling from, so they can respond to the emergency as quickly as possible.

• Is GPS based location data from compatible mobile phones.
• Is cell-site location data generated by the 111 call from your handset. 
• Will only be used for the purpose of helping emergency service providers to identify the location of callers to 111 to respond to their request for assistance.
• Will not be retained by the 111 LAS.
• May be retained by Spark, together with a record of its delivery to the 111 LAS, for operational purposes for up to a year.   

The Privacy Commissioner has authorised the Emergency Caller Location Information system via an amendment to the Telecommunications Information Privacy Code 2003. This amendment includes the addition of Schedule 4 to the Code which defines the boundaries and controls on the system's use. View the privacy code

You can ask to access any of your information that Spark holds. See accessing and correcting your personal information above for how to do this. 

You can also request access to the record of your 111 call from the emergency service providers at the links listed below:

• NZ Police
• Fire and Emergency New Zealand
• St John
• Wellington Free Ambulance

If you'd like to make a privacy complaint, there are a few different ways you can do this. View Spark's privacy complaints process

If you'd like to complain about the ECLI system, please email info@mbie.govt.nz

Complaints about Emergency Service Providers should be made to the relevant organisation.