Privacy Policy

Depending on how you interact with Localist, we may collect information such as:

• Your name and email address (when you create an account).
• Your business name, NZBN, phone number, and website address (when you claim or manage a listing).
• Payment information, processed securely via Stripe (we do not store your full card details).
• Content you publish to your listing — descriptions, photos, services, products, and other materials.
• Messages and enquiries you send through the platform's contact forms.
• Any information you choose to include when contacting us.

Like most modern websites, we may also collect some technical information automatically, such as:

• Your IP address.
• Browser type and device information.
• Pages visited and general usage information.

This helps us understand what's working, what isn't, and how we can improve your experience.

Simply put, we collect information so we can run the platform and provide our services.

This may include:

• Creating and managing your account.
• Processing membership subscriptions and sponsored slot payments.
• Displaying and enriching business listings.
• Calculating authority and AI-readiness scores.
• Responding to your enquiries and support requests.
• Sending important service updates, billing notifications, and policy changes.
• Sending occasional marketing communications (only where appropriate and in accordance with New Zealand law).
• Improving our platform, data quality, and user experience.
• Detecting, preventing, and addressing fraud, abuse, and Terms violations.

We won't send endless emails, and if you no longer want to hear from us, you can unsubscribe at any time.

Here's the important bit.

We don't sell your personal information. Ever.

There are times where we may need to share information with trusted third-party providers who help us deliver our services. This may include:

• Payment processors (such as Stripe) for billing and subscription management.
• Cloud hosting and infrastructure providers.
• Analytics and performance monitoring services.
• AI and machine learning providers for content and scoring features.
• Public register APIs (such as the NZBN register) for data syncing.
• Email delivery services for notifications and communications.

These providers are expected to handle your information responsibly and only use it for the services they provide to us.

If we're ever legally required to disclose information, we'll comply with our obligations under New Zealand law — for example, in response to a valid request from law enforcement or a court order.

Localist syncs and displays business information from the New Zealand Business Number (NZBN) register and other public data sources. This includes business names, trading names, registration status, and other publicly available details.

This is public information. It is not personal information that you have provided to us privately — it is sourced from public registers and displayed in accordance with the terms of those registers.

If you claim a listing, the information you add to your profile (such as your contact details, description, and photos) becomes visible on the platform. You control what you publish, and you can edit or remove your own content at any time while your subscription is active.

If you believe public register data displayed on Localist is inaccurate, you should contact the relevant register directly to have it corrected. We reflect register updates as our sync cycles process them — this is not instantaneous.

Like almost every website these days, we use cookies.

Cookies are small files stored on your device that help our website remember your preferences and understand how visitors use our site.

They help us improve your experience, measure website performance, and make our website easier to use.

You can disable cookies through your browser settings if you prefer, although some parts of our website may not work quite as intended.

We take security seriously.

We use reputable systems and reasonable security measures to help protect the information we hold. This includes encrypted payment processing via Stripe, access controls on our internal systems, and regular monitoring.

While no online system can ever guarantee absolute security, we're committed to following good practices to keep your information as safe as reasonably possible.

If we become aware of a security breach that affects your personal information, we will take reasonable steps to notify you and the relevant authorities where required by law.

We only keep personal information for as long as we need it to provide our services, meet our legal obligations, or support our business operations.

Specifically:

• Account information is kept while your account is active and for a reasonable period after closure for record-keeping and dispute resolution.
• Business listing data sourced from public registers remains on the platform as long as the underlying register data is public.
• Payment records are retained as required by New Zealand tax and financial law.
• Content you publish may be retained even after your subscription ends — your listing reverts to a public baseline profile, as described in our Terms & Conditions.

When information is no longer required, we'll securely delete or anonymise it where appropriate.

Under New Zealand's Privacy Act 2020, you have the right to:

• Ask what personal information we hold about you.
• Request a copy of your information.
• Ask us to correct information if it's inaccurate.
• Withdraw consent for marketing communications at any time.
• Request deletion of your personal information, subject to legal retention obligations.

If you'd like to make a request, just get in touch. We're always happy to help.

Technology changes, businesses grow, and privacy laws occasionally evolve too.

If we make important changes to this Privacy Policy, we'll update this page so you always have access to the latest version. For material changes, we may also notify you via the platform or by email.

If anything in this Privacy Policy doesn't make sense — or you'd simply like to know how we handle your information — we'd love to hear from you.

Get in touch with the Localist team and we'll happily explain everything in plain English.

You can contact us through the platform's contact page or at our published contact details.