Privacy Policy

1. Who we are and how to reach our Privacy Officer

SoftRock NZ is an independent editorial publisher based in Wellington, New Zealand. We publish reviews and guides about online pokies and casinos for New Zealand readers aged 18 and over. For all privacy enquiries — including data access and correction requests under the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020 — contact our Privacy Officer at privacy@softrock.co.nz. We will acknowledge your request promptly and respond within 20 working days, as required by the Act.

2. What personal information we collect

We try to collect as little personal information as possible. There are three buckets:

• Browsing analytics. When you visit a page on softrock.co.nz, we record anonymised page views, the referring URL (the site or search engine you came from), your browser type, device type, screen size, country-level region and session duration. We do this through a privacy-respecting analytics tool that does not set a third-party identifier or follow you across other sites.
• Contact form submissions. When you write to us via our contact page or directly by email, we collect the name and email address you give us along with the body of your message. We use this only to reply and to keep a record of correspondence.
• Server logs. Our hosting provider records the IP address making each request, the user agent string, the requested URL and a timestamp. IP addresses are truncated after 30 days. We use logs to defend the site from abuse (rate-limiting, bot mitigation) and to diagnose errors.

We do not run advertising trackers on this site. We do not build behavioural profiles. We do not sell, rent or trade personal information.

3. Why we collect it

Each bucket has a specific, narrow purpose:

• Analytics helps us understand which pages are useful, which need rewriting, and where Kiwi readers are getting stuck. It is anonymised and aggregated. We use it to improve content, never to target individuals.
• Contact form data is used to respond to your enquiry. If your message is part of an ongoing thread (for example, a correction request to a review), we may retain it longer than a one-off enquiry.
• Server logs are used to keep the site up, fast and free of abuse. We use logs to investigate security incidents, identify malicious bots and diagnose technical errors.

We do not use any of this information for advertising, profile-building, automated decision-making with legal effect, or sale to third parties.

4. Cookies and tracking

The site uses a small number of cookies. Full detail is on the Cookie Policy, but in summary the categories are:

• Strictly necessary — for example, a cookie that records your consent choice so we don't ask you again on every page.
• Performance / analytics — opt-in and off by default. Used only if you consent.
• Affiliate-tracking cookies — these are set by the third-party affiliate network when you click through to a casino. They are not set by us and we do not have access to their contents.

For full detail including cookie names, expiry and how to disable each category in your browser, see the Cookie Policy.

5. Who we share information with

We share personal information only with the small set of service providers we need to run the site. They are bound by contract to use the information only for the service they provide to us, to keep it secure, and to delete it when no longer needed.

• Hosting and content delivery — Cloudflare. The site is fronted by Cloudflare, which sees server logs (IP, user agent, request URL, timestamp) as part of serving pages to you. Cloudflare is contractually required to handle this data in line with its own privacy commitments and applicable data-protection law. Cloudflare also provides our security layer (DDoS protection, bot mitigation).
• Analytics provider. If analytics is enabled (it is opt-in), aggregated, anonymised analytics data is processed by our analytics provider on our behalf.
• Affiliate networks. When you click a link from this site to a recommended casino, the destination operator and its affiliate network may set a tracking cookie on your browser to attribute any eventual signup to SoftRock NZ. We do not have access to your account, deposits, wagers or balance at the operator. We see aggregated, non-identifying attribution reports only — typically counts of clicks, signups and net activity per source.

We may also share information where required to do so by New Zealand law (for example, in response to a lawful court order or a request from a New Zealand regulator with jurisdiction).

6. Affiliate links and tracking

SoftRock NZ is reader-supported. When you click a casino link on our site, the destination casino or its affiliate network sets a tracking cookie on your browser. That cookie typically lasts 30 to 90 days. If you sign up at the casino during that window and make a deposit, the affiliate network attributes the signup to SoftRock NZ and pays us a commission. This does not change anything about your relationship with the operator — you get the same bonus, the same terms and the same support experience as any other player.

The data we see is aggregate and non-identifying: click counts, signup counts, net activity. We do not see your operator account name, your deposits, your wagers, your balance or your withdrawals. We never receive any information about you that would let us identify you as a specific player at an operator.

7. Your rights under the NZ Privacy Act 2020

New Zealand's Privacy Act 2020 gives you rights over personal information that an agency holds about you. The Information Privacy Principles (IPPs) we work to most often are:

• IPP 6 — Right of access. You can ask us for confirmation of whether we hold personal information about you, and for a copy of that information. To make a request, email privacy@softrock.co.nz from the email address you originally used to contact us, with enough detail for us to identify the information you want. We will respond within 20 working days as required by IPP 6. If we cannot provide the information (for example, because it would unreasonably affect another person's privacy), we will tell you why.
• IPP 7 — Right of correction. If you believe information we hold about you is wrong, ask us to correct it. If we agree, we will correct it. If we disagree, we will attach a statement of correction so anyone who later sees the information also sees your view.
• Complaints. If you believe we have breached the Privacy Act, please tell us first via privacy@softrock.co.nz so we have a chance to fix it. If you are not satisfied with our response, you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner at privacy.org.nz.

There is no fee to make an access or correction request. We may ask you to confirm your identity before we release information, to make sure we don't disclose your data to someone else.

8. International data transfer

Some of our service providers process data outside New Zealand. Cloudflare operates a global network and may route requests through data centres in Australia, Singapore, the United States or elsewhere. Our analytics provider may host its servers outside New Zealand.

IPP 12 of the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020 requires that personal information disclosed outside New Zealand is protected by comparable safeguards. Where we use overseas providers, we choose providers whose contractual commitments and applicable data-protection law together provide protection comparable to the NZ Privacy Act. We review this annually.

9. Children's data

SoftRock NZ is a site for adults aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly direct content at people under 18 and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you are a parent or guardian and you believe a child has submitted personal information to us, email privacy@softrock.co.nz and we will delete it from our records.

10. Retention

We hold personal information only for as long as we need it:

• Contact form submissions: 12 months from the last message in the thread, unless there is ongoing correspondence or we are required to keep them longer for legal reasons.
• Analytics: aggregated and anonymised — no individual records are stored. Aggregate metrics are retained indefinitely.
• Server logs: 30 days, after which IP addresses are deleted or truncated.
• Affiliate cookies: set and managed by the affiliate network — typically 30 to 90 days. We do not control these cookies.

When the retention period expires we delete personal information securely or anonymise it so it cannot be re-identified.

11. Security

The site is served only over HTTPS — every page load and every contact-form submission is encrypted in transit using TLS. We do not run user accounts, so we do not hold passwords or payment data. Backups taken by our hosting provider are encrypted at rest. Access to administrative tools is protected by strong passwords and multi-factor authentication. We review our setup periodically and patch promptly when our providers issue security updates. No system is perfectly secure — if you have reason to believe your data has been compromised, tell us immediately at privacy@softrock.co.nz.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The effective date at the top of the page reflects the current version. Material changes will be flagged at the top of this page for at least 30 days following the change so you have a chance to read what has changed before it affects you.

13. Contact

For all privacy enquiries — access requests, correction requests, complaints, or general questions about how we handle data — email our Privacy Officer at privacy@softrock.co.nz. For non-privacy matters see the contact page.

Effective: 16 June 2026 · Last updated: 16 June 2026 · See also Terms & Conditions & Cookie Policy