Comhla Vet Group – Privacy Policy
Last updated: 2 November 2026
1. Introduction
This Privacy Policy applies to Comhla Vet Limited and each participating subsidiary or related company identified on our Group or Practice websites or in relevant client documentation. Each Group member is responsible under the Privacy Act 2020 for personal information it collects or holds. References to “we”, “us” and “our” mean the relevant Group member or members involved in collecting, holding, using or disclosing the information.
We are committed to respecting your privacy and ensuring the security of any personal information you provide to us.
Unless we expressly agree otherwise, any personal information you provide to us, whether via our website, related social media accounts or otherwise, will be processed by us in accordance with this policy and all applicable privacy laws, including the Privacy Act 2020 (NZ) (Privacy Act).
This policy explains:
- when we might collect personal information from you and how we might collect that information;
- how we may use your personal information;
- how we will store your personal information;
- our use of cookies and analytics tools in connection with our website;
- your rights to request access to and correction of your personal information; and
- how you can contact us if you have any other questions regarding our processing of your personal information.
- how we may disclose personal information within our veterinary group and to veterinary, laboratory, insurer, technology, payment, credit and other service providers;
- how we deal with personal information collected from sources other than you, notifiable privacy breaches, overseas disclosures and complaints.
In this policy:
- applicable privacy laws means the Privacy Act 2020 together with all other data privacy laws applicable to our processing of your personal information;
- personal information means identifiable information about you, for example your name, email, address, telephone number and so on. If you cannot be identified (for example, when personal information has been aggregated and anonymised) then certain parts of this policy may not apply to that information; and
- processing your personal information means all activities relating to our use of that personal information, from its collection through to its storage and disposal and everything in between.
- Comhla Vet Group and Group means Comhla Vet Limited and its subsidiary entities including Buller Vets Limited, Selwyn Rakaia Vets Limited, Totally Vets Limited, Veterinary Clinic Morrinsville Limited, Vetlife Limited, Vetsone Limited, Vetsouth Limited, West Coast Vets Limited, and any other related company or veterinary business identified on our websites or in our client documentation from time to time.
- clinical information means information contained in veterinary and animal health records. Clinical information about an animal may also be personal information where it identifies or is linked to an identifiable owner, client, staff member, authorised agent or other individual.
The relevant member of the Group that collects or holds your personal information may be the agency responsible for that information. The entity supplying the relevant goods or services will usually be identified on the invoice, estimate, client service agreement, clinic signage or website.
We encourage you to read this policy carefully. If you have any questions, please contact us using the details set out at the bottom of this policy.
2. When and how we may collect personal information
We may collect personal information:
- directly from you, including when you register as a client, make an appointment, present or arrange care for an animal, purchase goods or services, apply for credit, communicate with us, complete a form, use an online account or interact with our website or social media;
- automatically through our websites, online services, practice systems and security technologies; and
- from third parties where you have authorised collection or where collection is otherwise permitted by law.
3. Information you provide directly
The information you may provide to us may include:
- data allowing us to get in touch with you (contact data). This may include your name, email address, telephone number, postal address and communication preferences.
- information contained in or relating to any communication that you send to us or that we send to you (communication data). This may include the content and metadata associated with the communication.
- information relating to transactions, including your purchases of goods and/or services from us and/or through our website (transaction data). We use a secure credit card system for payment and do not store complete credit card numbers.
- website user account data (account data). This may include your name, email address, account creation and modification dates, website settings and marketing preferences.
- data about your use of our website and services (usage data).
- client and account information, including the relevant legal entity, trading name, authorised contacts, billing details, payment history, credit information, account details relating to third party organisations that we supply, and debt recovery information;
- clinical and service information associated with an identifiable individual, including information about animal ownership or responsibility, farm or property details, appointment and treatment history, communications, referrals, laboratory requests, prescriptions, RVM or VFU arrangements, insurance claims, images and recordings; and
- images, audio, video, CCTV footage, call recordings or consultation records where we use those technologies and have given any notice required by law.
If you choose not to provide us with personal information, we may be unable to provide some goods or services, establish or administer an account, verify authority, provide continuity of care, process a claim or payment, meet legal or professional obligations, or make some website functions available.
4. Information collected automatically and cookies
Our website uses cookies. A cookie is a file that stores information about you and your behaviour on the internet. Cookies are created by a web server when you browse a website and are stored on your web browser. Cookies are accessed by a webserver upon entering a website. Cookies used on our website enable some of the website’s essential functionality and help us provide the best possible service to you by tailoring our services to best suit your preferences
There are two types of cookies: persistent cookies and session cookies. Persistent cookies are stored on a web browser until they expire or are deleted. Session cookies expire upon the user closing their web browser.
We use cookies to:
- help us analyse the use and performance of our website and services.
- help us track customer interest and use patterns. This may include the following:
- Identifying the IP address for the computer you are using when connected to the internet and the domain name from which you are accessing the internet;
- Identifying the operating system and the browser your computer uses and any search engine you are using;
- Determining the date and time you are visiting our website;
- Recording the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of the pages you visit on our website;
- If you provide it, your personal details such as your email address.
- personalise your experience by storing your preference.
- protect our user accounts and our services generally.
- tailor advertising and display advertising that will be most relevant to you.
Most internet browsers give you the option to reject all cookies, accept all cookies, erase cookies stored on your device or be notified before a cookie is stored on your device. However, if you reject or erase the cookies referred to above some functionality or features of our website may not function properly or be fully available.
Please refer to your internet browser instructions if you want to find out more about rejecting or blocking cookies.
5. Information collected from third parties
We may collect personal information about you from third parties with your consent or where otherwise permitted by law, including but not limited to:
- another Group member or clinic;
- an animal owner, authorised agent, family member, farm staff member, employer or person in charge;
- a referring or previous veterinarian, specialist, laboratory, pharmacy, insurer, cremation provider or other animal health service provider;
- Third party organisations that we supply and with which you have an account, payment providers, credit reporters, guarantors, debt collection agencies or publicly available sources;
- regulators, government agencies, animal welfare agencies or professional bodies; and
- technology and communications providers used to deliver messages, portals, telehealth, transcription or other services.
Where we collect personal information about you from another source, we will take reasonable steps to ensure you receive the notifications required by information privacy principle 3A, unless an exception applies. This may include telling you that we collected the information, why it was collected, the intended recipients, who hold it, whether supply was voluntary or mandatory, the consequences of not providing it, and your access and correction rights.
Where you provide us with any personal information about a third party, you must have that third party’s consent to do so. By providing us any third party personal information, you warrant that you have that third party’s permission to provide that information to us.
6. How we use personal information
We primarily use personal information to provide goods and services and support our relationship with you. We may also use personal information:
- communications – to monitor, respond to and keep records of communications and correspondence;
- veterinary care and continuity – to identify clients and authorised persons, manage appointments, provide clinical care, maintain clinical records, arrange referrals, laboratory work, prescriptions, emergency or after-hours services and transfer relevant records;
- transactions and accounts – to provide services, generate invoices and other payment documentation, process payments, administer charge accounts, assess creditworthiness and recover debts;
- operations – to operate, improve and enhance the website and our services. We may analyse the use of our website or services to ensure our website and services are provided in the most effective manner for you;
- marketing – if you opt–in to receive information about our promotional offers and/or newsletters from us, we may use your personal information to contact you by email and/or post with the information you have opted–in to receive;
- customer support – to support your use of our goods and/or services, this may include assisting with the resolution of product issues or other issues relating to our website, whether by email or otherwise;
- record keeping and reporting – to create and maintain our databases, back–up copies of our databases and business records generally. We may also use your personal information to produce aggregated and anonymised analytics and reports, which we may share publicly or with third parties;
- security – in order to detect and/or prevent any illegal activity that may threaten us, or any of our services;
- risk management – where necessary for the establishment, exercise, or defence of legal claims. We may also use your personal information where necessary for the purposes of obtaining or maintaining insurance, managing risks and/or obtaining professional advice; and
- compliance – in order to comply with any applicable laws and/or regulations or in order to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person.
- training and quality assurance – to train staff, audit services and improve clinical and operational quality, using de-identified information where reasonably practicable;
7. How we may share personal information
We may disclose personal information where authorised by you, directly connected with the purpose for which it was obtained, required or permitted by law, or otherwise consistent with the Privacy Act. Recipients may include:
- other Group members and clinics for service delivery, continuity of care, account administration, security, professional compliance and business records;
- referring or subsequent veterinarians, specialists, laboratories, pharmacies, insurers, emergency clinics, cremation or transport providers and other providers involved in an animal’s care or related services;
- payment processors, banks, third party organisations that we supply and with which you have an account, credit reporters, guarantors, debt collection agencies, accountants, auditors, insurers, lawyers and other professional advisers;
- providers of website hosting, practice management systems, cloud storage, communications, analytics, security, telehealth, transcription or AI-assisted documentation, to the extent reasonably necessary for their services;
- an actual or potential buyer and its advisers in connection with a proposed sale, merger, restructuring or acquisition; and
- regulators, law enforcement, courts, government agencies, professional bodies, animal welfare agencies or other persons where disclosure is required or permitted by law or reasonably necessary to protect a person’s or animal’s vital interests.
Service providers may process information only for the services they provide to us, subject to our contractual and legal arrangements.
8. Overseas storage and disclosure
Some service providers or Group systems may store, access or process personal information outside New Zealand. Before disclosing personal information to a foreign person or entity, we will take reasonable steps to ensure the recipient is subject to the Privacy Act or comparable safeguards, or obtain authorisation where required, in accordance with information privacy principle 12.
We may use an overseas provider as our agent for storage or processing. You may request more information about the safeguards that we have put in place in respect of overseas transfers of your personal information by contacting our privacy officer using the details below.
9. Use of AI tools
If we propose to use an AI transcription or similar digital tool to process consultation audio or content, we will inform you and provide a reasonable opportunity to decline its use, unless the processing is otherwise permitted by law and does not require your agreement.
Where consent is required, we will obtain and document that consent before the tool is used.
10. Storage, security and retention
We will not keep your personal information for longer than is reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes outlined in this policy. We are committed to keeping your personal information as safe and secure as possible and we follow generally accepted industry standards to protect the personal information submitted to us.
While we continuously implement and update our administrative, technical, and physical security measures to help protect your personal information against unauthorised access, loss, destruction, or alteration, we cannot guarantee the security of the transmission or storage of your personal information.
No method of transmission or storage is completely secure. If you communicate with us electronically, you accept the ordinary risks of that method, but this does not reduce our obligations under the Privacy Act.
11. Your rights
Under the Privacy Act, you may request confirmation of whether we hold personal information about you, access to that information and correction of that information. These rights are subject to the limitations and exceptions in the Privacy Act.
To make a request, contact our Privacy Officer. We may need to verify your identity or authority. We will respond within the time required by law and will explain any lawful refusal.
Requests for an animal’s clinical record may also involve ownership, authority, professional and continuity-of-care considerations. Information in a clinical record may include personal information about more than one person, and access may need to be assessed accordingly.
12. Privacy breaches
We maintain processes to assess and respond to privacy breaches. Where a breach has caused or is likely to cause serious harm, we will notify the Office of the Privacy Commissioner and affected individuals as soon as practicable, unless an exception applies. If you become aware of a suspected privacy incident involving us, please contact our Privacy Officer promptly.
13. Marketing communications
We will send commercial electronic messages only where permitted by law. You can unsubscribe using the facility in a message or by contacting us. Unsubscribing from marketing will not prevent service, appointment, clinical, safety, account or legal communications that remain necessary.
14. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy to reflect changes to our websites, services, systems, Group structure or law. We will revise the “Last updated” date and, where changes are material, use reasonable endeavours to provide appropriate notice, for example on our website or by email.
15. Contact us and complaints
We are Comhla Vet Limited and its subsidiaries, including Vetlife Limited.
Vetlife Limited owns and operates the Vetlife website.
For questions, access or correction requests, concerns or complaints, contact our Privacy Officer via email:
If you are not satisfied with our response, you may complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner at privacy.org.nz.