Privacy Policy
Your privacy matters to us. This Privacy Policy describes how we gather, hold, use, and safeguard personal information when you browse Captain Cooks Casino, an independent informational resource dedicated to online casino reviews, bonus comparisons, pokie guides, and payment method insights for readers in New Zealand. We have prepared this document in line with the Privacy Act 2020 and the Information Privacy Principles that govern how agencies in Aotearoa handle personal data.
By continuing to use our platform, you acknowledge the practices set out below. We encourage you to read this policy in full, as it explains not only what information may be collected during your visit, but also the choices available to you, the role of cookies and affiliate tracking on our pages, and the steps we take to keep data secure. If anything remains unclear after reading, the final section explains how to reach our privacy team directly.
The Character of Our Platform and Why It Shapes Data Handling
Our website operates purely as an editorial and comparison service within the iGaming niche. We publish independent casino reviews, bonus breakdowns, slot and pokie overviews, banking guides, and general gambling information intended for a New Zealand audience. We are not a gambling operator, we do not hold a casino licence, and we never accept wagers, deposits, or withdrawals of any kind.
Because no real-money play takes place on our pages, we have no reason to request the sensitive details a licensed operator would collect, such as identity documents, proof of address, or banking credentials. The data footprint of an informational affiliate site is deliberately light, and this policy reflects that reality: most of what we process is technical, aggregated, or voluntarily supplied by readers who choose to contact us.
Some of the links published across our guides are partner referral links. When you click through to a third-party casino or service and complete a qualifying action there, we may earn an affiliate commission at no additional cost to you. These commercial arrangements never dictate our ratings, review conclusions, or editorial priorities, and they do not grant any partner access to information you share with us.
Information That May Reach Us During Your Visit
The overwhelming majority of visitors browse our content without ever telling us who they are. Nevertheless, certain categories of data can be generated automatically or provided voluntarily. Understanding the distinction between the two helps clarify what we actually know about you.
Automatically generated technical data includes details transmitted by your browser and device the moment a page loads. This information is largely non-identifying on its own and is used to keep the site functional, measure performance, and detect abuse. Voluntarily supplied data, by contrast, only arises when you take a deliberate step such as emailing our support team or submitting a query through our contact form.
- Device and connection details — browser type and version, operating system, screen resolution, approximate region derived from an IP address, and language preferences.
- Usage signals — pages viewed, time spent on articles, scroll depth, referring websites, and the outbound partner links you follow.
- Correspondence data — your name (if provided), email address, and the content of any message you send us regarding our reviews, corrections, partnerships, or privacy questions.
- Cookie identifiers — small text values stored on your device that support analytics, remember preferences, and attribute affiliate referrals.
We do not knowingly compile profiles that reveal health information, financial account numbers, government identifiers, or other sensitive categories of personal information. Should such details ever be included in an unsolicited message to us, we will delete them unless retention is genuinely necessary to resolve your enquiry.
Cookies, Analytics, and Referral Attribution Explained
Like nearly every modern publisher, we rely on cookies and comparable technologies to keep the platform running smoothly. Cookies serve several distinct roles on our pages: they power aggregate analytics that show us which guides resonate with readers, they measure page speed and stability, they remember basic display preferences, and they record when a visitor clicks a partner link so that the resulting referral can be correctly attributed.
Affiliate tracking deserves a plain-language explanation. When you follow a referral link from one of our reviews, a cookie or tracking parameter may note that your visit originated from our platform. This mechanism exists solely so that partner operators can credit the referral; it does not transmit your identity to us, nor does it give us visibility into any account you subsequently open elsewhere.
| Cookie Category | What It Does | Typical Lifespan |
|---|---|---|
| Strictly Necessary | Enables core site functions such as page delivery, security checks, and load balancing. | Session |
| Analytics & Performance | Collects aggregated statistics on traffic sources, popular articles, and site speed so we can improve content quality. | Up to 24 months |
| Preference | Remembers settings such as language or display choices between visits. | Up to 12 months |
| Affiliate Attribution | Records that a click on a partner link originated from our platform so commissions can be assigned accurately. | Varies by partner, commonly 30–90 days |
You remain in control of these technologies. Every mainstream browser allows you to review stored cookies, block them selectively or entirely, and clear them at any time through its settings menu. An independent walkthrough of how cookies function and how to manage them across different browsers is available at All About Cookies, a widely referenced educational resource on tracking technologies.
Please be aware that disabling certain cookies may degrade parts of your experience. Comparison filters may reset between pages, preferences may not be remembered, and some embedded features may fail to load. Strictly necessary cookies cannot be switched off through our platform because the site would not operate correctly without them.
Purposes Behind Our Use of Collected Data
Every processing activity we undertake is tied to a legitimate operational purpose. We never sell personal information, and we do not trade reader data with advertisers, brokers, or casino operators. The uses listed below represent the full scope of why data passes through our systems.
- Delivering, maintaining, and securing the website, including defending against bots, scraping, and denial-of-service activity.
- Analysing aggregated audience behaviour to decide which reviews, bonus guides, and payment tutorials to prioritise or update.
- Attributing affiliate referrals accurately so that commercial partnerships function as agreed.
- Responding to reader correspondence, correction requests, and privacy enquiries in a timely manner.
- Meeting any legal obligation that genuinely applies to us as a New Zealand-facing publisher.
Where analytics are involved, we work with reputable measurement providers that process data on our behalf. These providers act under contractual restrictions and are not permitted to use visitor information for their own independent marketing. Reports we receive are aggregated and statistical in nature — trends, totals, and percentages rather than dossiers on individual readers.
Your Entitlements Under New Zealand Privacy Law
The Privacy Act 2020 grants individuals meaningful rights over information held about them, and we honour those rights without unnecessary friction. The thirteen Information Privacy Principles set the standard for collection, storage, accuracy, use, and disclosure of personal data in New Zealand; a full explanation of each principle is published by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner at its privacy principles guide.
In practical terms, you may ask us at any time to confirm whether we hold personal information about you, to provide a copy of that information, and to correct anything that is inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading. Because most visitors never identify themselves to us, such requests typically relate only to email correspondence or contact form submissions.
We aim to acknowledge access and correction requests promptly and to resolve them within the timeframes contemplated by the Act. If you believe we have handled your information improperly and our response does not satisfy you, you retain the right to lodge a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, the independent regulator overseeing privacy compliance in New Zealand.
Consent also plays a role in how you interact with our platform. Continuing to browse after being presented with cookie information signals acceptance of non-essential technologies where such acceptance is required, and you may withdraw that acceptance at any point by adjusting your browser configuration or clearing stored cookies.
Safeguards, Storage Periods, and What Happens to Old Data
We apply reasonable technical and organisational safeguards proportionate to the modest sensitivity of the data we handle. These measures include encrypted transmission over HTTPS, restricted administrative access to hosting infrastructure, routine software patching, and careful vetting of the third-party services integrated into our platform. No online system can promise absolute security, but we work to keep risk low and to respond swiftly if an incident ever arises.
Retention is governed by necessity rather than habit. Analytics data is held only in aggregated form and expires according to the schedules configured with our measurement providers. Correspondence is kept for as long as needed to resolve the matter at hand and for a reasonable period afterwards in case a follow-up question emerges, after which it is deleted or irreversibly anonymised.
Server logs containing IP addresses are rotated on short cycles and are consulted only for security diagnostics. Once information no longer serves a lawful purpose, we dispose of it securely in accordance with the storage and disposal expectations of the Privacy Act 2020.
Where Our Responsibility Ends: Partner Casinos and Outbound Links
Our reviews and guides naturally link to external destinations, including licensed offshore casino operators, game studios, payment providers, and responsible gambling organisations. The moment you leave our platform, this Privacy Policy ceases to apply. Each third-party website maintains its own privacy notice, its own cookie practices, and its own approach to data collection, and we cannot accept responsibility for how those independent entities treat your information.
We strongly encourage readers to review the privacy documentation of any casino before registering an account or submitting verification documents. Operators are subject to the rules of their own licensing jurisdictions, which may differ substantially from the protections available under New Zealand law.
Inclusion of a link on our pages reflects editorial judgement about relevance and quality at the time of publication; it is not an ongoing endorsement of a partner’s data practices, terms, or promotional conditions, all of which can change without notice to us.
Age Restrictions and Our Position on Underage Access
Every article, review, and bonus guide on our platform is written exclusively for adults of legal gambling age. Under the Gambling Act 2003, most forms of gambling in New Zealand carry a minimum age of 18 years, and the regulatory framework for gambling activity is administered by the Department of Internal Affairs, which also promotes harm minimisation across the sector. We support that responsible gambling environment and design our content accordingly.
We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18, and our platform is not directed at minors in any respect. If you are a parent or guardian and believe a young person has submitted personal details through our contact channels, please notify us so the information can be located and erased without delay.
Readers should note that individual casino operators conduct their own identity and age verification during registration, as required by their licences. Our role is informational, and nothing on our pages should be read as an invitation for underage individuals to gamble or to attempt to circumvent operator verification checks.
Revisions to This Document
Privacy practices evolve alongside technology, partnerships, and legislation, so this policy will be reviewed periodically and amended whenever our data handling changes in a material way. Each revision takes effect once published on this page, and the substance of the update will be reflected directly in the text rather than hidden in archives.
We recommend revisiting this page from time to time, particularly before submitting personal details through our contact channels. Continued use of the website following a published amendment constitutes acceptance of the revised terms, to the extent permitted by New Zealand law.
Raising Privacy Questions With Our Team
We treat privacy enquiries with the same seriousness as any editorial correction. Whether you wish to request access to information we may hold, ask for a correction, question a cookie practice, or simply understand our affiliate relationships in more detail, our team is ready to assist and will respond as quickly as practicable.
The most direct route for data protection matters is email at [email protected], and readers who prefer to speak with someone can phone us on +1 888 831 7454. Written correspondence may be addressed to Level 8, 139 Quay Street, Auckland 1010, New Zealand. Alternatively, our Contact page provides a convenient form for submitting requests about personal information, complaints, or general feedback, and messages sent through it reach the same privacy team.