Privacy Notice

This Privacy Notice outlines the types of information that is collected and recorded by the https://mfai.gov.ck/immigration website and how we use it. If you have additional questions or require more information about our Privacy Notice, please contact us.

This Privacy Notice applies only to our online activities and is valid for visitors to our website with regards to the information that they share and/or collect through applications and other use of this website. This policy is not applicable to any information collected offline or via channels other than this website.

Information we collect

If you contact us directly, we may receive additional information about you such as your name, email address, phone number, the contents of the message and/or attachments you may send us, and any other information you may choose to provide.

When you apply for Permanent Residence or a Visa or Permit, we will ask for your contact information, including items such as name, birthdate, address, email address, and telephone number. We will also ask for personal information relevant to the type of application you submit, such as health information, police certificates and other details, including those of your family members who may be applying with you.

Immigration application information is requested under the Cook Islands Immigration Act 2021 and regulations made under that Act. You can find more about the criteria for applications on this page https://mfai.gov.ck/immigration. You do not have to provide the information, but if you do not, we are likely to decline your application.

How we use your information

We use the information we collect in various ways, including to:

  • Process your immigration application
  •  Provide, operate, and maintain our website
  • Improve, personalise, and expand our website
  • Understand and analyse how you use our website
  • Develop new products, services, features, and functionality
  • Communicate with you, to provide you with updates and other information relating to the website, and for marketing and promotional purposes
  • Send you emails
  • Find and prevent fraud.

 

Who we share our information with 

Besides our Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration staff, we share application information with the Cook Islands Ministries of Health, Justice, Finance and Economic Management, and Internal Affairs, the Cook Islands Customs Service, Police Service, and international immigration and law enforcement agencies.

We also share information with our website partners to help maintain this website. This includes Cloudflare. You can find their privacy policy here.  

Links to social networking service

We use social networking services such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to communicate with the public about our work. When you communicate with us using these services, the social networking service may collect your personal information for its own purposes.

These services may track your use of our website on those pages where their links are displayed. If you are logged in to those services (including any Google service) while using our site, their tracking will be associated with your profile with them.

Use of cookies on our website

Cookies are small text files that are placed in your browser by the websites you visit. They are widely used to help users navigate websites efficiently, to perform certain functions on the sites, and/or to provide site owners with information about how their sites are used.

We use cookies on our site where they are required for particular features to work – for example, if you are a logged in user, to allow you to remain logged in whilst you complete certain tasks.

Social media cookies

We use social media on some sections of our website to help communicate our messages and give you the best experience, e.g., Twitter and Facebook plugins. These social media services have their own privacy policies and may track your use of our website on those pages where their links are displayed. They do this by the use, for example, of persistent session cookies and their tracking may be associated with your profile with them.

To disable all cookies

Most web browsers will allow you to set some control over cookies in your browser settings. This includes deleting them from your browser or disabling them altogether. If you do choose to set your browser to disable all cookies, this may affect your ability to use some of the features on our site.

To learn more about cookies and how you can manage them in your web browser, visit: www.allaboutcookies.org or www.aboutcookies.org

Log Files

This website follows a standard procedure of using log files. These files log visitors when they visit websites. The information collected by log files include internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, Internet Service Provider (ISP), date and time stamp, referring/exit pages, and possibly the number of clicks. These are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable. The purpose of the information is for analysing trends, administering the site, tracking users’ movement on the website, and gathering demographic information.

Access to your information 

We keep your information safe by storing it on encrypted systems and only allowing authorised staff to view it.

You have the right to ask for a copy of any personal information we hold about you, and to ask for it to be corrected if you think it is wrong. If you’d like to ask for a copy of your information, or to have it corrected, please contact us.

General Data Protection (GDPR) Regulation Rights

If you are living in the European Union, we would like to make sure you are fully aware of all of your data protection rights. Every user is entitled to the following:

  • The right to access – You have the right to request copies of your personal data. We may charge you a small fee for this service.
  • The right to rectification – You have the right to request that we correct any information you believe is inaccurate. You also have the right to request that we complete the information you believe is incomplete.
  • The right to erasure – You have the right to request that we erase your personal data, under certain conditions.
  • The right to restrict processing – You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data, under certain conditions.
  • The right to object to processing – You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data, under certain conditions.
  • The right to data portability – You have the right to request that we transfer the data that we have collected to another organization, or directly to you, under certain conditions.

 

If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you. If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact us.