Privacy Policy

Last updated: 6 August 2026

1. Who we are, and what this covers

KiwiCalls ("we", "us") provides an AI phone-answering service for New Zealand trades businesses. This policy explains how we handle personal information — both the details of people who call our clients (we call these leads), and the details of our clients (the businesses who use KiwiCalls). We follow the Privacy Act 2020. KiwiCalls is operated by Riley James Thompson, trading as KiwiCalls (sole trader, NZBN 9429053824547), based in Whangarei, New Zealand. You can contact us at hello@kiwicalls.co.nz.

2. What we collect

From callers (leads): your name, phone number, address, the reason for your call, and a recording and written transcript of the call. As we add features to our assistants over time, the information we collect may grow, and we'll update this policy to match.

Your phone number specifically. When you ring one of our numbers, the phone network passes us the number you're calling from, in the same way it shows on any phone. That means we may have your number even if you don't say it out loud — our assistant will normally read the last few digits back to you and ask whether it's the best number to call you back on. If you withhold your number, we simply won't have it, and the assistant will ask you for one instead.

From clients: business name and contact details, and billing information needed to run your subscription.

3. How we collect it

We collect a caller's information directly from the caller during the phone call, through our AI assistant. We also receive the number you're calling from automatically from the phone network, as described above. We collect client information when a business signs up and uses the service.

4. Why we collect it

To run the call-answering service — to take a caller's details and pass that lead to the business they were trying to reach so the business can call them back — and, for clients, to provide, bill and support the service.

5. What callers are told

During the call, our assistant tells callers that their details will be passed on to the business so it can call them back. This policy is the full written version of that notice.

5a. Calls our assistant ends early

Our assistants answer for trade businesses, and they're set up to spot sales and marketing calls that aren't about the client's actual trade. When our assistant is confident a call is one of those, it says one polite line and ends the call. If it genuinely can't tell, it asks a single question first — for example "are you calling about building work?" — and carries on normally if the answer is yes.

Callers with a genuine trade enquiry are always passed through, including suppliers and other tradespeople. The assistant is deliberately cautious: if there's any doubt, it treats you as a real customer and takes your details.

6. Who we share it with

• The client business the caller was trying to reach — we pass them the lead. That's the whole point of the service.
• Our service providers, who process information on our behalf so the service works: Vapi (the voice AI), Twilio (the phone line the call comes in on), AddressFinder (checking the address you give us), TNZ (sending the text to the business), Cloudflare (hosting and data storage), and Stripe (client billing). We don't sell your information to anyone.
• Formspree — the enquiry form on our website. If you fill in our signup form, Formspree processes and delivers those details to us. It has no access to caller or lead information.

7. Sending information overseas

Our voice-AI provider, Vapi, is based in the United States, so a call may be processed overseas. We only use providers who handle the information on our behalf under contract, and we remain responsible for keeping it protected to New Zealand standards.

8. How we store and protect it

Information is held with Cloudflare (including its D1 database). We use reasonable safeguards — encryption in transit, access controls, and careful handling of keys and secrets — and we stay accountable for the providers we use.

9. How long we keep it

We keep lead and account information while a client's account is active, and for up to 90 days after the account closes, and then we securely delete it. Call recordings and transcripts follow the same schedule.

Calls our assistant ends early. Our assistant is designed to recognise sales and marketing calls and end them politely (see section 5a). We keep a short record of those calls — including the transcript and the number they came from — for up to 30 days, and no longer. We keep it for one reason only: so we can check the assistant isn't wrongly cutting off genuine callers, and correct it if it is. These calls are never passed to the client business.

10. Your rights — seeing and correcting your information

You can ask to see the personal information we hold about you, and to correct it if it's wrong. Contact our Privacy Officer (below) and we'll respond as soon as we reasonably can, and within the timeframes the Privacy Act requires.

11. Complaints

If you're concerned about how we've handled your information, contact our Privacy Officer first and we'll try to put it right. If you're not satisfied, you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner — privacy.org.nz, 0800 803 909.

12. Our Privacy Officer

Our Privacy Officer is Riley James Thompson, contactable at hello@kiwicalls.co.nz.

13. Privacy breaches

If something goes wrong and personal information is exposed, we assess it against the "serious harm" test and, if required, notify the Office of the Privacy Commissioner and the people affected.

14. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The current version, with its "last updated" date, always applies.