Who we are
Our website address is: https://balancedvitality.co.nz. Balanced Vitality Acupuncture (元衡针灸) is a Traditional Chinese Medicine acupuncture clinic in Northcote, Auckland, operated by Dr. Coral Du, ACC-registered acupuncturist, with practitioner Kathleen Niu.
Bookings
When you book an appointment through our online booking system, we collect your name, email address, phone number, and any notes you provide about your appointment or health concerns. This is used to schedule and manage your appointment, contact you about it, and support your treatment.
Health information
As a healthcare provider, we collect and hold health information relevant to your treatment (e.g. medical history, treatment notes). This is treated as sensitive personal information, stored securely, and used only to provide your care and meet our professional, legal, and ACC obligations.
ACC claims
If you are eligible for ACC cover, relevant claim information may be shared with ACC to process your claim.
Comments
When visitors leave comments on our Wellness Journal, we collect the data shown in the comment form, along with the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string, to assist with spam detection. An anonymised hash of your email may be checked against the Gravatar service (privacy policy); if approved, your profile picture is visible publicly alongside your comment.
Cookies
If you leave a comment, you may opt in to saving your name, email, and website in a cookie for convenience on future comments — these last one year.
Our login page sets a temporary cookie to check whether your browser accepts cookies (no personal data, discarded on browser close). Administrator logins set cookies to retain login and display settings — login cookies last two days (two weeks with “Remember Me”), display-option cookies last a year, and login cookies are removed on logout.
Embedded content from other websites
Pages on this site may include embedded content (for example, a Google Map of our Northcote clinic). Embedded content behaves as though you visited the other website directly — it may collect data about you, use cookies, and track your interaction, including if you’re logged into that site.
Who we share your data with
Comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.
Booking and appointment data is processed through our booking system and stored on our hosting server.
If you request a password reset (site administrators), your IP address is included in the reset email.
Where relevant to a claim, information may be shared with ACC.
How long we retain your data
Health/treatment records are retained in line with the Health Information Privacy Code 2020 (generally a minimum of 10 years from your last treatment). Comments and their metadata are retained indefinitely to help recognise legitimate follow-up comments. If you register an account, your profile information is retained until you request its deletion; you can view, edit, or delete it at any time.
What rights you have over your data
Under the Privacy Act 2020, you can request an export of the personal information we hold about you, or request that we correct or erase it. This doesn’t apply to information we’re required to retain for legal, administrative, or health-record purposes.
Where your data is sent
Comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service. Booking and health information are stored on our hosting server in New Zealand and are not sold or shared with third parties beyond what’s described above.