Privacy Policy and AI Guideline

On this page: Privacy policy · EcoFest AI Guideline

Who we are

This privacy policy applies to personal information collected on the EcoFest website (ecofest.org.nz), social media platforms and third-party services such as Mailchimp.

What information we collect

We collect personal information from you, including information about your:

• Name
• Contact information
• Interactions with us
• Billing or purchase information

How we use your information

We collect your personal information in order to:

• Keep you informed about EcoFest
• Communicate with you, including responding to information provided in online forms
• Evaluate and improve our website

How we store your information

We keep your information safe by storing it in a secure database and only allowing authorised staff to access it.

Cookies

We use cookies and similar technologies on our website to monitor website usage and promote our services, events and activities to you. You can disable them or clear them out of your web browser without affecting your ability to use the site.

Statistical information

We collect statistical information to help us improve our website. This information is aggregated and doesn’t identify you personally. It can only be viewed by authorised staff and contractors of EcoMatters Environment Trust, Kaipātiki Project, Beautification Trust & Waiheke Resources Trust. It includes:

• your IP address
• the search terms you used
• the pages you visited on our site and the links you clicked on
• the date and time you visited the site
• the referring site (if any) from which you clicked through to this site
• your operating system, for example Windows XP, Mac OS X
• the type of web browser you use, such as Internet Explorer, Chrome or Mozilla Firefox
• other things like your screen resolution and the language setting of your browser.

Access or correct your personal information

Uou 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 at [email protected]. You can opt out of receiving communications from us at any time.

Changes to the privacy policy

We may change this privacy policy from time to time. Updated versions of this policy will be posted on our website. This policy was last updated in February 2023.

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EcoFest AI Guideline

EcoFest uses AI sparingly and deliberately, and offers this guide to hosts as a shared starting point, not a rule set. We lead by example; hosts choose their own approach.

One firm line: event listings must be authentic. Where copy or images are obviously AI-generated, we won’t post them and will come back to the host for their own words and photos.

Each consideration below gives the context, the spectrum from highly conservative to balanced, and where EcoFest sits.

1. Energy and resource footprint

Context: Every AI query uses electricity, water and hardware, so each use is a small resource decision.

Spectrum: Conservative: avoid AI unless there is no practical alternative. Balanced: use it where it saves more time, travel or material than it costs, and skip it for trivial tasks.

EcoFest recommendation: Balanced, used sparingly and on purpose, because a festival about sustainability should weigh AI’s footprint like any other resource.

2. Images

Context: AI images are cheap to make but displace local photographers and illustrators, can misrepresent real places and people, and are often built on artists’ work used without consent or payment.

Spectrum: Conservative: no AI-generated imagery at all. Balanced: AI images only for clearly labelled concept or internal work, never as real-world depiction.

EcoFest recommendation: Conservative for anything public, because real photos of real events and people are what make EcoFest trustworthy, it avoids copyright risk, and it respects the creators whose work AI is trained on (SBN takes the same line).

3. Written content

Context: AI can draft text quickly, but it produces generic wording and can state errors confidently.

Spectrum: Conservative: no AI-drafted text in published material. Balanced: AI can help with research, outlines or tidying, but a person writes, edits and owns every published word.

EcoFest recommendation: Balanced and human-led, because AI helps a small team with admin while the voice stays ours.

4. Event listings

Context: Listings are the hosts’ own voice and the main way the public judges whether an event is genuine.

Spectrum: Conservative: reject any listing that used AI at any stage. Balanced: accept AI-assisted spelling or tidying, but not copy or images that read as obviously AI.

EcoFest recommendation: Balanced, with one firm line: obviously AI copy or images won’t be posted, and we’ll ask the host for authentic content instead.

5. Transparency

Context: People increasingly want to know when AI has shaped what they read or see.

Spectrum: Conservative: label every instance of AI assistance. Balanced: publish how we use AI and disclose wherever AI materially shaped a piece of content.

EcoFest recommendation: Balanced, because an open, plain-language statement builds trust without cluttering every post.

6. Privacy and data

Context: Pasting host, volunteer or attendee details into AI tools can send personal data offshore and into training sets.

Spectrum: Conservative: no personal or unpublished information ever goes into AI tools. Balanced: only anonymised or already-public information, using tools with training turned off.

EcoFest recommendation: Conservative, because the trust of hosts and attendees is worth more than the convenience.

7. Accuracy, bias and culture

Context: AI reflects mostly overseas data and can get te reo Māori, mātauranga Māori and local context wrong.

Spectrum: Conservative: no AI for cultural, te reo or factual claims. Balanced: AI only as a starting point, with facts checked by people and cultural content guided by the right people.

EcoFest recommendation: Conservative on te reo and mātauranga Māori and balanced elsewhere, because cultural knowledge belongs with its holders and errors there do real harm.

8. Permaculture-aligned AI use

Context: AI costs energy each time it runs, but it can also help build systems that keep saving energy, waste or time long after AI is no longer involved.

Spectrum: Conservative: treat every AI use as a cost to be minimised. Balanced: design AI use like a permaculture system: invest once to build something lasting (a template, a schedule, some code, a reusable process) that runs without ongoing AI.

EcoFest recommendation: Balanced, because “catch and store energy” applies here too: we favour AI that builds lasting, low-input systems over repeated, disposable generation, and we share those systems with hosts.

Building AI skills

EcoFest isn’t set up to train hosts in AI use. Instead, we welcome hosts willing to run practical workshops on responsible, low-impact AI, and may approach SBN, which already runs responsible AI events.

Sources

SBN’s own AI policy is not publicly available, so its stance referenced and benchmarked against our own here comes from SBN’s published interview: A cautious approach — SBN on AI, NZBusiness.

This guide was also checked against Responsible AI Guidance for Businesses — MBIE, and nothing in it conflicts. EcoFest goes further on environmental impact (MBIE only lists it as a cost to weigh), on imagery (we use none), and on keeping writing human-led. MBIE asks businesses to label AI-generated content, which matters less for us because we don’t publish AI-generated images or unedited AI text.