1. About these terms
The Smart Weed Alert Tool (SWAT) is provided by the New Zealand Department of Conservation (DOC) to help users receive notifications and information about unwanted plant species and other weed-related alerts.
By accessing or using SWAT, you agree to these terms of use. If you do not agree, you must not use SWAT.
2. Purpose of SWAT
SWAT is intended to:
- provide information and alerts about unwanted plants, invasive weeds, and related environmental management matters
- let you create and manage alerts
- send notifications through email, website inbox messages, and other channels that we may add later
- support awareness and management of weeds in New Zealand
SWAT is an informational service. Do not rely on it as your only source of information for operational, regulatory, compliance, or commercial decisions.
3. User accounts and alerts
To use certain features of SWAT, you may need to create an account and configure alerts.
You are responsible for:
- keeping your account credentials secure
- making sure the information you provide is accurate and up to date
- keeping your contact details current if you want to keep receiving notifications
- managing your alert preferences and notification settings
You must not share your account with others or allow unauthorised access to it.
4. Acceptable use
You may use SWAT for lawful purposes related to environmental awareness, research, education, land management, conservation, biosecurity, or other legitimate activities.
You must not:
- use SWAT in a way that is unlawful or fraudulent
- try to gain unauthorised access to SWAT, its systems, or data
- interfere with, disrupt, damage, or compromise the operation of SWAT
- upload, transmit, or distribute malicious software or harmful code
- misuse, scrape, harvest, or extract information from SWAT in a way that places unreasonable demands on the service
- impersonate another person or organisation
- use SWAT in a way that could harm DOC, other users, or the public.
If you reuse weed records or related biodiversity data from SWAT, you must respect the record licence and retain the citation and ownership information shown with the record.
5. Availability of the service
We aim to make SWAT available and useful. We do not guarantee that:
- SWAT will always be available
- alerts or notifications will be delivered without delay
- information in SWAT will always be complete, accurate, or current
- the service will be free from faults, interruptions, errors, or security vulnerabilities
SWAT may be unavailable at times due to maintenance, upgrades, technical issues, security needs, or events beyond our control.
6. Changes to SWAT
We may change, enhance, suspend, replace, or discontinue any part of SWAT at any time, without prior notice.
This may include:
- changing features or functionality
- introducing new services or capabilities
- modifying alert settings or notification methods
- retiring features that are no longer needed
We are not liable for any loss arising from changes to, or discontinuation of, SWAT.
7. Information and notifications
SWAT notifications are for information only.
We do not guarantee that every relevant weed sighting, infestation, detection, report, or event will be identified, processed, or communicated through SWAT.
You must decide whether information from SWAT is suitable for your own purposes.
8. Third-party biodiversity data (including GBIF)
SWAT includes species and occurrence information mediated through the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). GBIF provides a publication framework for biodiversity data. It is neither the owner nor the custodian of that data. It is not responsible for content served by data publishers.
Use of GBIF-mediated data through SWAT is subject to the GBIF Data User Agreement. In particular:
- Neither DOC nor GBIF guarantees the quality, completeness, accuracy, or continuous availability of GBIF-mediated data. You use such data at your own risk.
- Validity of data in databases affiliated with GBIF cannot be assured. GBIF disclaims responsibility for accuracy, reliability, and suitability for any purpose.
- Each data publisher chooses a licence for their data (typically CC0, CC BY, or CC BY-NC). You must comply with the licence shown for each record. If these Terms conflict with a publisher’s licence, the publisher’s licence prevails.
- You must keep ownership and attribution information when you share or reuse records from SWAT.
- If you use GBIF-mediated data (e.g. in research, reporting, or further publication), you must publicly acknowledge the relevant data publishers. Follow scientific citation practice, including use of Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) where appropriate.
For each weed record, SWAT provides:
- a link to the GBIF recommended citation for the data used
- a link to the applicable record licence (for example: Record licence: CC BY-NC 4.0).
We encourage you to report data quality or other issues through GBIF's feedback tools. You also contact DOC using the details in the Contact section.
Further guidance: GBIF citation guidelines.
9. Suspension and termination
We may suspend, restrict, or terminate access to SWAT, with or without notice, if:
- you breach these terms of use
- we reasonably believe your actions may compromise the security, integrity, or operation of SWAT
- you engage in harmful, abusive, unlawful, or inappropriate behaviour
- access must be restricted for operational, legal, security, or public interest reasons
We may also remove accounts that have been inactive for a long time.
10. Privacy
We will collect, use, store, and disclose personal information in line with New Zealand privacy laws and DOC's Privacy Statement.
You should review the Privacy Statement to understand how personal information is handled.
11. Intellectual property
Unless otherwise stated, all intellectual property rights in SWAT remain with DOC or its licensors. This includes software, design, content, branding, and documentation.
You may access and use SWAT for its intended purposes. You must not reproduce, modify, distribute, or commercialise any part of SWAT except where the law allows it or you have our written permission.
Content in SWAT from third parties, including GBIF data publishers, remains subject to those publishers' licences and attribution requirements. Nothing in these Terms transfers ownership of third-party data to DOC or to SWAT users.
12. Disclaimer
To the maximum extent permitted by law, SWAT is provided on an 'as is' and 'as available' basis.
Information from GBIF or other third-party sources may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect. We do not warrant that information. We are not responsible for decisions made in reliance on it.
We make no representations or warranties about:
- the availability, reliability, or performance of SWAT
- the accuracy, completeness, or suitability of information in SWAT
- the uninterrupted delivery of notifications or alerts.
You access and use SWAT at your own risk.
13. Limitation of liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law, DOC is not liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, or special loss, damage, cost, or expense arising from:
- use of, or inability to use, SWAT
- reliance on information or notifications from SWAT
- delays, interruptions, or failures of the service
- unauthorised access to or use of SWAT.
Nothing in these Terms excludes any liability that cannot lawfully be excluded under New Zealand law.
14. Changes to these terms
We may update these Terms of Use from time to time.
Updated terms take effect when published on the SWAT website. If you keep using SWAT after updated terms are published, you accept the revised terms.
15. Governing law
These terms of use are governed by the laws of New Zealand.
Any disputes about SWAT or these terms are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of New Zealand.
16. Contact
Questions anout these Terms of Use may be directed to:
Department of Conservation (DOC)
weeds.doc.govt.nz
weeds.doc.govt.nz/contact