Wairoa has one supermarket – a new study examines if its prices are fair
Wairoa residents 'aren't getting a good deal' by only having one supermarket, however prices at the supermarket are similar to other New Worlds around Hawke's Bay and aren't being hiked, a new study has found.
Consumer NZ has released a study surveying three regional towns – Wairoa, Waimate and Hokitika
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NZ Herald
5 days ago
- NZ Herald
Mighty Ape boss fronts over glitch that saw some users logged into other users' accounts
Cooper was also annoyed that a make-good offer from Mighty Ape (which he had not received) of a $50.00 credit required a minimum $50.01 purchase. And that there was no option for a user to cancel their Mighty Ape account via the site's account management console (the option is available via chat or by phoning Mighty Ape). Mighty Ape's communication to affected customers on May 30, seven days after the incident. Image / Consumer NZ In a May 30 article, Consumer NZ strongly criticised Mighty Ape's initial communication to customers, which it saw as too scant in detail. It did not think the online retailer had taken accountability because it had called the incident a 'technical issue'. The publication said the incident should have been defined as a data breach, not an IT error. No one at Mighty Ape would confirm details of what happened, including whether users had in fact found themselves logged into each other's accounts. In a June 13 interview with McEwan (the earliest he was available after a June 6 request), the Herald asked, was the May 22 incident a privacy breach? 'Oh, absolutely,' McEwan replied. 'And we proactively and voluntarily reached out to the Privacy Commissioner to let them know what had occurred and to share with them the details of what had happened and make sure that the actions that we're taking were the right actions, including how we communicated to customers and how we've addressed the issue moving forward.' McEwan picture in Mighty Ape's warehouse in Silverdale, north of Auckland. Photo / Dean Purcell What went wrong? 'We actually found that there was potential for people to be able to view other people's accounts. In this case, it affected 309 customers, and there was potential for them to then be able to view that account. 'I would definitely like to acknowledge the technical glitch that occurred. It was a caching issue. 'It affected a limited number of customers, and we take ownership for that and apologise for that, and we've been working forward with our customers to resolve any issues that may have happened.' 309 affected Consumer NZ chief executive Jon Duffy told the Herald, 'It's clear that in some instances users had full access to other users' accounts and undertook activity with those accounts.' One had even made an order on another user's credit card - to see if that was possible - then immediately cancelled the transaction. 'Based on what we have seen, we would expect Mighty Ape's conversations with the OPC [Office of the Privacy Commissioner] to have also included formal notification of a privacy breach as required by the Act,' Duffy said. McEwan says Mighty Ape's upgrade, which began last October, has added many technology features from Kogan that will benefit customers, as well as the new Marketplace that lets third-parties sell via the site. Photo / Dean Purcell 'Unfortunately, Mighty Ape has only provided general details of what has occurred here, so it is difficult to understand the full scale of the breach and make a definitive call.' A spokeswoman for the Privacy Commissioner confirmed Mighty Ape had been in touch about the breach, but refused to say if it had reached the threshold for a formal notification. Mighty Ape has never previously defined the 'limited number' of users affected. McEwan told the Herald it was 309. Were the initial communications too vague? (The initial public communication, and all public communications since, has made no mention of users' being able to log into other users' accounts.) 'We were quite broad in our statement, and then as we understood the issue further, we went back to those customers that were actually affected, to provide them further information and reassurance,' McEwan said. 'Absolutely we've taken ownership of it. We've contacted all those customers affected. In fact, initially, we over-communicated. 'We went out to a much broader group than what, as we investigated, was a limited number affected. It affected 309 customers, and there was potential for them to view other people's accounts.' But it wasn't just potential, was it? They found themselves logged into other users' accounts. They actually were logged into other users' accounts, the Herald said. 'Yep, that's correct,' McEwan replied. The MD said follow-up communications were full and frank, but were narrowcast to only the affected customers. Don't downplay an incident, expert says Privacy expert Frith Tweedie, a former EY partner, technology lawyer and now principal at Simply Privacy, offered more detail on what constitutes a data breach under the Privacy Act 2020 - but added that any organisation involved in a possible data breach had to consider reputational issues as much as the letter of the law. 'The definition of a 'privacy breach' is broad and it's important to understand that they don't only occur in your classic 'hacker in a hoodie' type scenarios,' Tweedie said. 'What matters is that unauthorised people were able to access other users' personal information [in the Mighty Ape incident], which counts as a 'privacy breach' under the Privacy Act. 'When an organisation gives incomplete information, it creates unnecessary anxiety and makes people feel like their privacy isn't being taken seriously" - Simply Privacy principal Frith Tweedie. 'The reported access to names, contact details, order history and even partial payment information makes it hard to argue that serious harm wasn't at least possible, which would make this a 'notifiable privacy breach'.' Tweedie added, 'Responding to a privacy or data breach isn't just a legal issue, it's also about trust'. 'People understand that mistakes happen, but they want fast, clear and direct communication when things do go wrong. 'When an organisation delays acknowledging a breach, or gives incomplete information, it creates unnecessary anxiety and makes people feel like their privacy isn't being taken seriously.' Should Mighty Ape have been taken offline? Consumer NZ said Mighty Ape should have taken its website offline until the breach was resolved - pointing to the action taken by gaming platform Steam in 2015. McEwan said there was no need to take the website down as it had contained the issue within two hours. Under new management ASX-listed Australian online retailer Kogan bought Mighty Ape for A$122.4 million ($128.3m) in 2020. As part of the deal, the site's founder, Simon Barton, and his immediate team stayed on until 2023. There's been a flurry of leadership changes since with three chief executives departing since the deal - most recently Daniel Balasoglou in February this year. Mighty Ape's website now has the same look design (if different branding) as its Australian parent and Dick Smith, whose online operations were also bought by Kogan. The upgrade that began in October was designed to introduce more under-the-bonnet Kogan systems. It also added a key new service, Mighty Ape Marketplace, which lets third-party retailers sell their goods via Mighty Ape. Glitch slashes Christmas season earnings In a half-year results investor presentation, filed to the ASX on February 25, covering the six months to December 31 2024, Kogan said: 'In late October 2024, the Mighty Ape website underwent a major upgrade, introducing enhanced functionality ... Mighty Ape active customers declined following technical issues experienced as part of the Mighty Ape website upgrade. 'Many technical issues identified have been resolved, with a recovery of financial and operational performance expected in the second half of FY2025.' In the final two months of last year, Mighty Ape only just managed to squeak to a A$100,000 operating earnings profit. 'The technical issues saw adjusted ebitda [earnings before interest, taxes and amortisation] reduce by 96.2% on the previously comparable period over the November and December 2024 peak sales period,' Kogan's filing said. Revenue fell 22.1% to A$30m over the two months. 'The team has been diagnosing and remedying many of the major issues, with some work yet to go. We expect to resolve all major issues in the coming period,' the filing said. It added that McEwan would be taking over from Balasoglou in a 'leadership change'. Balasoglou, who led Mighty Ape for less than a year, had a financial officer background, most recently as Lotto NZ's CFO. McEwan has had a career in logistics, including general manager of operations roles for DHL NZ and Ingram Micro NZ (which distributes products for Apple, Cisco, Nvidia and other big tech names. Upgrade blues continued In a May 20, 2025 business update filing to the ASX, offering a general business update for the quarter to April 30, Kogan said: 'Mighty Ape continued to be impacted by technical challenges following the website platform upgrade announced in February 2025, which affected sales performance and inventory levels. 'Throughout the period, the team progressively resolved several stability issues and gradually progressed towards restoring marketing efficiency. 'Early signs of recovery are evident, with gross sales showing positive momentum driven by the Mighty Ape Marketplace scaling rapidly since launch. 'Over the coming months, Mighty Ape will continue to right-size inventory levels. The company expects Mighty Ape to return to profitable trading performance in FY26.' McEwan said the upgrade had added many features from Kogan that would benefit customers and make the site more efficient, and that the new Marketplace feature let small retailers reach Mighty Ape's large-scale audience. A spokeswoman for the Office of the Privacy Commissioner confirmed Mighty Ape had been in touch to discuss the issue, but would not comment on whether a formal data breach notification had been warranted. Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald's business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.
RNZ News
10-06-2025
- RNZ News
Tech experts fear cybercriminals will exploit end of Windows 10 support
Photo: 123RF New Zealand technology experts are increasing calls for people and businesses to upgrade their Microsoft devices, as Windows 10's support expiration looms. From 14 October onwards, devices running Windows 10 will no longer receive free security updates, technical assistance or software patches. Jamie Hall of technology distributor Ingram Micro NZ, said while systems will continue to operate, they'll be increasingly vulnerable to cyber threats and operational disruptions. "So ultimately that's going to create some risks potentially for not only business users but any users of Windows 10," he said. "Without those security patches or updates coming through, you're potentially going to be at risk or vulnerable to attacks or other things that might be targeted to devices that are still on Windows 10. "All of a sudden that's opening up businesses to potential risk, but it goes a step further because, for example, if a business had cybersecurity insurance, which many do, if you've got an unsupported piece of software, it's likely it's not going to be included in that policy. "So it's also opening up businesses to risks that they may not even be aware of," Hall said. His encouragement that all eligible Microsoft users make sure they upgraded to Windows 11 as soon as possible was echoed by Consumer NZ product test writer Nick Gelling. "But the real issue comes for people that are not eligible for that upgrade, Microsoft suggests that all its customers just migrate to Windows 11. "Obviously if you can upgrade to Windows 11 you should do that as soon as possible, but if you're not, if your computer isn't compatible with the upgrade, you can look into installing a new operating system, something like a Chrome OS Flex or a Linux distribution like Mint. "They'll take some getting used to, but you will be better protected." Gelling said he was worried cyber criminals could target older members of society and people who can't afford a new computer. "We think in New Zealand there's hundreds of thousands of computers that will be stuck on Windows 10 and unable to make that upgrade, and they'll be unable to receive security support, which means that the computers are unsafe to use," he said. Ingram Micro NZ's Jamie Hall said he was informed by Microsoft that New Zealand had "only just crossed over a tipping point" in the past few weeks. "There's more Windows 11 devices in market now than there is Windows 10 so that would tell me that there's still a huge amount of devices out there in businesses and in homes that are potentially at risk of not being replaced in time or upgraded in time and that's a real danger at the moment. "The good news is that a lot of those devices don't necessarily need to be replaced, they can be upgraded but if those minimum requirements aren't met, then yes, a new device might need to be placed with." Gelling said that this could lead to environmental impacts not just in New Zealand, but globally with Consumer NZ estimating as many as 400 million Windows 10 devices worldwide could become ineligible for a Windows 11 upgrade. He estimates about 50 percent of the PC market currently uses Windows 10. "Microsoft has these really ambitious sustainability goals, it wants to become carbon neutral by 2030. "The end of Windows 10 support has the potential to be a really catastrophic waste event. We know that most e-waste does end up in landfill, so we expect this policy to send a bunch of New Zealand computers that are otherwise healthy to the tip, and that's just totally unnecessary. "It results in heavy metal pollution and a whole lot of extra emissions from building the replacement computers that people have to buy and, you know, mining for rare earth minerals and all that." Hall said it was important users understand that they don't necessarily have to throw away their old devices. "My call out would be don't leave it to the last minute, think about it now and have a strategy in place for how you're going to go through it and upgrade or replace these devices and then on the replacement side, consider the recycling piece of it as well. "It's very easy to throw these devices into landfill, but we all should take on the responsibility of thinking about how we ethically and sustainably dispose or recycle these devices and there's lots of great providers out there that will take these devices, often even buy them back off individuals, and then recycle those parts and recycle those materials so that they don't all end up in landfill." In the meantime, Microsoft is offering consumers another extra year of support for Windows 10, which will cost US$30. "So that's about 50 New Zealand dollars to extend support out to October 2026, we welcome that, however, that program is available for up to three years for business customers, while it's only available for the 12 months for consumers, and we sort of question why that is. "We think it also shows that Microsoft is able to extend this support if it wants to, and for those that are willing to pay for it, it shows that it's sort of not a technological problem to continue supporting Windows 10. So why is Microsoft not willing to extend that support to everyone that can't necessarily afford to pay that extra $50," Gelling said.
RNZ News
07-06-2025
- RNZ News
What 'running out' supply means for households still using gas
Gas supplies for households probably won't run out. Photo: 123RF Reports that New Zealand's natural gas reserves might be dwindling faster than expected may be unwelcome news to households using it to cook and heat. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment said previous forecasts showed annual gas production falling below 100 petajoules (PJ) by 2029, but revised forecasts indicated that level would be reached by next year . Paul Fuge, general manager at Consumer NZ's Powerswitch, said residential gas use was only about 4 percent of the country's total gas consumption, so gas supplies for households probably would not run out, but he said they would likely become more expensive over time. "This is especially true, if we see a death spiral effect," he said. "As more households disconnect from gas, the cost of maintaining the gas infrastructure is spread across fewer users, pushing prices up further and encouraging even more to leave. "Lower-income households and renters may be left behind on the gas network, facing rising costs, while wealthier households can afford to transit." Consumer's advice was, when household gas appliances reached the end of their life, it made sense to replace them with an electric alternative. Fuge said 46 percent of households used gas of some type and he expected an average increase in gas prices of 10 percent this year. "Retailers cite rising wholesale and network costs as the main drivers of price increases. A significant factor is higher gas network charges - the cost of transporting gas to homes - which typically account for about a third of a household's bill. Starting in 2024, the Commerce Commission approved an annual average increase of 3.8 percent in gas pipeline charges over four years, adding about $48 per year for a typical household. Fuge said Nova and Megatel were the only providers offering gas as a standalone product. Others required people to sign up to a gas-and-electricity package. "As a result, gas customers may find their choices are limited, and they cannot access lower-cost or more innovative electricity plans and suppliers." GasNZ chief executive Jeffrey Clarke said there would be enough gas for household and commercial users for many years. "To put a 100PJ supply into perspective, about 290,000 homes are connected to natural gas in the North Island and they use just 7.3PJ annually." Clarke said there was an estimated 9.5PJ of untapped potential for producing biogas from organic waste in the North Island and 9.1PJ in the South Island. "With sufficient investment to expedite the development of the renewable gas market in New Zealand, there's every expectation that all residential natural gas consumption could be replaced by renewable biogas over this timeframe." Countries like Denmark have replaced about 40 percent of natural gas supply with renewable gas produced from organic waste, with plans to make this 100 percent by 2030, he said. "In total, it's estimated up to 23.5PJ of biogas could be produced annually across New Zealand - enough to supply a good amount for commercial needs as well." He said LPG was also in plentiful supply. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
