Section 206 — Privacy Act 2020: Commissioner and staff to maintain secrecy

206 Commissioner and staff to maintain secrecy (1) The following persons must maintain secrecy in respect of all matters that come to their knowledge in the exercise of their functions under this Act: (a) the Commissioner, or any person who has held the appointment of Commissioner: (b) a person who is employed or engaged, or who has been employed or engaged, by the Commissioner. (2) Despite subsection (1), the Commissioner may disclose any matters that in the Commissioner’s opinion ought to be disclosed for the purposes of giving effect to this Act. (3) Except where necessary for the purposes of referring a complaint or matter to the Director, the power conferred by subsection (2) does not extend to— (a) any matter that might prejudice— (i) the security, defence, or international relations of New Zealand (including New Zealand’s relations with the Government of any other country or with any international organisation); or (ii) any interest protected by section 7 of the Official Information Act 1982; or (iii) the prevention, investigation, or detection of offences; or (b) any matter that might involve the disclosure of the deliberations of Cabinet; or (c) any information, answer, document, or thing obtained by the Commissioner by reason only of compliance with a requirement made under section 88(1) . Compare: 1993 No 28 s 116