Privacy Act 2020
Sections and provisions with full text and the judgments that cite each one.
Section 12 — Actions of, and disclosure of information to, staff of agency, etc
12 Actions of, and disclosure of information to, staff of agency, etc For the purposes of this Act, an action done by, or information disclosed to, a person employed by, or in the service of, an…
Section 13 — Privacy Commissioner
13 Privacy Commissioner (1) There continues to be a Commissioner called the Privacy Commissioner. (2) The Commissioner is— (a) a corporation sole; and (b) a Crown entity for the purposes of section 7…
Section 14 — Deputy Privacy Commissioner
14 Deputy Privacy Commissioner (1) The Governor-General may, on the recommendation of the responsible Minister, appoint a Deputy Privacy Commissioner. (2) Part 2 of the Crown Entities Act 2004,…
Section 15 — Holding of other offices
15 Holding of other offices (1) In addition to the persons specified in section 30(2) of the Crown Entities Act 2004, a member of a local authority is disqualified from being appointed as the…
Section 16 — Superannuation or retiring allowances
16 Superannuation or retiring allowances (1) For the purpose of providing superannuation or retiring allowances for the Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner, the Commissioner may, out of the funds of…
Section 17 — Functions of Commissioner
17 Functions of Commissioner (1) The functions of the Commissioner are— (a) to exercise the powers, and carry out the functions and duties, conferred on the Commissioner by or under this Act or any…
Section 18 — Other functions of Commissioner
18 Other functions of Commissioner (1) The responsible Minister may, for any of the following purposes, request the Commissioner to provide advice on whether a binding scheme requires a foreign…
Section 19 — Responsible Minister must present copy of report on operation of Act to House of Representatives
19 Responsible Minister must present copy of report on operation of Act to House of Representatives As soon as practicable after receiving a report under section 17(1) (n) (iv) , the responsible…
Section 20 — Duty to act independently
20 Duty to act independently The Commissioner must act independently in performing statutory functions and duties, and exercising statutory powers, under— (a) this Act; and (b) any other Act that…
Section 21 — Commissioner to have regard to certain matters
21 Commissioner to have regard to certain matters The Commissioner must, in performing any statutory function or duty, and in exercising any statutory power,— (a) have regard to the privacy interests…
Section 22 — Information privacy principles
22 Information privacy principles The information privacy principles are as follows: Information privacy principle 1 Purpose of collection of personal information (1) Personal information must not be…
Section 23 — Application of IPPs in relation to information held overseas
23 Application of IPPs in relation to information held overseas An action taken by an agency in relation to information held overseas does not breach any of the IPPs if the action is required by or…
Section 24 — Relationships between IPPs and other New Zealand law
24 Relationships between IPPs and other New Zealand law (1) Nothing in IPP 6, 11, or 12 limits or affects— (a) a provision contained in any New Zealand enactment that authorises or requires personal…
Section 25 — IPPs 1 to 4 do not apply to personal information collected before 1 July 1993
25 IPPs 1 to 4 do not apply to personal information collected before 1 July 1993 IPPs 1 to 4 do not apply to personal information collected before 1 July 1993. Compare: 1993 No 28 s 8(1)
Section 26 — Restricted application of IPP 13 to unique identifiers assigned before 1 July 1993
26 Restricted application of IPP 13 to unique identifiers assigned before 1 July 1993 (1) IPP 13(1) to (4) (a) does not apply to unique identifiers assigned before 1 July 1993. (2) However, IPP 13(2)…
Section 27 — Restricted application of IPPs to personal information collected or held for personal or domestic affairs
27 Restricted application of IPPs to personal information collected or held for personal or domestic affairs (1) IPPs 1 to 3 and 4(b) do not apply to an agency if that agency— (a) is an individual;…
Section 28 — IPPs 2, 3, and 4(b) do not apply to personal information collected by intelligence and security agencies
28 IPPs 2, 3, and 4(b) do not apply to personal information collected by intelligence and security agencies IPPs 2, 3, and 4(b) do not apply to personal information collected by an intelligence and…
Section 29 — IPPs 6 and 7 do not apply to certain information
29 IPPs 6 and 7 do not apply to certain information (1) IPPs 6 and 7 do not apply in respect of— (a) personal information during transmission by post, personal delivery, or electronic means; or (b)…
Section 30 — Commissioner may authorise collection, use, storage, or disclosure of personal information otherwise in breach of IPP 2 or IPPs 9 to 12
30 Commissioner may authorise collection, use, storage, or disclosure of personal information otherwise in breach of IPP 2 or IPPs 9 to 12 (1) An agency may apply to the Commissioner for…
Section 31 — Enforceability of IPPs
31 Enforceability of IPPs (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), the IPPs do not confer on any person any right that is enforceable in a court of law. (2) The entitlements conferred on an…
Section 32 — Codes of practice in relation to IPPs
32 Codes of practice in relation to IPPs (1) The Commissioner may at any time issue a code of practice in relation to the IPPs. (2) A code of practice may— (a) modify the application of 1 or more of…
Section 33 — Issue of code of practice
33 Issue of code of practice (1) The Commissioner may issue a code of practice on— (a) the Commissioner’s own initiative; or (b) the application of any person. (2) An application may be made under…
Section 34 — Urgent issue of code of practice
34 Urgent issue of code of practice (1) If the Commissioner considers that it is necessary to issue a code of practice, or to amend or revoke any code of practice, and that following the procedure…
Section 35 — Notification, availability, and commencement of codes of practice
35 Notification, availability, and commencement of codes of practice (1) If the Commissioner issues a code of practice,— (a) the Commissioner must, as soon as practicable after the code is issued,…
Section 36 — Application of Legislation Act 2012 to codes of practice
36 Application of Legislation Act 2012 to codes of practice All codes of practice are disallowable instruments, but not legislative instruments, for the purposes of the Legislation Act 2012 and must…
Section 37 — Amendment and revocation of codes of practice
37 Amendment and revocation of codes of practice (1) The Commissioner may at any time issue an amendment or a revocation of a code of practice. (2) The provisions of sections 33 , 35 , and 36 apply…
Section 38 — Effect of codes of practice
38 Effect of codes of practice If a code of practice is in force,— (a) any action that would otherwise be a breach of an IPP is, for the purposes of Part 5 , treated as not breaching that IPP if the…
Section 39 — Interpretation
39 Interpretation (1) In this subpart and subpart 3 , IPP 6 request means a request made under IPP 6. (2) In this subpart, requestor , in relation to an IPP 6 request, means the person who made the…
Section 40 — Individuals may make IPP 6 request
40 Individuals may make IPP 6 request An IPP 6 request may be made only by the individual concerned or that individual’s representative. Compare: 1993 No 28 s 34
Section 41 — Urgency
41 Urgency (1) A requestor may ask that an IPP 6 request be treated as urgent (an urgent IPP 6 request ). (2) A requestor making an urgent IPP 6 request must state the reason why the request should…
Section 42 — Assistance
42 Assistance An agency must give reasonable assistance to a person who— (a) wishes to make an IPP 6 request; or (b) is making an IPP 6 request. Compare: 1993 No 28 s 38
Section 43 — Transfer of IPP 6 request
43 Transfer of IPP 6 request (1) This section applies if an agency that receives an IPP 6 request— (a) does not hold the information to which the request relates, but believes that the information is…
Section 44 — Responding to IPP 6 request
44 Responding to IPP 6 request (1) If an agency does not transfer an IPP 6 request under section 43 , the agency must, as soon as is reasonably practicable, and in any case not later than 20 working…
Section 45 — Decision to grant access to personal information
45 Decision to grant access to personal information (1) If an agency grants access to personal information, the notice under section 44(2) (c) (i) must state— (a) the way the information is to be…
Section 46 — Decision to refuse access to personal information
46 Decision to refuse access to personal information (1) An agency may refuse access to the personal information requested, or some of the personal information requested, only if the agency is able…
Section 47 — Decision to neither confirm nor deny personal information is held
47 Decision to neither confirm nor deny personal information is held (1) An agency may neither confirm nor deny that it holds the personal information, or some of the personal information, requested…
Section 48 — Extension of time limits
48 Extension of time limits (1) On receiving an IPP 6 request, an agency may extend the time limit set out in section 43 or 44 in respect of the request if— (a) the request is for a large quantity of…
Section 49 — Protection, etc, of individual as reason for refusing access to personal information
49 Protection, etc, of individual as reason for refusing access to personal information (1) An agency may refuse access to any personal information requested if— (a) the disclosure of the information…
Section 50 — Evaluative material as reason for refusing access to personal information
50 Evaluative material as reason for refusing access to personal information (1) An agency may refuse access to any personal information requested if— (a) the information is evaluative material and…
Section 51 — Security, defence, international relations as reason for refusing access to personal information
51 Security, defence, international relations as reason for refusing access to personal information An agency may refuse access to any personal information requested if the disclosure of the…
Section 52 — Trade secret as reason for refusing access to personal information
52 Trade secret as reason for refusing access to personal information (1) An agency may refuse access to any personal information requested if the information needs protecting because making the…
Section 53 — Other reasons for refusing access to personal information
53 Other reasons for refusing access to personal information An agency may refuse access to any personal information requested if— (a) the information requested does not exist or, despite reasonable…
Section 54 — Agency may impose conditions instead of refusing access to personal information
54 Agency may impose conditions instead of refusing access to personal information (1) This section applies if an agency has good reason under any of sections 49 to 53 to refuse access to any…
Section 55 — Withholding personal information contained in document
55 Withholding personal information contained in document (1) If the personal information requested is contained in a document and there is good reason under any of sections 49 to 53 for withholding…
Section 56 — Ways personal information in document may be made available
56 Ways personal information in document may be made available (1) If the personal information requested by an individual is in a document, that information may be made available in 1 or more of the…
Section 57 — Responsibilities of agency before giving access to personal information
57 Responsibilities of agency before giving access to personal information If an agency receives a request to access personal information, the agency— (a) may give access to the information only if…
Section 58 — Interpretation
58 Interpretation (1) In this subpart and subpart 3 , correction request means— (a) a request made under IPP 7(1) to correct personal information; or (b) a request made under IPP 7(3) (b) to attach a…
Section 59 — Individuals may make correction requests
59 Individuals may make correction requests A correction request may be made only by the individual concerned or the individual’s representative. Compare: 1993 No 28 s 34
Section 60 — Urgency
60 Urgency (1) A requestor may ask that a correction request be treated as urgent (an urgent correction request ). (2) A requestor making an urgent correction request must state the reason why the…
Section 61 — Assistance
61 Assistance An agency must give reasonable assistance to a person who— (a) wishes to make a correction request; or (b) is making a correction request. Compare: 1993 No 28 s 38