Privacy Act 1993

Before its repeal, this Act was administered by: Ministry of Justice

repealed
Privacy Act 1993: repealed, on 1 December 2020, by section 216(1) of the Privacy Act 2020 (2020 No 31).

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Reprint as at 1 December 2020

Privacy Act 1993

Public Act		1993 No 28
Date of assent		17 May 1993
Commencement		see section 1(2)

Privacy Act 1993: repealed, on 1 December 2020, by section 216(1) of the Privacy Act 2020 (2020 No 31).

Note

Changes authorised by subpart 2 of Part 2 of the Legislation Act 2012 have been made in this official reprint.

Note 4 at the end of this reprint provides a list of the amendments incorporated.

This Act is administered by the Ministry of Justice.

	Title
1	Short Title and commencement
	Part 1 Preliminary provisions
2	Interpretation
3	Information held by agency
4	Actions of, and disclosure of information to, staff of agency, etc
5	Act to bind the Crown
	Part 2 Information privacy principles
6	Information privacy principles
7	Savings
8	Application of information privacy principles
9	Postponement of application of principle 11 to lists used for direct marketing
10	Application of principles to information held overseas
11	Enforceability of principles
	Part 3 Privacy Commissioner
12	Privacy Commissioner
13	Functions of Commissioner
14	Commissioner to have regard to certain matters
15	Deputy Commissioner
16	Term of office [Repealed]
17	Continuation in office after term expires [Repealed]
18	Vacation of office [Repealed]
19	Holding of other offices
20	Powers relating to declaratory judgments
21	Directories of personal information
22	Commissioner may require agency to supply information
23	Privacy officers
24	Annual report
25	Further provisions relating to Commissioner
26	Review of operation of Act
	Part 4 Good reasons for refusing access to personal information
27	Security, defence, international relations, etc
28	Trade secrets
29	Other reasons for refusal of requests
30	Refusal not permitted for any other reason
31	Restriction where person sentenced to imprisonment [Repealed]
32	Information concerning existence of certain information
	Part 5 Procedural provisions relating to access to and correction of personal information
33	Application
34	Individuals may make information privacy requests
35	Charges
36	Commissioner may authorise public sector agency to charge
37	Urgency
38	Assistance
39	Transfer of requests
40	Decisions on requests
41	Extension of time limits
42	Documents
43	Deletion of information from documents
44	Reason for refusal to be given
45	Precautions
	Part 6 Codes of practice and exemptions from information privacy principles
	Codes of practice
46	Codes of practice
47	Proposal for issuing of code of practice
48	Notification of intention to issue code
49	Notification, availability, and commencement of code
50	Application of Legislation Act 2012 to codes
51	Amendment and revocation of codes
52	Urgent issue of code
53	Effect of code
	Specific exemptions
54	Commissioner may authorise collection, use, or disclosure of personal information
55	Certain personal information excluded
56	Personal information relating to domestic affairs
57	Exemption for intelligence and security agencies
	Part 7 Public register personal information
58	Interpretation
59	Public register privacy principles
60	Application of information privacy principles and public register privacy principles to public registers
61	Complaints relating to compliance with principles
62	Enforceability of principles
63	Codes of practice in relation to public registers
64	Effect of code
65	Power to amend Schedule 2 by Order in Council
	Part 8 Complaints
	Interpretation
66	Interference with privacy
	Complaints
67	Complaints
68	Mode of complaint
	Investigations by Commissioner
69	Investigation of interference with privacy of individual
70	Action on receipt of complaint
71	Commissioner may decide to take no action on complaint
72	Referral of complaint to Ombudsman
72A	Referral of complaint to Health and Disability Commissioner
72B	Referral of complaint to Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security
72C	Referral of complaint to overseas privacy enforcement authority
	Proceedings of Commissioner
73	Proceedings of Commissioner
74	Settlement of complaints
75	Parties to be informed of result of investigation
76	Compulsory conferences
77	Procedure after investigation
78	Procedure in relation to charging
79	Breaches of certain principles occurring before 1 July 1996
80	Commissioner to report breach of duty or misconduct
	Special procedure relating to intelligence and security agencies
81	Special procedure relating to intelligence and security agencies
	Proceedings before Human Rights Review Tribunal
82	Proceedings before Human Rights Review Tribunal
83	Aggrieved individual may bring proceedings before Human Rights Review Tribunal
84	Remedies that may be sought
85	Powers of Human Rights Review Tribunal
86	Right of Director of Human Rights Proceedings to appear in proceedings
87	Proof of exceptions
88	Damages
89	Certain provisions of Human Rights Act 1993 to apply
	Part 9 Proceedings of Commissioner
90	Procedure
91	Evidence
92	Compliance with requirements of Commissioner
93	Extension of time limit
94	Protection and privileges of witnesses, etc
95	Disclosures of information, etc
96	Proceedings privileged
	Part 9A Information sharing
	Subpart 1—Preliminary matters
96A	Purpose of Part
96B	Relationship between Part 9A and other law relating to information disclosure
96C	Interpretation
	Subpart 2—Information sharing agreements
	Authority for information sharing
96D	Information sharing between agencies
96E	Information sharing within agencies
	Parties
96F	Parties to information sharing agreement
96G	Representative parties
	Lead agency
96H	Determining which party is lead agency
	Form and content
96I	Form and content of information sharing agreement
	Approval of information sharing agreements
96J	Governor-General may approve information sharing agreement by Order in Council
96K	Requirements for Order in Council
96L	Further provisions about Order in Council
96M	Application of Legislation Act 2012
	Procedure for recommending Order in Council
96N	Matters to which relevant Minister must have regard before recommending Order in Council
96O	Consultation on proposed information sharing agreement
	Commissioner’s report on approved information sharing agreement
96P	Commissioner may prepare and publish report on approved information sharing agreement
	Subpart 3—Matters relating to operation of approved information sharing agreements
	Notice of adverse action
96Q	Requirement to give notice of adverse action
96R	When requirement to give notice of adverse action applies
	Responsibilities of lead agency
96S	Responsibilities of lead agency
96T	Report of lead agency
96U	Commissioner may specify frequency of reporting by lead agency
	Amendment of approved information sharing agreements
96V	Amendment of approved information sharing agreement
	Review of approved information sharing agreement
96W	Review of operation of approved information sharing agreement
96X	Report on findings of review
96Y	Relevant Minister must present to House of Representatives copy of report under section 96X(1) and report setting out Government’s response
	Subpart 4—Miscellaneous
96Z	Power to amend Schedule 2A
	Part 10 Information matching
	Interpretation
97	Interpretation
97A	Relationship between Part 10 and other law relating to information disclosure
	Information matching guidelines
98	Information matching guidelines
	Authorised information matching programmes
99	Information matching agreements
100	Use of results of information matching programme
101	Further provisions relating to results of information matching programme
102	Extension of time limit
103	Notice of adverse action proposed
104	Reporting requirements
105	Information matching programmes to be reported on in annual report
106	Review of statutory authorities for information matching
107	Amendment of information matching rules
	Avoidance of controls on information matching
108	Avoidance of controls on information matching through use of exceptions to information privacy principles
109	Avoidance of controls on information matching through use of official information statutes
	Part 10A Identity information
109A	Purpose of Part
109B	Relationship between Part 10A and other law relating to information disclosure
109C	Interpretation
109D	Access by agencies to identity information
109E	Manner and form of access
109F	Annual reporting requirement
109G	Amendment of Schedule 4A
	Part 11 Law enforcement information
110	Interpretation
110A	Relationship between Part 11 and other law relating to information disclosure
111	Access by accessing agencies to law enforcement information
112	Local authorities may be authorised to have access to law enforcement information
113	Amendment of Schedule 5 [Expired]
114	Expiry of power to amend Schedule 5 by Order in Council
	Part 11A Transfer of personal information outside New Zealand
114A	Interpretation
114B	Prohibition on transfer of personal information outside New Zealand
114C	Commissioner’s power to obtain information
114D	Transfer prohibition notice
114E	Commissioner may vary or cancel notice
114F	Offence in relation to transfer prohibition notice
114G	Appeals against transfer prohibition notice
114H	Application of Human Rights Act 1993
	Part 12 Miscellaneous provisions
	General
115	Protection against certain actions
116	Commissioner and staff to maintain secrecy
117	Consultation with Ombudsmen
117A	Consultation with Health and Disability Commissioner
117B	Consultation with Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security
118	Corrupt use of official information [Repealed]
119	Exclusion of public interest immunity
120	Adverse comment
120A	Responsibility under Parts 5 and 8 for interdepartmental executive board
	Delegations
121	Delegation of functions or powers of Commissioner [Repealed]
122	Delegate to produce evidence of authority [Repealed]
123	Revocation of delegations [Repealed]
124	Delegation of powers by local authority
125	Delegation of powers by officers of local authority
	Liability and offences
126	Liability of employer and principals
127	Offences
	Regulations
128	Regulations
128A	Power to amend Schedule 5A
	Amendments, repeals, and revocations
129	Amendments, repeals, and revocations
129A	Amendment relating to Legislation Act 2012
129B	New section 96M substituted
	Transitional provisions and savings
130	Final report of Wanganui Computer Centre Privacy Commissioner
131	Privacy Commissioner to complete work in progress of Wanganui Computer Centre Privacy Commissioner
132	Savings
133	Transitional provision
	Schedule 1 Provisions applying in respect of Commissioner
	Schedule 2 Public registers
	Schedule 2A Approved information sharing agreements
	Schedule 3 Information matching provisions
	Schedule 4 Information matching rules
	Schedule 4A Identity information
	Schedule 5 Law enforcement information
	Schedule 5A Basic principles of national application set out in Part Two of the OECD Guidelines
	Schedule 6 Enactments amended
	Schedule 7 Enactments repealed
	Schedule 8 Orders revoked
	Reprint notes

An Act to promote and protect individual privacy in general accordance with the Recommendation of the Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Concerning Guidelines Governing the Protection of Privacy and Transborder Flows of Personal Data, and, in particular,—

(a)

to establish certain principles with respect to—

(i)

the collection, use, and disclosure, by public and private sector agencies, of information relating to individuals; and

(ii)

access by each individual to information relating to that individual and held by public and private sector agencies; and

(b)

to provide for the appointment of a Privacy Commissioner to investigate complaints about interferences with individual privacy; and

(c)

to provide for matters incidental thereto

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Privacy Act 1993

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Contents

(a)

(i)

(ii)

(b)

(c)