In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—
action includes failure to act; and also includes any policy or practice
agency—
(a)
means any person or body of persons, whether corporate or unincorporate, and whether in the public sector or the private sector; and, for the avoidance of doubt, includes a Department; but
(b)
does not include—
(i)
the Sovereign; or
(ii)
the Governor-General or the Administrator of the Government; or
(iii)
the House of Representatives; or
(iv)
a member of Parliament in his or her official capacity; or
(v)
the Parliamentary Service Commission; or
(vi)
the Parliamentary Service, except in relation to personal information about any employee or former employee of that agency in his or her capacity as such an employee; or
(vii)
in relation to its judicial functions, a court; or
(viii)
in relation to its judicial functions, a tribunal; or
(ix)
an Ombudsman; or
(x)
a Royal Commission; or
(xi)
a commission of inquiry appointed by an Order in Council made under the Commissions of Inquiry Act 1908; or
(xii)
a commission of inquiry or board of inquiry or court of inquiry or committee of inquiry appointed, pursuant to, and not by, any provision of an Act, to inquire into a specified matter; or
(xiii)
in relation to its news activities, any news medium
collect does not include receipt of unsolicited information
Commissioner means the Privacy Commissioner referred to in section 12 and appointed in accordance with section 28(1)(b) of the Crown Entities Act 2004
correct, in relation to personal information, means to alter that information by way of correction, deletion, or addition; and correction has a corresponding meaning
department means a government department named in Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Ombudsmen Act 1975
Deputy Commissioner means the Deputy Privacy Commissioner appointed under section 15
Director of Human Rights Proceedings means the Director of Human Rights Proceedings or alternate Director of Human Rights Proceedings appointed under section 20A of the Human Rights Act 1993
document means a document in any form; and includes—
(a)
any writing on any material:
(b)
any information recorded or stored by means of any tape-recorder, computer, or other device; and any material subsequently derived from information so recorded or stored:
(c)
any label, marking, or other writing that identifies or describes any thing of which it forms part, or to which it is attached by any means:
(d)
any book, map, plan, graph, or drawing:
(e)
any photograph, film, negative, tape, or other device in which 1 or more visual images are embodied so as to be capable (with or without the aid of some other equipment) of being reproduced
enactment means any provision of—
(a)
any Act of Parliament; or
(b)
any regulations within the meaning of the Regulations (Disallowance) Act 1989 made by Order in Council
Human Rights Review Tribunal or Tribunal means the Human Rights Review Tribunal continued by section 93 of the Human Rights Act 1993
individual means a natural person, other than a deceased natural person
individual concerned, in relation to personal information, means the individual to whom the information relates
information matching programme has the meaning given to it by section 97
information privacy principle or principle means any of the information privacy principles set out in section 6
information privacy request has the meaning given to it by section 33
intelligence organisation means—
(a)
the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service; and
(b)
the Government Communications Security Bureau
international organisation means any organisation of States or Governments of States or any organ or agency of any such organisation; and includes the Commonwealth Secretariat
local authority—
(a)
means a local authority or public body named or specified in Schedule 1 of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987; and
(b)
includes—
(i)
any committee or subcommittee or standing committee or special committee or joint standing committee or joint special committee which the local authority is empowered to appoint under its standing orders or rules of procedure or under any enactment or Order in Council constituting the local authority or regulating its proceedings; and
(ii)
a committee of the whole local authority
Minister means a Minister of the Crown in his or her official capacity
news activity means—
(a)
the gathering of news, or the preparation or compiling of articles or programmes of or concerning news, observations on news, or current affairs, for the purposes of dissemination to the public or any section of the public:
(b)
the dissemination, to the public or any section of the public, of any article or programme of or concerning—
(i)
news:
(ii)
observations on news:
(iii)
current affairs
news medium means any agency whose business, or part of whose business, consists of a news activity; but, in relation to principles 6 and 7, does not include Radio New Zealand Limited or Television New Zealand Limited
Ombudsman means an Ombudsman appointed under the Ombudsmen Act 1975
organisation—
(a)
means—
(i)
an organisation named in Part 2 of Schedule 1 of the Ombudsmen Act 1975; and
(ii)
an organisation named in Schedule 1 of the Official Information Act 1982; and
(b)
includes—
(i)
the Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives:
(ii)
an intelligence organisation
permanent resident of New Zealand means a person who—
(a)
resides in New Zealand; and
(b)
is not—
(i)
a person to whom section 7 of the Immigration Act 1987 applies; or
(ii)
a person obliged, by or pursuant to that Act, to leave New Zealand immediately or within a specified time; or
(iii)
deemed for the purposes of that Act to be in New Zealand unlawfully
personal information means information about an identifiable individual; and includes information relating to a death that is maintained by the Registrar-General pursuant to the Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Act 1995, or any former Act
public register has the meaning given to it in section 58
public register privacy principle has the meaning given to it in section 58
public sector agency—
(a)
means an agency that is a Minister, a Department, an organisation, or a local authority; and
(b)
includes any agency that is an unincorporated body (being a board, council, committee, or other body)—
(i)
which is established for the purpose of assisting or advising, or performing functions connected with, any public sector agency within the meaning of paragraph (a); and
(ii)
which is so established in accordance with the provisions of any enactment or by any such public sector agency
publicly available information means personal information that is contained in a publicly available publication
publicly available publication means a magazine, book, newspaper, or other publication that is or will be generally available to members of the public; and includes a public register
responsible Minister means the Minister of Justice
statutory officer means a person—
(a)
holding or performing the duties of an office established by an enactment; or
(b)
performing duties expressly conferred on that person by virtue of that person's office by an enactment
unique identifier means an identifier—
(a)
that is assigned to an individual by an agency for the purposes of the operations of the agency; and
(b)
that uniquely identifies that individual in relation to that agency;—
but, for the avoidance of doubt, does not include an individual's name used to identify that individual
working day means any day of the week other than—
(a)
Saturday, Sunday, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Anzac Day, Labour Day, the Sovereign's birthday, and Waitangi Day; and
(b)
a day in the period commencing with 25 December in any year and ending with 15 January in the following year.
(2)
For the avoidance of doubt, it is hereby declared that the fact that any body (being a commission of inquiry or board of inquiry or court of inquiry or committee of inquiry appointed, by any provision of an Act, to inquire into a specified matter) is not excluded from the definition of the term agency in subsection (1) by virtue of subparagraph (xii) of paragraph (b) of that definition does not mean that such a body is not excluded from that definition by virtue of subparagraph (vii) or subparagraph (viii) of that paragraph.
Compare: 1982 No 156 s 2; 1983 No 83 s 2; 1985 No 128 s 71(3); 1987 No 8 s 2; 1987 No 174 s 2
Section 2(1) agency paragraph (b)(viii): amended, on 3 September 1996, by section 2(1) of the Privacy Amendment Act 1996 (1996 No 142).
Section 2(1) Commissioner: substituted, on 25 January 2005, by section 200 of the Crown Entities Act 2004 (2004 No 115).
Section 2(1) Complaints Review Tribunal: repealed, on 1 January 2002, by section 71(1) of the Human Rights Amendment Act 2001 (2001 No 96).
Section 2(1) Director of Human Rights Proceedings: inserted, on 1 January 2002, by section 71(1) of the Human Rights Amendment Act 2001 (2001 No 96).
Section 2(1) Human Rights Review Tribunal or Tribunal: inserted, on 1 January 2002, by section 71(1) of the Human Rights Amendment Act 2001 (2001 No 96).
Section 2(1) news medium: amended, on 5 July 1996, by section 2 of the Radio New Zealand Act (No 2) 1995 (1995 No 53).
Section 2(1) news medium: amended, on 1 December 1995, by section 20 of the Radio New Zealand Act 1995 (1995 No 52).
Section 2(1) personal information: substituted, on 3 September 1996, by section 2(3) of the Privacy Amendment Act 1996 (1996 No 142).
Section 2 personal information: amended, on 24 January 2009, by section 47 of the Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Amendment Act 2008 (2008 No 48).
Section 2(1) Proceedings Commissioner: repealed, on 1 January 2002, by section 71(1) of the Human Rights Amendment Act 2001 (2001 No 96).
Subject to subsection (2), information that is held by an officer or employee or member of an agency in that person's capacity as such an officer or employee or member or in that person's capacity as a statutory officer shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to be held by the agency of which that person is an officer or employee or member.
(2)
Nothing in subsection (1) applies in respect of any information that any officer or employee or member of a public sector agency would not hold but for that person's membership of, or connection with, a body other than a public sector agency, except where that membership or connection is in that person's capacity as an officer or an employee or a member of that public sector agency or as a statutory officer.
(3)
Nothing in subsection (1) applies in respect of any information that any officer or employee or member of any agency (not being a public sector agency) would not hold but for that person's membership of, or connection with, any other agency, except where that membership or connection is in that person's capacity as an officer or an employee or a member of that first-mentioned agency.
(4)
For the purposes of this Act, where an agency holds information—
(a)
solely as agent; or
(b)
for the sole purpose of safe custody; or
(c)
for the sole purpose of processing the information on behalf of another agency,—
and does not use or disclose the information for its own purposes, the information shall be deemed to be held by the agency on whose behalf that information is so held or, as the case may be, is so processed.
Compare: 1982 No 156 s 2(2)–(4)
4-
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 agency in the performance of the duties of the person's employment shall be treated as having been done by, or disclosed to, the agency.
The information privacy principles are as follows:
Information Privacy Principles
Principle 1 Purpose of collection of personal information
Personal information shall not be collected by any agency unless—
(a)
the information is collected for a lawful purpose connected with a function or activity of the agency; and
(b)
the collection of the information is necessary for that purpose.
Principle 2 Source of personal information
(1)
Where an agency collects personal information, the agency shall collect the information directly from the individual concerned.
(2)
It is not necessary for an agency to comply with subclause (1) if the agency believes, on reasonable grounds,—
(a)
that the information is publicly available information; or
(b)
that the individual concerned authorises collection of the information from someone else; or
(c)
that non-compliance would not prejudice the interests of the individual concerned; or
(d)
that non-compliance is necessary—
(i)
to avoid prejudice to the maintenance of the law by any public sector agency, including the prevention, detection, investigation, prosecution, and punishment of offences; or
(ii)
for the enforcement of a law imposing a pecuniary penalty; or
(iii)
for the protection of the public revenue; or
(iv)
for the conduct of proceedings before any court or tribunal (being proceedings that have been commenced or are reasonably in contemplation); or
(e)
that compliance would prejudice the purposes of the collection; or
(f)
that compliance is not reasonably practicable in the circumstances of the particular case; or
(g)
that the information—
(i)
will not be used in a form in which the individual concerned is identified; or
(ii)
will be used for statistical or research purposes and will not be published in a form that could reasonably be expected to identify the individual concerned; or
(h)
That the collection of the information is in accordance with an authority granted under section 54.
Principle 3 Collection of information from subject
(1)
Where an agency collects personal information directly from the individual concerned, the agency shall take such steps (if any) as are, in the circumstances, reasonable to ensure that the individual concerned is aware of—
(a)
the fact that the information is being collected; and
(b)
the purpose for which the information is being collected; and
(c)
the intended recipients of the information; and
(d)
the name and address of—
(i)
the agency that is collecting the information; and
(ii)
the agency that will hold the information; and
(e)
if the collection of the information is authorised or required by or under law,—
(i)
the particular law by or under which the collection of the information is so authorised or required; and
(ii)
whether or not the supply of the information by that individual is voluntary or mandatory; and
(f)
the consequences (if any) for that individual if all or any part of the requested information is not provided; and
(g)
the rights of access to, and correction of, personal information provided by these principles.
(2)
The steps referred to in subclause (1) shall be taken before the information is collected or, if that is not practicable, as soon as practicable after the information is collected.
(3)
An agency is not required to take the steps referred to in subclause (1) in relation to the collection of information from an individual if that agency has taken those steps in relation to the collection, from that individual, of the same information or information of the same kind, on a recent previous occasion.
(4)
It is not necessary for an agency to comply with subclause (1) if the agency believes, on reasonable grounds,—
(a)
that non-compliance is authorised by the individual concerned; or
(b)
that non-compliance would not prejudice the interests of the individual concerned; or
(c)
that non-compliance is necessary—
(i)
to avoid prejudice to the maintenance of the law by any public sector agency, including the prevention, detection, investigation, prosecution, and punishment of offences; or
(ii)
for the enforcement of a law imposing a pecuniary penalty; or
(iii)
for the protection of the public revenue; or
(iv)
for the conduct of proceedings before any court or tribunal (being proceedings that have been commenced or are reasonably in contemplation); or
(d)
that compliance would prejudice the purposes of the collection; or
(e)
that compliance is not reasonably practicable in the circumstances of the particular case; or
(f)
that the information—
(i)
will not be used in a form in which the individual concerned is identified; or
(ii)
will be used for statistical or research purposes and will not be published in a form that could reasonably be expected to identify the individual concerned.
Principle 4 Manner of collection of personal information
Personal information shall not be collected by an agency—
(a)
by unlawful means; or
(b)
by means that, in the circumstances of the case,—
(i)
are unfair; or
(ii)
intrude to an unreasonable extent upon the personal affairs of the individual concerned.
