45 Pipitea Street
4 September 2020
Wellington
Phone 0800 25 78 87
dia.govt.nz
Chris Smith
[FYI request #13339 email]
Tēnā koe Chris Smith
Your Official Information Act request, reference OIA20/21-0048
Thank you for your email which was received on 22 July 2020 requesting the following
information under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act):
“I refer to this RNZ article dated 17 July 2020… in which, it is detailed that "CovidCard"
delivered a report to health officials about their product and trials. "Six weeks ago, the
team delivered a report to officials following field trials, but are yet to be given any
indication of a decision.” I would like to request a copy of that report. Additionally, if
not documented in that report, I would like to request information held about the
CovidCard device as trialed, and proposed specifications of a production model.
Specifically, information surrounding its form factor and battery life.”
Due to the high level of public and media interest in this information, the Department of
Internal Affairs is proactively releasing a suite of key documents related to CovidCard in the
coming weeks.
Because of this, I am refusing your request under section 18(d) of the Act, as the
information requested will soon be publicly available. The first batch of documents,
including the report you have requested, will be publicly available on the official COVID-19
website by 14 September 2020. We will send you a link to the documents as soon as they
are published.
You have the right, under section 28(3) of the Act, to seek an investigation and review of my
decision by the Office of the Ombudsman. The postal address of the Office of the
Ombudsman is PO Box 10152, Wellington. Alternatively, you can phone 0800 802 602 or
email [email address].
Nāku noa, nā
Anita Balakrishnan
Director Ministerial Advice, Monitoring, and Operations