12 May 2022
Steven Ensslen
Secretary
New Zealand Council for Civil Liberties
By FYI Request: [FYI request #18942 email]
Tēnā koe Steven,
Official Information request - Reasons for not performing a Privacy Impact Assessment
on the Data and Statistics Bill
On 21 March 2022, you emailed Stats NZ requesting, under the Official Information Act 1982
(OIA), the fol owing information in relation to the Data and Statistics Bil (the Bil ), specifical y,
why no Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) was produced for the Data and Statistics Bil , and
why Part 5 of the Bil creates a regime for accessing information:
1. briefings, advice, aide memoire, or similar, that considers or analyses the issue of
producing a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) for both the policy proposals underlying the
Data and Statistics Bil , and the Data and Statistics Bil itself;
2. any request for legal advice on production of a PIA for the Data and Statistics Bil or the
underlying policy proposals, and the advice received in response to such a request;
3. the minutes, and officials handwritten notes, of any meetings at which the decision was
made to not produce a PIA;
4. if the decision not to produce a PIA was taken by an individual, rather than in a meeting,
the record of that decision produced by the decision-maker;
5. correspondence (by email or other means) with any other government department about
producing or not producing a PIA for the proposals and Bil ;
6. correspondence (by email or other means) and notes of meetings with the either the
Privacy Commissioner or anyone working in or for the Privacy Commissioner about (i) the
interaction of the Data and Statistics Bil with the Privacy Act and (i ) producing or not
producing a PIA on the Bil or underlying policy; and
7. correspondence (not including that relating to a formal y notified investigation) with the
Ombudsman or any of his staff relating to the Data and Statistics Bil and notes of any
meeting with the Ombudsman or his staff.
As you are aware, Stats NZ has developed the Data and Statistics Bil (the Bil ) to update the
Statistics Act 1975 (the Act). The Act was designed in the 1970s for a largely paper-based
environment, and is inconsistent with the modern data environment and legislative approach,
including data and statistical best practice, domestical y and international y.
The Bil provides a modern legislative framework that can support a wel -functioning data and
statistics system making the best use of data col ected and held by government, while
ensuring private and confidential information is held securely and used appropriately.
In March 2020, Cabinet agreed to a suite of policy changes and the drafting of a Data and
Statistics Bil to replace the Act. In April 2021, Cabinet agreed to updated and modernised
offences and penalties, and supplementary policy proposals.
The latest version of the Bil is publicly available on the Parliamentary Counsel Office – Te
Tari Tohutohu Pāremata website here:
www.legislation.govt.nz/bil /government/2021/0081/latest/LMS418574.html.
The Bil was informed by a review of Statistics legislation and public consultation. It intends to:
recognise the Crown's responsibility to consider and provide for Māori interests in data
and statistics
enable more effective leadership of the official statistics system
strengthen and future-proof the framework for col ecting data for official statistics
modernise the framework for accessing data for research
continue to provide appropriate safeguards and protections to ensure public trust and
confidence in the col ection and use of data for official statistics and research.
The Bil has been before the Governance and Administration Committee (the Committee). A
final report of the Committee is now publicly available on the Parliament website here:
www.parliament.nz/en/pb/sc/reports/document/SCR_122725/data-and-statistics-bil .
In response to points one to six of your request, please be advised that Stats NZ did not
consider a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) to be necessary, as while the Bil modernises
the Statistics Act 1975 to reflect current practice, it does so while essential y maintaining the
confidentiality and privacy requirements of the 1975 Act.
Stats NZ is confident it has taken a suitable approach to assess the Bil ’s impacts on privacy
as part of policy development and advice to Cabinet. Privacy and confidentiality have been
kept at the forefront of considerations at al stages of the Bil ’s development. Stats NZ has
worked closely with Parliamentary Counsel and consulted relevant agencies. Cabinet papers
published on the Stats NZ website show how privacy and confidentiality have been central
considerations in our advice on the Bil : www.stats.govt.nz/corporate/cabinet-papers-new-
data-and-statistics-legislation-policy-proposals.
Stats NZ has also been in communication and consulted with the Office of the Privacy
Commissioner (OPC) throughout the Bil ’s development to ensure an independent, external
and expert voice on the Privacy considerations of the Bil .
It may interest you to read the Privacy Commissioner’s Submission to the Governance and
Administration Committee on the Data and Statistics Bil (81-1), which is publicly available
here: www.privacy.org.nz/assets/New-order/Resources-/Publications/Reports-to-Parliament-
and-Government-/2022-04-05-Select-Committee-Submission-on-Data-and-Statistics-Bil -
A787034-002.pdf.
Stats NZ considers that this approach has been responsive and comprehensive. We note that
PIAs, as a tool, usual y focus on specific operational details such as how personal information
is to be col ected, stored, and used for specific projects or initiatives - and such details are not
specified in the Bil .
Stats NZ routinely undertakes PIAs whenever it makes substantive changes to the way it
col ects or uses personal information – e.g., when adding data to our integrated databases
and when sourcing administrative data. This practice wil continue if the Bil becomes law.
Many of these assessments are on our website here: www.stats.govt.nz/privacy-impact-
assessments/, along with an overarching PIA carried out for our integrated database here:
www.stats.govt.nz/integrated-data/integrated-data-infrastructure/.
2
Because Stats NZ did not intend to produce a PIA during the development stages of the Bil ,
no such correspondence, briefings, advice, aide-memoires, notes, minutes or any other record
exists about the production of a PIA, including advice, decisions, or reasons why a PIA was
not produced. On this basis, points one to six are refused under 18(e) of the OIA as the
information does not exist.
To meet the intent of your request, I have enclosed email correspondence (and the
attachments) pertaining to consultations with relevant stakeholders on the privacy
considerations of the Bil .
Please note, Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) and New Zealand
Security Intel igence Service (NZSIS) staff identities are protected in the interests of national
security. This is codified in section 227 of the Intel igence and Security Act 2017, which makes
it an offence to publish or broadcast the names of NZSIS and GCSB employees (with the
exception of the Director-Generals). In accordance with the OIA, these details are withheld
under section 6(a) – as making this information available would prejudice the security or
defense of New Zealand or the international relations of the Government of New Zealand.
Please note, some mobile phone numbers of some individuals are withheld under section
9(2)(a) of the Act in order to protect the privacy of natural persons. The need to protect the
privacy of these individuals outweighs the public interest in this information.
In response to point seven of your request, please find enclosed al correspondence between
Stats NZ and the Office of the Ombudsman in relation to proposed changes to the Bil .
With regard to your concerns around part 5 of the Bil , please note, the OIA provides some
protection to personal or commercial y sensitive information by giving agencies responding to
an OIA request some discretion to withhold information, and enabling them to apply non-
enforceable conditions in relation to an OIA response. However, the OIA does not apply to the
proactive release of information, nor does it require sensitive information to be kept
confidential.
The Bil provides a higher level of protection for data col ected for the purposes of official
statistics and research under the Bil , by imposing strong non-negotiable confidentiality
requirements on Stats NZ and researchers seeking to access it. This means, people can be
confident that data provided to Stats NZ wil be protected. The OIA applies as normal to other
information created or col ected by Stats NZ in the operation of their functions (e.g., decision
making documents).
A more fulsome explanation wil be proactively released in Stats NZ’s departmental report,
which wil soon be made available on the Parliament website here:
www.parliament.nz/en/pb/bil s-and-laws/bil s-proposed-laws/document/BILL_116197/data-
and-statistics-bil .
If you are not satisfied with this response, you have the right to seek an investigation and
review by the Ombudsman. Information about how to make a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or 0800 802 602.
3
It is Stats NZ’s policy to proactively release its responses to official information requests where
possible. This letter, with your personal details removed, wil be published on the Stats NZ
website. Publishing responses creates greater openness and transparency of government
decision-making and helps better inform public understanding of the reasons for decisions.
Ngā mihi nui, nā
Christy Law
General Manager, External and Government Relations
Office of the Chief Executive
4
