17 October 2022
45 Pipitea Street, Wel ington 6011
Phone +64 4 495 7200
dia.govt.nz
J Bruning
[FYI request #20587 email]
Tēnā koe
OIA request 22/23 0235 - Request for information on digital identity
Thank you for your Official Information Act (Act) request received by the Department of Internal
Affairs (Department) on 16 September 2022.
You requested –
1. Please provide a list of all private sector institutions (corporate and non-government,
including advisory/management consultancy services) that are currently under contract
to provide a service to advise the DIA concerning strategic, policy and technical
operations; or currently engaged in, the maintenance and development of the DIA's
identity verification service. This includes e-government, e-banking, biometric, GPS
tracking and surveil ance, e-commerce, business intel igence, investigation and national
security functions.
2. Please supply a sample copy of agreements/memorandum of understanding signed by
development partners/ service providers which state the terms of reference for
partnership/engagement in consultancy/work with the DIA's identity verification service
3. Please confirm which forms of biometric data are currently held by the DIA identity
verification service (for some accounts): facial imagery, iris scans, DNA and finger prints.
In response to your request, I can provide you with the fol owing information.
Question one
Datacom is currently engaged in the maintenance and development of the RealMe Identity
Verification Service. In addition, there are several sub-services, provided by SUSH and DAON, for
digital onboarding. Another important component is the Verified Identity Source Interface
which supports data integration for supporting issuance, this is provided by DXC.
There are currently no organisations under contract to provide a service to advise on the
strategic, policy and technical operations of the Department’s identity verification service.
From time to time third parties are contracted for security services, by which they provide
independent security assessments or advice. In the past, there has also been the use of third
parties for external testing of onboarding/liveness. However again, there are currently no
organisations under contract for either of these matters.
It is important to note that occasionally, specific branches within the Department wil be
engaged to provide their support on matters, such as legal, privacy and technical operations.
Question two
We attempted to clarify this portion of your request on 22 September 2022, you confirmed on 4
October 2022 that this request does not require amending.
In turn, we have interpreted this portion of your request to be for a sample copy of an
agreement. Please refer to Appendix A, attached, for a copy of the Services Agreement between
the Department and DAON (Australia) PTY Limited.
Some information has been withheld under the fol owing sections of the Act:
• 9(2)(a) – to protect the privacy of natural persons, including that of deceased natural
persons.
• 9(2)(b)(ii) – to protect information where the making available of the information would
be likely unreasonably to prejudice the commercial position of the person who supplied
or who is the subject of the information.
• 9(2)(k) – to prevent the disclosure or use of official information for improper gain or
improper advantage.
Question three
The biometric data that is held by the Department includes facial images and liveness testing
information which is part of the process for a RealMe verified identity. Should you be interested
you can find the RealMe Identity Verification Service Privacy Statement on the RealMe website,
https://www.realme.govt.nz/privacy/identity-verification-service-privacy-statement/. Here you
will find detailed information on what is collected as part of a RealMe verified identity
application.
As this information may be of interest to other members of the public, the Department has
decided to proactively release a copy of this response on the DIA website. Al requestor data,
including your name and contact details, will be removed prior to release. The released
response will be made available here
: https://www.dia.govt.nz/Official-Information-Act-
Requests-2.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this decision.
Information about how to make a complaint is available at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or
freephone 0800 802 602.
Ngā mihi
Justin Rowlands
General Manager Te Pou Manawa Partners and Products
Service Delivery and Operations
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