Dear New Zealand Police,

I am a New Zealand citizen and resident in New Zealand, making this request under the Official Information Act.

Please provide:

1. Statistics relating to the number of principle 6 privacy act requests received by Police in the 18 months to 31 July 2022. Include the number of requests received, time to respond with the decision or information, statistics relating to the number of requests which are denied and the reasons for denying which are relied upon, statistics relating to situations where the OPC have required or advised police to release information they tried to withhold
2. Any internal guidance, policies, procedures, decision papers or other material which is or might be used by Police in determining if they are correctly responding to requests and complying with the Privacy Act. For clarity, this includes any material which helps an officer decide to decline or approve a request, what information to release, and what grounds can be relied upon for refusing to release.
3. Any internal escalation or review of this process or decisions made by individuals responding to privacy act requests on police’s behalf
4. Any documentation relating to steps Police take to ensure information they receive is only “linked” to the correct person that information is about. For clarity this includes how police determine the natural person involved and how police ensure the identity information is correct and accurate to an individual.
5. Any documentation relating to how an individual’s identity is confirmed in NIA or other Police applications.
6. Any documentation relating to steps taken by Police to ensure section 6 privacy act requests are only released to the correct person, with particular interest in areas where identity is questionable such as people with the same name and date of birth.

Yours faithfully,

J A Harris

Dear Ministerial Services,

Please provide the the lowest, highest, and average number of working days for response. Please also provide the count of any requests which may have exceeded that highest number of open days and remain open.

It is not necessary to disclose the response time for individual requests.

Yours sincerely,

J A Harris

Dear Ministerial Services,

Please be advised that by law, a response to this request was due promptly and no later than December 02, 2022.

I note that Police have responded to other delayed OIA responses made via the fyi.org.nz website stating responses have in fact been prepared by the due date but are awaiting internal consultation. Police should be reminded that the due date of the response period includes any and all internal consultation required for the response. That is to say, the due date is when it is due to the requester, not when it is due to be ready for consultation or any other milestone.

I look forward to your prompt response and release of the requested information.

Yours sincerely,

J A Harris