Office of the Privacy Commissioner
PO Box 10094, The Terrace, Wel ington 6143
Level 11, 215 Lambton Quay
Wellington, New Zealand
P +64 4 474 7590 F +64 4 474 7595
E [email address]
0800 803 909 Enquiries
privacy.org.nz
30 May 2024
B Stewart
By email only to:
[FYI request #26997 email]
Tēnā koe
Official Information Act Request (Our Ref: OIA/0361)
I refer to your Of icial Information Act request received on 27 May 2024 requesting information
about the exercise of the Privacy Commissioner’s powers under the Privacy Act 2020.
You have asked about the numbers of times the enforcement powers introduced by the 2020
Act have been exercised, in particular access directions and compliance notices.
You have also asked for confirmation about the exercise of other powers under the Privacy
Act.
My response
Your request is granted as set out below.
Access directions – one access direction was issued as referred to in a decision of the Human
Rights Review Tribunal -
Sheehan v Bad Tenants Facebook Group (Access Order) [2022]
NZHRRT 37.
Compliance notices – two compliance notices have been issued under section 123. These
relate to the Reserve Bank (September 2021) and the NZ Police (December 2021). We have
also issued two draft compliance notices under s124(3) – one in October 2023 and one in
February 2024.
Other powers under the Privacy Act
(a) Grant of authorisation under s 30 - one authorisation was granted to the Department of
Corrections in June 2021.
(b) Grant of authorisation under s 67 (charging) - no authorisations have been granted.
(c) Report breach of duty or misconduct under s 96 - no breaches have been reported.
(d) Commencement of a prosecution, or referral to police, in relation to any offence under the
Act - no referrals have been made to the Police and no prosecutions have been commenced.
OIA/0361/A978709
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(e) Commencement of enforcement proceedings under s 130 - no enforcement proceedings
have been commenced.
(f) Issue of a transfer prohibition notice under s 193 - no transfer prohibition notices have been
issued.
I trust this provides you with the information sought. If you are not satisfied with this response,
under section 28 of the Official Information Act 1982 you have the right to ask the Ombudsman
to investigate and review my decision on your request, although we would appreciate the
opportunity to discuss this with you first.
Nāku iti noa, nā
Liz MacPherson
Deputy Privacy Commissioner
OIA/0361/A978709