Kia ora Joshua

 

Please see the attached response to your OIA request below.

Ngâ Mihi,

Aakaansha Lal | Advisor, Ministerial and Official Correspondence

Ministerial Monitoring Group | Policy and Te Tiriti
Te Tari Taiwhenua | Department of Internal Affairs
45 Pipitea Street|PO Box 805, Wellington 6140, New Zealand

 

 

 

From: Joshua Riley <[1][FOI #34239 email]>

Sent: Wednesday, 25 March 2026 1:15 pm

To: OIA <[2][DIA request email]>

Subject: Official Information request - Follow-up to OIA 2526-0812 (Age
Verification Privacy Planning)

 

[You don't often get email from
[3][FOI #34239 email]. Learn why this is
important at [4]https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentific... ]

 

Thank you for your response dated March 23, 2026 (Ref: OIA 2526-0812), and
for the release of the internal email dated December 12, 2025, from John
Michael to Nick Law (Document 1).

 

This document confirms that the DIA Digital Safety Team was directly
advised by the Australian Attorney-General’s office that the privacy
implications of an under-16 social media ban are "significant and should
be factored into any planning that NZ does for a similar ban."

 

Pursuant to the Official Information Act 1982, I am submitting a follow-up
request to understand exactly how the Department acted upon this explicit
warning from our international partners.

 

Please provide the following information and documents:

 

1. The "Five Country Working Group"

The released email references a "five country working group" that Nick Law
and a redacted individual sit on.

 

Please provide the formal name of this working group, its Terms of
Reference (or equivalent founding document/mandate), and a list of the
specific countries involved (if different from the standard 'Five Eyes'
partnership).

 

Furthermore, I request information detailing the extent to which this
specific working group has been involved in discussions, intelligence
sharing, or policy development regarding minimum age restrictions for
social media. Please provide any meeting agendas, minutes, briefing notes,
or shared policy documents circulated within or generated by this group
since October 1, 2023, that specifically address age verification
mandates, device-level vs. provider-level implementation, or youth social
media bans.

 

2. Follow-up Correspondence and Actions

 

Please provide copies of any direct replies, forwarded threads, or
subsequent correspondence stemming from the December 12, 2025 email sent
by John Michael (Subject: "Under 16").

 

Please provide any further correspondence or meeting minutes between the
DIA Digital Safety Team and the Australian Attorney-General’s office or
the Australian eSafety Commissioner occurring after December 12, 2025,
regarding age verification or the social media ban.

 

3. Privacy Planning and Implementation

The Australian counterpart advised that privacy "should be factored into
any planning that NZ does."

 

Please provide copies of any subsequent internal memos, briefings, risk
registers, or aides-mémoire produced by the DIA Digital Safety Team or
Regulation and Identity Services that discuss how to factor these privacy
risks into New Zealand's approach to age verification.

 

Please provide any draft or finalized Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs)
regarding the proposed social media age restrictions or related
age-assurance technologies initiated since October 1, 2024.

 

If you intend to refuse any part of this request under section 9 of the
OIA, please ensure you clearly state the specific sub-section relied upon
and explain why the public interest in the safe handling of New
Zealanders' data does not outweigh the need to withhold the information.

 

I look forward to your response within the statutory 20 working days.

 

References

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