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Intelligence and Security Act 2017

Authorisations - Unauthorised, irrelevant, and incidentally obtained information

104: Retention of incidentally obtained information

You could also call this:

"Keeping information that spy agencies find by accident, to help keep people safe"

Illustration for Intelligence and Security Act 2017

If you are the boss of an intelligence and security agency in New Zealand, you can keep information that you got by accident. You can only keep it to show to certain people. These people are employees of the New Zealand Police, members of the New Zealand Defence Force, or other public authorities that you think should see the information. You can only show them the information if you think it will help stop serious crime, save someone's life, keep New Zealand or another country safe, or prevent someone's death outside of any country's borders.

You have to believe that showing the information to these people will really make a difference. The information must be shown to them for a good reason, like the ones mentioned earlier. You can find more information about this by looking at the Intelligence and Security Act and other related laws.

If you get information by accident, you must be careful about what you do with it. You can only use it for the reasons mentioned earlier. This is an important part of being the boss of an intelligence and security agency in New Zealand.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM7061305.

Topics:
Crime and justice > Police and safetyGovernment and voting > Government departments
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103: Destruction of irrelevant information, or

"Getting rid of information that spy agencies don't need anymore"

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"Things taken by security agencies must be returned after they're done with them, unless there's a good reason not to."

Part 4Authorisations
Unauthorised, irrelevant, and incidentally obtained information

104Retention of incidentally obtained information

  1. The Director-General of an intelligence and security agency may retain any incidentally obtained information that comes into the possession of the agency only for the purpose of disclosing it to a person specified in subsection (2) in the circumstances specified in subsection (3).

  2. The persons are—

  3. any employee of the New Zealand Police:
    1. any member of the New Zealand Defence Force:
      1. any public authority (whether in New Zealand or overseas) that the Director-General considers should receive the information.

        1. The circumstances are that the Director-General has reasonable grounds to believe that the disclosure of the information to a person specified in subsection (2) may assist in—

        2. preventing or detecting serious crime in New Zealand or any other country:
          1. preventing or responding to threats to the life of any person in New Zealand or any other country:
            1. identifying, preventing, or responding to threats or potential threats to the security or defence of New Zealand or any other country:
              1. preventing the death of any person who is outside the territorial jurisdiction of any country.

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