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Deepfake Digital Harm and Exploitation Bill

Amendments to Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015

6: Section 4 amended (Interpretation)

You could also call this:

"What is meant by intimate visual recordings is being updated in the law"

Illustration for Deepfake Digital Harm and Exploitation Bill

The proposed law change affects what is meant by an intimate visual recording. You will be considered part of an intimate visual recording if you are in a recording that was created, synthesised, or altered without your knowledge or consent. This includes recordings where you appear naked or are doing private activities like showering or using the toilet. The law change also explains what a subject is in relation to an intimate visual recording. You are a subject if you are the person featured or depicted in the recording. This change is part of a bigger bill to update the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015, which is being amended by the Deepfake Digital Harm and Exploitation Bill.

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This page was last updated on 27 October 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS1536426.

Topics:

Crime and justice > Criminal lawRights and equality > Anti-discriminationRights and equality > Privacy

5: Principal Act, or

"Changes to the Harmful Digital Communications Act"

Part 2Amendments to Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015

6Section 4 amended (Interpretation)

In section 4, definition of intimate visual recording, after paragraph (a) insert:
includes a visual recording that has been created, synthesised, or altered without the knowledge or consent of the person who is the subject of the recording, and appears to show the person—
1. naked or with their genitals, pubic area, buttocks, or female breasts exposed, partially exposed, or clad solely in undergarments; or
2. engaged in an intimate sexual activity; or
3. engaged in showering, toileting, or other personal bodily activity that involves dressing or undressing.
In section 4, insert in its appropriate alphabetical order:
subject, in relation to an intimate visual recording, means an individual who is, or appears to be, featured or depicted in the recording