Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

 Plain Language Law homepage
Back to
12: Actions of, and disclosure of information to, staff of agency, etc
or “Agency responsibility for staff actions and information”
You could also call this:

“The Privacy Commissioner is a government official who oversees privacy matters”

The Privacy Commissioner is a person who continues to hold this role. You might think of the Privacy Commissioner as a special kind of company, but with only one person in charge. This person is part of the government and follows rules set out in a law called the Crown Entities Act 2004.

The Privacy Commissioner has to follow the rules in the Crown Entities Act 2004, except when the Privacy Act 2020 says something different. This means that while the Privacy Commissioner has to follow most of the rules that other government organisations follow, there might be some special rules just for them in the Privacy Act.

When the Crown Entities Act 2004 talks about a “board,” it means the Privacy Commissioner in this case. This is because the Privacy Commissioner acts alone, rather than having a group of people making decisions.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

Next up: 14: Deputy Privacy Commissioner

or “A second-in-command can be appointed to help run the privacy office”
Next

Part 2 Privacy Commissioner
Appointment of Privacy Commissioner

13Privacy Commissioner

  1. There continues to be a Commissioner called the Privacy Commissioner.

  2. The Commissioner is—

  3. a corporation sole; and
    1. a Crown entity for the purposes of section 7 of the Crown Entities Act 2004; and
      1. the board for the purposes of the Crown Entities Act 2004.

        1. The Crown Entities Act 2004 applies to the Commissioner except to the extent that this Act expressly provides otherwise.

        Compare