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Privacy Act 2020

Access to and correction of personal information - Access to personal information

51: Security, defence, international relations as reason for refusing access to personal information

You could also call this:

"When you ask for personal info, it might be kept secret to protect New Zealand's safety or friendships with other countries."

Illustration for Privacy Act 2020

If you ask for personal information, an agency can refuse to give it to you if they think it would harm New Zealand's security or defence. This can also happen if they think it would affect New Zealand's relationships with other countries. You can find more information about this in the Privacy Act 2020, which is related to an earlier law, the Privacy Act 1993.

An agency might also refuse to give you personal information if they think it would harm the security or defence of some other places, like the Cook Islands or Niue. They can also refuse if they think it would affect relationships between the governments of New Zealand, the Cook Islands, and Niue.

The agency has to consider these things when you ask for personal information, and they can refuse to give it to you if they think it would cause any of these problems, as stated in section 51 of the Privacy Act 2020.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS23395.

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Part 4Access to and correction of personal information
Access to personal information

51Security, defence, international relations as reason for refusing access to personal information

  1. An agency may refuse access to any personal information requested if the disclosure of the information would be likely—

  2. to prejudice the security or defence of New Zealand or the international relations of the Government of New Zealand; or
    1. to prejudice the entrusting of information to the Government of New Zealand on a basis of confidence by—
      1. the Government of any other country or any agency of the Government of any other country; or
        1. any international organisation; or
        2. to prejudice the security or defence of—
          1. the Cook Islands; or
            1. Niue; or
              1. Tokelau; or
                1. the Ross Dependency; or
                2. to prejudice relations between any of the Governments of—
                  1. New Zealand:
                    1. the Cook Islands:
                      1. Niue; or
                      2. to prejudice the international relations of the Government of—
                        1. the Cook Islands; or
                          1. Niue.

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