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Privacy Act 2020

Notifiable privacy breaches and compliance notices - Compliance notices - Proceedings

131: Appeal against compliance notice or Commissioner’s decision to vary or cancel notice

You could also call this:

"Challenging a compliance notice: how to appeal a decision you don't agree with"

Illustration for Privacy Act 2020

If you get a compliance notice, you can appeal to the Tribunal against all or part of the notice. You can also appeal if the Commissioner decides to vary or cancel the notice. You must lodge your appeal within 15 working days from the day you got the notice or the decision.

The Tribunal can allow your appeal and order a remedy if they think the notice or decision was not in accordance with the law. They can also allow your appeal if they think the Commissioner should have made a different decision. The Tribunal can review the facts that the notice or decision was based on.

The Tribunal cannot cancel or modify a notice just because the breach was unintentional or the agency has taken steps to fix the problem. However, they can consider these factors when making their decision, as stated in section 133(1)(b).

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS23524.

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"What happens if you don't follow a compliance notice about fixing a privacy problem"

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"Stopping a compliance notice while you appeal"

Part 6Notifiable privacy breaches and compliance notices
Compliance notices: Proceedings

131Appeal against compliance notice or Commissioner’s decision to vary or cancel notice

  1. An agency that has been issued with a compliance notice may appeal to the Tribunal—

  2. against all or part of the notice; or
    1. against a decision by the Commissioner to vary or cancel the notice.

      1. An appeal must be lodged within 15 working days from the day on which the compliance notice is issued or the notice of the decision is given to the agency.

      2. The Tribunal may allow an appeal and order a remedy under section 133(1)(b) if it considers that—

      3. the compliance notice or decision against which the appeal is brought is not in accordance with the law; or
        1. to the extent that the compliance notice or decision involved an exercise of discretion by the Commissioner, the Commissioner ought to have exercised that discretion differently; or
          1. the agency has fully complied with the compliance notice.

            1. The Tribunal may review any determination of fact on which the compliance notice or decision was based.

            2. The Tribunal must not cancel or modify a compliance notice for the reason that—

            3. the breach was unintentional or without negligence on the part of the agency; or
              1. the agency has taken steps to remedy the breach, unless there is no further reasonable step that the agency can take to do so.

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