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New Zealand law explained for everyone

Privacy Act 2020

Sharing, accessing, and matching personal information - Information sharing

137: Relationship between subpart 1 and other law relating to information disclosure

You could also call this:

“How information sharing rules work with other laws”

This part of the law explains how the rules for sharing information relate to other laws. You should know that:

The rules in this part don’t stop you from sharing personal information if other laws say you can or must share it. You also don’t have to make a special agreement to share information if you’re already allowed to do it under other laws or if you don’t need to change any privacy rules to share the information legally.

This part of the law works alongside other parts of the law about sharing information. They don’t cancel each other out.

If you want to make an agreement to share information, you can do a few things:

You can make an agreement that’s the same as what other laws already allow. This means you can agree to share the same information, with the same people, for the same reasons that other laws already permit.

You can also expand on what other laws allow, but only if those laws don’t have strict limits. You might agree to share the same information for new reasons, or with new people, or both.

If a law has strict limits on sharing information, you can only make an agreement that follows those same strict rules. You can only expand on these strict rules if the law specifically allows it or if it’s about matching information as defined in section 177.

The law also explains some terms:

An “information sharing provision” is a rule in any law (except this one) that lets or makes agencies share personal information with each other for specific reasons.

A “restricted information sharing provision” is a rule that only lets agencies share personal information for the exact reasons mentioned in that rule.

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 It might be out of date or be missing some parts.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

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS23536.

Topics:
Rights and equality > Privacy
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136: Purpose of this subpart, or

“This section explains why government agencies can share your personal information”

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138: Interpretation, or

“Defines key terms for personal information sharing and access”

Part 7 Sharing, accessing, and matching personal information
Information sharing

137Relationship between subpart 1 and other law relating to information disclosure

  1. To avoid doubt, nothing in this subpart—

  2. limits the collection, use, or disclosure of personal information that is authorised or required by or under any enactment; or
    1. compels agencies to enter into an information sharing agreement if those agencies are already allowed to share personal information—
      1. by or under any other enactment; or
        1. because an exemption from or a modification to 1 or more of the IPPs or any code of practice is not required to make the sharing of the information lawful.

        2. This subpart and subparts 2 to 4 do not limit one another.

        3. An information sharing agreement may—

        4. duplicate an information sharing provision by providing for an agency to share the same personal information specified in the information sharing provision—
          1. with the same agencies specified in the information sharing provision; and
            1. for the same purposes specified in the information sharing provision; or
            2. extend an information sharing provision that is not a restricted information sharing provision by providing for an agency to share the same personal information specified in the information sharing provision—
              1. with the same agencies specified in the information sharing provision for a purpose not specified in the information sharing provision; or
                1. with an agency not specified in the information sharing provision for a purpose specified in the information sharing provision; or
                  1. with an agency not specified in the information sharing provision and for a purpose not specified in the information sharing provision; or
                  2. duplicate a restricted information sharing provision by providing for an agency to share the same personal information as specified in the restricted information sharing provision—
                    1. with the same agencies specified in the restricted information sharing provision; and
                      1. for the same purposes specified in the restricted information sharing provision; or
                      2. extend in any manner specified in paragraph (b) a restricted information sharing provision, but only if—
                        1. the restricted information sharing provision is an information matching provision (as defined in section 177); or
                          1. there is express statutory authorisation to do so.

                          2. In subsection (3),—

                            information sharing provision means a provision in any enactment other than this Act that authorises or requires the sharing of personal information by an agency with 1 or more other agencies for 1 or more specified purposes

                              restricted information sharing provision means an information sharing provision that expressly restricts the purposes for which the personal information may be shared to those purposes specified.

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