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Privacy Act 2020

Sharing, accessing, and matching personal information - Information sharing

144: Form and content of information sharing agreement

You could also call this:

“What to include when writing an information sharing agreement”

An information sharing agreement must be in writing. You need to include specific details in the agreement. You must clearly state the purpose of the agreement. You also need to include the information mentioned in section 146.

The agreement should give an overview of how the information will be shared. It must also explain how people’s privacy will be protected and how any impact on their privacy will be kept to a minimum.

If a New Zealand private company is part of the agreement, you need to say which government agency will handle complaints about privacy issues if the company can’t be held responsible.

The agreement must state that all parties involved will help the Privacy Commissioner or anyone who wants to make a complaint about privacy. This help is to figure out which agency the complaint should be made against.

For agreements made under section 142, you need to choose a lead agency, clearly describe the type of agencies that can be part of the agreement, and include a list that clearly shows which agencies in that group are part of the agreement.

You can also include other things in the agreement if everyone agrees, like how much it will cost and any other processes for sharing information.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS23576.

Topics:
Rights and equality > Privacy
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143: Lead agency, or

“Who's in charge when government agencies share your personal information”

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145: Governor-General may approve information sharing agreement by Order in Council, or

“Governor-General can approve agreements to share information by official order”

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

144Form and content of information sharing agreement

  1. An information sharing agreement must be in writing.

  2. An information sharing agreement must—

  3. specify with due particularity the purpose of the information sharing agreement:
    1. set out the information referred to in section 146:
      1. contain an overview of the operational details about the sharing of information under the agreement:
        1. specify the safeguards that will apply to protect the privacy of individuals and ensure that any interference with their privacy is minimised:
          1. if a party to the agreement is a New Zealand private sector agency, state which public sector agency will be responsible for dealing with complaints about an alleged interference with privacy if the New Zealand private sector agency is unable to be held accountable for those complaints:
            1. state that every party to the agreement must give any reasonable assistance that is necessary in the circumstances to allow the Commissioner or an individual who wishes to make a complaint about an interference with privacy to determine the agency against which the complaint should be made:
              1. if entered into under section 142,—
                1. designate an agency as the lead agency; and
                  1. specify with due particularity the class of agencies to which the agreement may apply; and
                    1. include a schedule that sufficiently identifies the agencies within that class that are parties to the agreement.

                    2. An information sharing agreement may specify any other terms or conditions that the parties may agree to, including—

                    3. the fees and charges that are payable under the agreement; and
                      1. any other business processes relating to the sharing of information under the agreement.

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