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Privacy Act 2020

Miscellaneous provisions - Liability and offences

212: Offences

You could also call this:

"Breaking the Privacy Act 2020 can get you in trouble and cost you up to $10,000."

Illustration for Privacy Act 2020

If you break the Privacy Act 2020, you can get in trouble. You might have to pay a fine of up to $10,000 if you stop the Commissioner or someone else from doing their job under this Act without a good reason. You can also get in trouble if you do not do what the Commissioner or someone else asks you to do under this Act without a good reason.

If you give false or misleading information to the Commissioner or someone else, you can get in trouble. You can also get in trouble if you pretend to have authority under this Act when you do not, or if you impersonate someone to get their personal information.

If you destroy documents with personal information when someone has asked to see that information under subpart 1 of Part 4, you can get in trouble and have to pay a fine of up to $10,000.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS23701.

Topics:
Rights and equality > PrivacyCrime and justice > Criminal law
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Part 9Miscellaneous provisions
Liability and offences

212Offences

  1. A person commits an offence against this Act and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 if the person,—

  2. without reasonable excuse, obstructs, hinders, or resists the Commissioner or any other person in the exercise of their powers under this Act:
    1. without reasonable excuse, refuses or fails to comply with any lawful requirement of the Commissioner or any other person under this Act.

      1. A person commits an offence against this Act and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 if the person—

      2. makes any statement or gives any information to the Commissioner or any other person exercising powers under this Act, knowing that the statement or information is false or misleading:
        1. represents directly or indirectly that they hold any authority under this Act when they do not hold that authority:
          1. misleads an agency by impersonating an individual, or falsely pretending to be an individual or to be acting under the authority of an individual, for the purpose of—
            1. obtaining access to that individual’s personal information:
              1. having that individual’s personal information used, altered, or destroyed:
              2. destroys any document containing personal information, knowing that a request has been made in respect of that information under subpart 1 of Part 4.

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