Privacy Act 2020

Preliminary provisions - Preliminary matters

4: Application of this Act

You could also call this:

"Who this privacy law applies to and what they must do"

This Act applies to you if you are a New Zealand agency, an overseas agency doing business in New Zealand, or an individual not living in New Zealand. You must follow the rules in this Act when you collect or hold personal information. It does not matter where you collected the information or where the person the information is about lives.

If you are an overseas agency, you are considered to be doing business in New Zealand even if you do not have a physical office here or make a profit. You can still be doing business in New Zealand even if you do not get paid for the goods or services you provide. The rules in this Act also apply to courts when they are making decisions.

There is a special part of this Act, section 212, that applies to everyone, including New Zealand agencies, overseas agencies, and individuals in New Zealand. It also applies to people outside New Zealand if they do something in New Zealand that breaks the rules in section 212. Another part of this Act, Subpart 3 of Part 7, applies to courts when they are making decisions.

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This page was last updated on 6 October 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS300952.

Topics:

Rights and equality > Privacy

3: Purpose of this Act, or

"This Act outlines how your privacy is protected and aligns with global standards"

5: Transitional, savings, and related provisions, or

"Rules for managing changes when the Privacy Act 2020 comes into effect"

Part 1Preliminary provisions
Preliminary matters

4Application of this Act

This Act (except section 212) applies to—
a New Zealand agency (A), in relation to any action taken by A (whether or not while A is, or was, present in New Zealand) in respect of personal information collected or held by A:
an overseas agency (B), in relation to any action taken by B in the course of carrying on business in New Zealand in respect of personal information collected or held by B:
an individual (C) who is not ordinarily resident in New Zealand, in relation to any action taken by C in respect of—
1. personal information collected by C while present in New Zealand, regardless of where the information is subsequently held by C or where the individual to whom the information relates is, or was, located:
2. personal information held by C while present in New Zealand (but not collected by C while present in New Zealand), regardless of where the individual to whom the information relates is, or was, located.

For the purposes of subsection (1)(a) and (b), it does not matter—
where the personal information is, or was, collected by the agency; or
where the personal information is held by the agency; or
where the individual concerned is, or was, located.

For the purposes of subsection (1)(b), an agency may be treated as carrying on business in New Zealand without necessarily—
being a commercial operation; or
having a place of business in New Zealand; or
receiving any monetary payment for the supply of goods or services; or
intending to make a profit from its business in New Zealand.

Subpart 3 of Part 7 also applies to a court in relation to its judicial functions.
Section 212 applies to—
a New Zealand agency:
an overseas agency:
an individual who is present in New Zealand:
a person who is outside New Zealand if—
1. any act or omission forming part of any offence under section 212 occurs in New Zealand; or
2. any event necessary to the completion of any offence under section 212 occurs in New Zealand.