About OPC
It’s our job to regulate the Privacy Act 2020 and make sure agencies (businesses and organisations) know what rules they need to follow. We also help individuals whose privacy has been breached and educate New Zealanders about their privacy rights.
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) is an Independent Crown Entity. We are funded by the state but are independent of Government or ministerial control.
About privacy
Privacy means different things to different people. A right to privacy can mean a right to be left alone, a right to control who sees information about you, or a right to make decisions about your personal life without government intervention. The value of a right to privacy can also vary depending on circumstances, cultural context, time and personal preference. Although privacy is important, it is not absolute. Other social interests can be more important than privacy in some instances, such as preventing crime, ensuring safety, and ensuring that courts get information to make their decisions.
OPC works to develop and promote a culture in which personal information is protected and respected.
How OPC fits together
We have seven teams across our workforce, who work together but also on their own distinct tasks.
- Investigations and Dispute Resolution work with people who’ve had their privacy breached. They investigate what happened, what needs to happen, and help both parties in the breach resolve it.
- Compliance are the people working with agencies (businesses and organisations) who’ve had a privacy breach or cyberattack. They help get things sorted by working with the agency. They have a range of options to enforce the Privacy Act
- Policy make sure privacy thinking is part of government work and that New Zealand is moving forward in how privacy is treated. They provide advice, make submissions, and run projects about focus areas like AI, children’s privacy, and biometrics. Read about how to contact our policy team to review and comment on policy and legislative proposals.
- Our Legal Team supports our work with expert advice, and makes legal submissions for the Privacy Commissioner on court cases about evolving privacy issues.
- Guidance and Capability write clear, plain language guidance for how the Privacy Act works in specific scenarios.
- Strategy, Insights and International keep us on track with reporting, data (and what it means) and they keep our relationships with other countries and groups active.
- Communications and Engagement make sure you know what’s going on at OPC. They run the website, media processes, newsletter, brochures, events, social media, and Privacy Week.
We have a Pou Ārahi who leads our Te Ao Māori work. We are all supported by our corporate services team who handle finance, HR, IT, and administration.
Our key areas of work include:
- Making public statements on matters affecting individual privacy.
- Investigating complaints about breaches of privacy.
- Building and promoting an understanding of the privacy principles.
- Monitoring and examining the impact that technology has on privacy.
- Developing codes of practice for specific industries or sectors.
- Examining draft legislation for its possible impact on individual privacy.
- Monitoring data matching programmes between government departments.
- Inquiring into any matter where it appears that individual privacy may be affected.
- Receiving reports of notifiable privacy breaches.
- Monitoring and enforcing compliance with the Privacy Act.
- Reporting to government on matters affecting privacy, both domestic and international.
Our functions
Privacy Commissioners
The current Privacy Commissioner is Michael Webster, CVO who has served since 5 July 2022.
Previous Commissioners were:
- John Edwards (17 February 2014 – 31 December 2021)
- Dame Marie Shroff, DNZM CVO (2003 – February 2014)
- Sir Bruce Slane, KNZM CBE (1993–2003).
