Sir Bruce Houlton Slane KNZM, CBE, LLB practiced law in New Zealand for almost 50 years, including 11 years as the country’s first Privacy Commissioner.

The Wellington High Court's decision to classify Nicky Hager as a journalist in relation to the publication of Dirty Politics, and therefore entitled to assert privilege under s.68 of the Evidence Act 2006 echoes our Office’s decision to do the same, in a complaint made against him by blogger Cameron Slater. This is important because the Privacy Act only applies to agencies – and the definition of “agency” excludes “ in relation to its news activities, any news medium.”  Journalists working in their capacity in the news media do not come under my office’s remit. 

We’ve been grappling with a difficult question recently, and one that’s featured in New Zealand’s courts too. What is and isn’t news media and when should the Privacy Act apply?