Does a search of my bag or other personal property raise any issues under the Privacy Act?

It may. Depending on the circumstances of the search, other laws may directly cover the searching, such as the Search and Surveillance Act 2012(external link).

An agency searching your belongings are likely to be finding out personal information about you and this may raise issues under the Privacy Act and its collection principles. These principles require an agency collecting information to have a lawful purpose for collecting the information, to collect it from you directly unless one of the exceptions applies, and to be fair and lawful in their method of collection.

For example, an employer must have a clear and lawful purpose for undertaking any sort of search of an employee’s belongings. There might have been a spate of thefts at work, or a business might have discovered drug and alcohol use in areas where machinery is being operated.

A business should make sure it has clear written policies that set out under what circumstances it would conduct searches. Similarly, a retailer should display notices to inform customers of the circumstances under which it would request a bag search.

Read an example of a complaint we received about bag searches in a workplace and how we dealt with it(external link).

In a retailor shop context, a shop owner or employee can only carry out a bag search if you agree to it. A bag search includes looking in your bag, as well as emptying its contents. Members of the public have an implied licence to enter shops and similar places open to the public. A shop owner is entitled to impose conditions on entry, which may include requesting a bag check. Shops should have prominent signage explaining their policy to request customer bag searches. But shop workers do not have a right to search your bag, even if it is explained in a sign by the entrance or inside the shop.

As part of the conditions of entry, a shop owner or employee can require people to leave their bags at a counter or outside the shop, and they can ask a person to leave their shop at any time. Read more information in these links:

• Community Law information about shoplifting(external link)
• Police's business crime prevention advice(external link)

If you are concerned that an agency has collected information about you and has breached one of the collection principles, feel free to contact our enquiries team for advice through our online form(external link).

Updated October 2025