Once passed, the Bill will repeal and replace the existing 25-year-old Privacy Act. The Bill is an attempt to reflect the vast changes in technology that have occurred during recent decades and to better align New Zealand’s privacy law with international developments.
The Bill stipulates that the changes will come into force on 1 July 2019. This date may need to be updated during the legislative process as a 6 months’ transitional period is also proposed under the Bill.
You can read the full text of the Bill here.
Key changes made in the Bill
The Bill implements most of the Law Commission’s recommendations made in 2011. Key changes under the Bill include:
The Privacy Commissioner’s response to the Bill
While the Privacy Commissioner welcomed the timely introduction of the Bill, he also argued in a Privacy Commission blog post for additional civil enforcement powers and to shift the privacy functions of the Director of Human Rights Proceedings into the Privacy Commission office in order to streamline the privacy complaints process.
If you would like a specific briefing on the Bill, or what it may mean for your business, please contact Hayley Miller, Hayden Wilson, Amy Jardine or Campbell Featherstone or contact the Corporate and Commercial Team on CorporateAndCommercial@kensingtonswan.com or our Banking and Financial Markets team on financialmarkets@kensingtonswan.com.
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