A7.55 Guidelines for withholding information

Privacy Act 1993 ss 27, 28, 29, 32, 44, Parts V and VIII

1. The reasons for withholding information include (but are not limited to):
   1. disclosure would be likely to prejudice the maintenance of the law, including preventing, investigating and detecting offences, and the right to a fair trial (this includes information that would be likely to identify informants, or restricted information in the Operations Manual such as risk profiles); or
   2. disclosure would involve the unwarranted disclosure of the affairs of another individual ; or
   3. disclosure would breach legal professional privilege (the confidentiality of dealings between client and lawyer, including requests for legal advice, the advice itself, any reference to the legal advice); or
   4. disclosure would be likely to prejudice New Zealand's security or defence or the international relations of the New Zealand Government; or
   5. disclosure would be likely to prejudice the entrusting of confidential information to the New Zealand Government by other governments or international organisations (it MAY be possible to release a summary of the information but withhold the identity of the source); or
   6. release would disclose a trade secret or would be likely unreasonably to prejudice the commercial position of the person supplying or who is the subject of the information; and there are no countervailing public interest considerations, or(vii) the information is not readily retrievable or does not exist or cannot be found (this can only be used after a thorough, fully documented search has been made).
   7. disclosure would be likely to endanger the safety of any individual (based on the past behaviour of the person likely to cause the danger).
   8. disclosure would constitute contempt of Court or of the House of Representatives (for example, where a Court has made an order prohibiting publication of a person's name or other details).
2. Certain personal information is also excluded from disclosure such as information contained in any communication between the Office of the Ombudsmen and the NZIS, or the Office of the Privacy Commissioner and the NZIS relating to any investigation under the Ombudsmen Act, the Official Information Act or the Privacy Act.

Effective 26/07/1999