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Principle 3 means that organisations should be open about why they are collecting personal information and what they will do with it. This principle is about helping people understand the reasons you are collecting their information.
When an organisation collects personal information, it must take reasonable steps to make sure that the person knows:
Sometimes there may be good reasons for not letting a person know about the collection – for example, if it would undermine the purpose of the collection to protect law enforcement investigations, or it’s just not possible to tell the person.
Further information
Case notes
Court decisions
L v J (1999) Decision 9/99, CRT 21/98
L v L (2001) Decision 15/01, CRT 11/01
L v L (High Court, Auckland, AP95-SW01, 31 May 2002, Harrison J)
Privacy Act 2020 reference
| Information privacy principle 3 | |||
| Collection of information from subject | |||
| (1) |
If an agency collects personal information from the individual concerned, the agency must take any steps that are, in the circumstances, reasonable to ensure that the individual concerned is aware of— |
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| (a) |
the fact that the information is being collected; and |
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| (b) |
the purpose for which the information is being collected; and |
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| (c) |
the intended recipients of the information; and |
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| (d) |
the name and address of— |
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| (i) |
the agency that is collecting the information; and |
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| (ii) |
the agency that will hold the information; and |
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| (e) |
if the collection of the information is authorised or required by or under law,— |
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| (i) |
the particular law by or under which the collection of the information is authorised or required; and |
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| (ii) |
whether the supply of the information by that individual is voluntary or mandatory; and |
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| (f) |
the consequences (if any) for that individual if all or any part of the requested information is not provided; and |
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| (g) |
the rights of access to, and correction of, information provided by the IPPs. |
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| (2) |
The steps referred to in subclause (1) must be taken before the information is collected or, if that is not practicable, as soon as practicable after the information is collected. |
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| (3) |
An agency is not required to take the steps referred to in subclause (1) in relation to the collection of information from an individual if the agency has taken those steps on a recent previous occasion in relation to the collection, from that individual, of the same information or information of the same kind. |
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| (4) |
It is not necessary for an agency to comply with subclause (1) if the agency believes, on reasonable grounds,— |
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| (a) |
that non-compliance would not prejudice the interests of the individual concerned; or |
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| (b) |
that non-compliance is necessary— |
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| (i) |
to avoid prejudice to the maintenance of the law by any public sector agency, including prejudice to the prevention, detection, investigation, prosecution, and punishment of offences; or |
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| (ii) |
for the enforcement of a law that imposes a pecuniary penalty; or |
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| (iii) |
for the protection of public revenue; or |
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| (iv) |
for the conduct of proceedings before any court or tribunal (being proceedings that have been commenced or are reasonably in contemplation); or |
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| (c) |
that compliance would prejudice the purposes of the collection; or |
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| (d) |
that compliance is not reasonably practicable in the circumstances of the particular case; or |
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| (e) |
that the information— |
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| (i) |
will not be used in a form in which the individual concerned is identified; or |
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| (ii) |
will be used for statistical or research purposes and will not be published in a form that could reasonably be expected to identify the individual concerned. |
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