1 Feb 2002, 09:00

A woman requested access to personal information held about her by a government ministry. The Ministry advised that no personal information was held about her. The woman was not satisfied with this response and asked me to investigate.

The woman had written an article that prompted the Ministry to request a police inquiry into the possibility of a leak or misuse of official information. The Ministry also conducted its own investigation, but said it held no written information about the woman. As the Ministry was able to provide a summary to me of the events surrounding its investigation, I decided to investigate the nature of the information, if any, that it held. I formed the opinion that the Ministry did hold personal information about the woman.

Definition of 'personal information'

Personal information is defined in section 2 of the Privacy Act 1993 as 'information about an identifiable individual'. It does not state that the information must be in any particular form and, in my view, it can include information about an individual that is held in a person's memory, provided that the information is readily retrievable.

Although the Ministry did not have documented information concerning the investigation, the staff involved were able to recollect sufficient details to enable the Ministry to give me a summary report. I formed the view that, even though the information was not recorded on paper, the Ministry did hold personal information about the woman and that the information was 'readily retrievable'.

Principle 6 entitles individuals to access personal information about themselves held by an agency. I then considered whether the actions of the Ministry in refusing the woman access amounted to an interference with her privacy.

Section 66

Section 66(2) provides that an action is interference with the privacy of an individual if an agency has refused to make information available in response to a request and there is no proper basis for that decision.

After considering the details given to me by the Ministry, I formed the opinion that there was no proper basis for the Ministry to withhold the information, and that doing so had amounted to an interference with the woman's privacy. I advised the Ministry of my opinion and recommended that it provide the woman with a summary of the investigation. The Ministry supplied a summary and the woman advised that she did not seek any further action. I discontinued my investigation on that basis.

Indexing terms: Access to personal information - Government ministry - Refusal - No written information held - Whether personal information includes information held in a person's memory - 'Readily retrievable' - Privacy Act 1993, section 2 - Information privacy principle 6

June 2002