About us

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) is an Independent Crown Entity. It is funded by the state but is independent of Government or Ministerial control.

OPC has a wide range of functions, which are listed in section 17 of the Privacy Act 2020.

Our key areas of work include:

Making public statements on matters affecting individual privacy.
Investigating complaints about breaches of privacy.
Building and promoting an understanding of the privacy principles.
Monitoring and examining the impact that technology has on privacy.
Developing codes of practice for specific industries or sectors.
Examining draft legislation for its possible impact on individual privacy.
Monitoring data matching programmes between government departments.
Inquiring into any matter where it appears that individual privacy may be affected.
Receiving reports of notifiable privacy breaches.
Monitoring and enforcing compliance with the Privacy Act.
Reporting to government on matters affecting privacy, both domestic and international.