Personal information requested is not held by the Ministry
If a person makes a request to the Ministry of Social Development for personal information that the Ministry does not hold, one of the following options may apply.
The information requested does not exist, or cannot be found
The Privacy Act 2020 allows the Ministry to refuse a request if the information requested does not exist or cannot be found. You must take all reasonable steps to find the information. This means a reasonable systematic search. You must be confident that the information could not be found before you can rely on this ground to refuse a request for personal information. See section 53(a) Privacy Act 2020.
The information is held by another agency
If the information requested is not held by the Ministry but is believed to be held by another agency, or it is more closely connected with the functions or activities of another agency, the Ministry should transfer the request to that agency and inform the requester. If you do not think the requester would want the request to be transferred, check with them, and let them know which agency you would suggest the request should go to. This gives them the choice about what to do.
If you need to transfer the request, it must be done within 10 working days from the date it was received. See section 43 Privacy Act 2020.
See also:
