What can I do if an organisation has wrong information about me?
- Checked against sources
- Sources
- 5 cited
- Applies to
- New Zealand
Ask them to correct it. Under principle 7 of the Privacy Act 2020, you can ask any organisation to correct personal information about you. If it agrees, it should fix the record and, where practicable, tell anyone it shared the wrong information with. If it won't, you can ask it to attach a statement of the correction you wanted, and complain to the Privacy Commissioner.
How to ask
Write to the organisation’s privacy officer. Say:
- what information is wrong
- what it should say
- what evidence you have, if any
Our request letter builder has a correction letter. The organisation should tell you its decision within 20 working days.
What the organisation must do
- If it agrees, it corrects the information. Correction can mean changing, adding to or deleting it.
- If it doesn’t agree, it should take reasonable steps to attach your statement of the correction you asked for, if you request that, so anyone who reads the record sees both.
- Either way, where practicable, it should tell people it disclosed the information to about the correction or your statement.
Organisations also have a separate duty under principle 8 to check information is accurate, up to date, complete and relevant before using it.
Credit reports
If your credit report is wrong, contact the credit reporter (Centrix, Equifax or Experian, formerly illion). The Credit Reporting Privacy Code sets out specific correction processes.
If they refuse or ignore you
Complain to the Privacy Commissioner. Include your request, their response (or the lack of one), and why the information matters to you. Wrong information can cost people jobs, credit, housing and benefits, and the Commissioner takes that seriously.
Sources
Something wrong or out of date? Tell us or edit this page on GitHub. General information, not legal advice.