Privacy Commissioner: information is personal information if it can be linked with other information to identify the person (Office of the Privacy Commissioner, Poupou Matatapu: Know your personal information (page, read 18 October 2026))
The Commissioner's test for what is outside the Act is practical: if anyone can link the data with other information to identify the person, it is still personal information, even if it does not identify the person to the world at large. Removing names from tickets and email is therefore not enough when the text, an address or an identifier still lets someone pick out the person. The Commissioner sets no certification standard for de-identification on this page.
Dated 18 Oct 2026Source checked 18 Oct 2026Basis: primary text
In the source's own words
“If someone can link the information with other information to identify the person it's about, then the information is considered personal information.”
Figures it counts in
It is shown on its own, not counted into a figure.
Cited in this guide