OPC shifts public enquiries online – What agencies should do now

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) is changing how it supports the public and agencies, moving away from one‑to‑one enquiries and towards a greater reliance on online self‑service tools.

These changes will affect how individuals, privacy officers and organisations access privacy guidance and resolve general enquiries. For agencies, the changes signal that organisations should expect to resolve more day-to-day privacy questions internally.

What is changing?

From 1 April 2026, the OPC is retiring the enquiries@privacy.org.nz email address. The OPC’s 0800 803 909 number will remain in place, but from 1 May 2026 callers will be met with an automated menu of options rather than a staff member at first instance. The OPC says it has considered accessibility needs in the design of those phone options.

The OPC’s online complaint and self-assessment process will remain available and is not affected by these changes.

Under the new model, the OPC will direct people primarily to the resources on www.privacy.org.nz, on the basis that many questions previously raised by phone or email can already be answered using existing tools and guidance. A new online suggestion form will also allow users to ask for new or improved website content where they cannot find the answer they need.

Why is the model changing?

The OPC says that an independent review of its public complaints and enquiries functions found that enquiries have for some time exceeded its capacity to respond. Demand for its services continues to grow while resources remain constrained, so the OPC has decided to prioritise work that addresses actual or potential privacy harms over general enquiries.

New technological developments, including artificial intelligence, are also influencing both how the OPC can deliver services at scale and the nature and complexity of the enquiries it receives. The revised approach places more weight on system‑level guidance, published online resources and internal agency capability for handling routine questions.

What does this mean for agencies?

A significant shift is that the OPC is moving away from bespoke one-to-one advice to agencies and expects organisations to rely more on their own privacy officers and the OPC’s published guidance. Agencies must therefore be prepared to resolve more issues internally, drawing on the OPC’s general guidance as available through the website. This may also mean seeking external advice where issues are particularly sensitive, novel or high risk.

Key points for agencies:

• References to enquiries@privacy.org.nz must be removed from privacy policies, websites, template letters, internal guidance and any other public‑facing material, as emails to that address will no longer be answered from 1 April 2026.

• Any instructions about how individuals can contact the OPC should point to the OPC website, 0800 number, and/or online complaint process, rather than the old enquiries inbox.

• Agencies should review internal playbooks, call scripts, template correspondence and escalation guidance that assume the OPC enquiries team is available as an advisor on operational privacy issues.

• Agencies should plan to resolve more issues in‑house (or with external advisers) and be selective about when matters are escalated to the OPC through the complaints channel or other formal engagement processes.

If your organisation needs help reviewing its privacy processes or materials in light of these changes, please contact one of our team.

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