IR-01-24-13398
15 May 2024
Christopher Tett
[FYI request #26491 email]
Dear Mr Tett
Request for information
Thank you for your Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) request of 20 April 2024, in which you
requested information about Police informants and hacking electronic devices to gain
information. The answers to your questions are as follows:
Do police encourage paid informants to hack electronic devices of others to gain
information?
Police does not encourage anyone, including informants to commit criminal offences.
If this practice is not encouraged, what is the New Zealand police`s stance on information
supplied by paid informants to them that has been collected via these methods?
Any information obtained il egal y, including by accessing electronic devices, would have to be
reviewed on the specific facts on a case-by-case basis. In general terms this type of information
would not be accepted and if appropriate, an investigation may be commenced.
Please note, as part of its commitment to openness and transparency, Police proactively
releases some information and documents that may be of public interest. An anonymised
version of this response may therefore be publicly released on the New Zealand Police website.
You have the right to ask the Ombudsman to review my decision if you are not satisfied with the
way I have responded to your request. Information on how to do so is contained on the fol owing
site
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz
Yours sincerely
Steve Anderson
Detective Inspector
National Criminal Investigations Group
Police National Headquarters
180 Molesworth Street. PO Box 3017, Wellington 6140, New Zealand.
Telephone: 04 474 9499. Fax: 04 498 7400. www.police.govt.nz