Māori Privacy Survey Findings 2024

Note: This article was first prepared for offline presentations when the reports it discusses were released. It has since been updated and published online on the date shown.

One in three Māori avoided contacting a government department last year because of privacy concerns.

The Privacy Commissioner’s 2024 survey found Māori are more concerned than non-Māori about their individual privacy, and that concern is changing what Māori actually do.

In the past 12 months, because of privacy concerns, Māori avoided:

• Contacting a government department: 32% Māori v 14% non-Māori
• Using social media: 44% v 32%
• Online shopping: 43% v 26%
• Online dating: 41% v 26%
• Personal health apps: 36% v 23%
• Signing up for loyalty cards: 36% v 22%
• Visiting a particular place because of surveillance: 30% v 14%

Eight in ten Māori (80%) said protecting children’s information was a major concern in their lives, against 59% of non-Māori, and Māori want more legislation to protect children’s privacy.

But only 54% of Māori know the Privacy Act gives them the right to a copy of the personal information an organisation holds about them.

Māori are more than twice as likely to avoid government departments, and much more likely to avoid health apps. That means whānau going without services, support and care they’re entitled to. Avoiding a place because of surveillance means losing access to everyday public life.

The concern is well founded. Māori data has been collected about us, not with us, for generations, and used to profile, police and make decisions about whānau without our say. Agencies can’t fix this with a better privacy statement. They need to earn trust, through Māori authority over Māori data and Te Tiriti o Waitangi as the threshold for how the Crown collects and uses our information.

There’s a practical step too. With nearly half of Māori unaware of their right to access their own information, agencies and the Privacy Commissioner have work to do in telling people about their rights, in te reo Māori and through Māori channels.

Source: Office of the Privacy Commissioner, Research on Privacy Concerns and Data Sharing (2024); Annual Report 2024.