One of the first sessions in Privacy Week 2025 was a presentation by Tahu Kukutai and the Foundation’s own Jesse Porter, on Māori data privacy.
Tahu spoke in detail about indigenous concepts of privacy, underpinned by indigenous laws. While there may be no specific word for “privacy” in te reo Māori, privacy concepts are inbuilt into tikanga – for instance in concepts of atua, whakapapa, mana, tapu, mauri and hau. Indigenous concepts of privacy are inherently collective and focused on relationships with others: the collective is greater than the sum of its parts. Here in Aotearoa, we have an exceptionally useful reference point about how to manage Māori data, in the privacy framework from Te Mana Raraunga Te Mana Raraunga.
Developments in areas such as biometrics – the need to protect pieces of us – are of critical importance, and there’s concern that the safeguards in OPC’s proposed Biometrics Code do not go far enough.
Jesse picked up the concept of collective concepts of privacy and pointed out that the Privacy Act is more capable of catering for collective interests than you might think. Most obviously, the Act requires the Commissioner to take cultural perspectives into account, which in Aotearoa will include tikanga. However, the principle-based nature of the Act also allows for flexibility. For instance, the courts have confirmed (in Te Pou Matakana v Attorney General) that tikanga can be a relevant factor in how the privacy principles are interpreted – in that case, to permit disclosure of individual information to support a COVID vaccination programme for Māori. In Oranga Tamariki’s work, the rules around Family Group Conferences also permit collective approaches to supporting the welfare of children. And approved information sharing agreements can be developed under the Privacy Act with agencies outside government, and can be tailored to take into account what is appropriate for particular situations and communities.
View the full video of this excellent presentation here. Māori data privacy: Time to take it seriously