A woman says her family's safety was put at risk after police mistakenly released their address to her ex-partner, who is subject to a protection order.
By Sam Sherwood of RNZ
Police say the incorrect release of the address was the result of "human error" and have apologised to the woman.
Meanwhile, the woman says the release, which also included that she was seeking support from women's refuge, has caused her "considerable distress" and has meant she has moved her children out of the address.
The woman, who RNZ agreed not to name, told RNZ she had a final protection order against her ex-partner. The order also includes her children.
In April, she discovered police had released the address where her children lived and other information, including her interactions with domestic violence support services, to her ex-partner as part of a formal information request.
In a statement to RNZ, Police's service director, Superintendent Blair Macdonald, acknowledged police had "incorrectly released an address that should have been withheld" in responding to a formal information request. Police also included a reference to the complainant seeking support from women's refuge.
"These were human errors; we regret that they occurred and have spoken to and apologised to the individual on a number of occasions.
"We will be writing to her formally to apologise and outline the steps taken in response."
Macdonald said while the initial concern was raised earlier, there was a delay in fully assessing and responding to it, for which police also apologise.
Macdonald said if the woman remained "dissatisfied with our response", she was able to raise her concerns with the Office of the Ombudsman.
He said police had "reinforced processes with staff to minimise the risk of similar errors occurring in future".
"This incident has been recorded in Police's Security, Privacy and Incident Register (SPIR), and we are working through the appropriate follow-up actions, including requesting that any previously released copies of the information are securely destroyed and replaced with a corrected version."
The woman told RNZ the impact of the information being released had been "significant".
"I have experienced considerable stress, anxiety, and ongoing worry about what information has been disclosed and how it may be used.
"I have had to rely on family, friends, work colleagues, and my own support network to manage my safety."
In a letter of apology to the woman, seen by RNZ, police said they had called the man and asked him to delete the information and told him the information within the release could not be used in the future. They said the man had agreed.
Police also said they had notified the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of the privacy breach.
"This was not in line with our standards, and I deeply regret any concern, inconvenience, or distress this may have caused you. Protecting personal information is a responsibility you rightly expect from Police, and in this instance we fell short.
"We recognise that maintaining the security and confidentiality of personal information is of the utmost importance and we take this obligation seriously. We remain committed to meeting our obligations under the Privacy Act 2020 and to ensuring that personal information is handled with the highest standard of care."
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