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[Janette]

Hi ,
the privacy issue should not be a problem,this is a letter from the Commissioner's office

Dear Janette ,
 
The Privacy Act deals with personal information about a natural person which means that general information about a deceased person is not covered by the Privacy Act. However health information about a deceased person is covered by the Privacy Act and remains so for 20 years from the date of death.
 
Therefore if the information you wished to obtain from the FD was not health information, then the Privacy Act would not restrict the information being disclosed to you.
 
I trust this information will be useful.
 
Regards
XXXXX  XXXXXXXXX
Senior Enquiries Officer
Office of the Privacy Commissioner

Cheers Janette

[casliber]

As an update - I rang the FD in Palmerston North (RJ Cotton) and they were very friendly, so have made contact with a third cousin. However, he doesn't know anything of his great grandmother who died in Auckland in 1974.....