Photo: Richard Tindiller
Breaches by police of people's private information have almost doubled in number, to close to 500.
A lot of the breaches involved the new firearms registry, the police's latest annual review said.
It counted 492 breaches of all types in the 12 months to July 2024, up from 281 the year before and just over 90 five years ago.
Nineteen were serious enough to be notified to the Privacy Commissioner.
"Most incidents involved inadvertent, inappropriate, or careless disclosure of personal information," the review said.
Examples were staff sending emails to the wrong person, or hard-copy information being "misplaced or stolen".
Factors behind the big rise included mandatory training so staff were more aware they had to report breaches, as well as better ways or technology for making reports.
Most breaches did not need the GCSB spy agency or National Cyber Security Centre to be called in, the review said.
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