Regulatory Alerts2022-05-17
Birth Certificates with Redacted Information
New Zealand AML/CFT Supervisors have issued guidance confirming that customers may redact non-essential details, such as parents' names, place of birth, or sex assigned at birth, from birth certificates used for identity verification. Reporting entities must accept these redacted documents as compliant with the Identity Verification Code of Practice and AML/CFT Act requirements, which only mandate verification of name and date of birth. Collecting the redacted information is unnecessary for lawful due diligence and may contravene the Privacy Act 2020.
Page 1 of 1 Factsheet: Birth Certificates with Redacted Information Background The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 (AML/CFT Act) Supervisors have produced this factsheet to confirm their position is that certain details may be redacted1 by a customer from their birth certificate if it is used for identity verification purposes when conducting customer due diligence. 2 This is in response to a recommendation from the report by the Working Group for Reducing Barriers to Changing Registered Sex. Birth Certificate as a form of identification in the Identity Verification Code of Practice (IVCoP) IVCoP provides a suggested best practice for all reporting entities conducting name and date of birth identification on customers (that are natural persons) that have been assessed to be low to medium risk. Under the code, a New Zealand birth certificate is listed as an available non-photographic identification option, combined with a secondary or supporting form of photographic identification. The identification requirements for IVCoP require that the name and date of birth of a customer is verified. There is no requirement in either IVCoP, or the AML/CFT Act itself, to obtain or verify any other details such as their parents’ names, place of birth, or sex assigned at birth. As conducting customer due diligence for the purpose of complying with IVCoP or the wider AML/CFT Act does not necessitate collection of this information, collection may be contrary to information privacy principles detailed in the Privacy Act 2020.3 A customer has the right to redact any details not required to be collected for a lawful purpose from their birth certificate, and reporting entities should accept a certified birth certificate with these details redacted. If a reporting entity uses a birth certificate for verification purposes with the name and date of birth clearly displayed, the Supervisors consider this acceptable for the purpose of complying with IVCoP.
1 Redaction in this context means removing or hiding certain details, such as blacking out information. 2 Section 11 of the AML/CFT Act 2009 3 Section 22(1)(b) Privacy Act 2020