Koordinates Limited (Koordinates) made a request to the New Zealand Fire Service Commission (NZFSC) for a copy of a computer dataset known as NZ Localities, which describes the location of boundaries between different areas of the country. NZFSC provides this dataset free of charge, but asked Koordinates (as it does for all other users) to sign a licence agreement governing use of the dataset. Koordinates declined to sign the agreement. NZFSC then refused the request under sections 9(2)(c) and 9(2)(e) of the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA), as it believed withholding the information was necessary in order to avoid prejudice to measures designed to protect the health and safety of, or to prevent or mitigate material loss to, members of the public. This predicted harm would arise from an unlicensed dataset becoming out of date, and NZFS being directed to the wrong location in an emergency.
Following notification of the Ombudsman’s investigation, the involvement in the governance of the dataset of two state-owned companies, New Zealand Post and Quotable Value, became clear, and their views were sought. The two companies argued that section 9(2)(b)(ii) — which concerns the risk of unreasonable prejudice to the commercial position of the relevant entity — also provided a reason for withholding the unlicensed dataset. Based on the available information, I have concluded that sections 9(2)(c) and 9(2)(e) provided good reason to withhold an unlicensed copy of the NZ Localities dataset, and that the public interest in disclosure of an unlicensed copy of the dataset does not outweigh the reasons for withholding.