Landonline property searches: privacy obligations for conveyancers and agents

Landonline, operated by Land Information New Zealand (LINZ), is the authoritative register for land titles, survey information, and property ownership in New Zealand. It is used extensively by conveyancers, lawyers, real estate agents, and councils.

When does IPP3A apply?

When you search Landonline and obtain personal information about a property owner — their name, address, or other identifying details — you are collecting personal information from a third-party source. IPP3A applies.

The publicly available question

Landonline data is accessible to authorised users, but it is not freely publicly available in the way that the Companies Register is. There is a fee for each search, and access is controlled. This means the "publicly available" exception in IPP3A is unlikely to apply.

Common scenarios

Conveyancing. During a property transaction, the buyer's lawyer searches the title. The title contains the current owner's name and may include personal details. This is a routine, expected collection — but IPP3A still applies.

Pre-purchase due diligence. A buyer runs a title search before making an offer. They obtain the owner's details without the owner's knowledge. IPP3A requires notification.

Neighbour disputes. A property owner searches adjoining titles to identify neighbours. This is collecting personal information about individuals who have no relationship with the searcher.

DEIS and Landonline

DEIS integrates with Landonline and captures the IPP3A pathway for every property search. For conveyancing, the consent pathway is typically appropriate. For other searches, notification may be required.