A couple who received an email from Immigration New Zealand meant for another person are concerned at the amount of private information the agency mistakenly discloses.
INZ has breached privacy 170 times in the last year and on 1200 occasions in the last four years.
Leanne Healey, whose partner is applying for residence, says that immigrants have to lay out their life history, finances and health details and expect their information to be safe.
Ms Healey told RNZ reporter Gill Bonnett the privacy breach also showed how quickly other cases are dealt with compared with their own.
In a statement, Immigration New Zealand said it sincerely apologised for the breach and was continually reviewing its processes and systems to ensure they are as robust as possible.
In regard to the difference in processing times: INZ generally allocates applications in date order and there are many factors that may influence how quickly an application may be decided.
