MESSAGING IN NEW ZEALAND
🇳🇿 WhatsApp messaging rules in New Zealand.
The rules that matter when you send WhatsApp marketing, sales and service messages to people in New Zealand, in plain English, checked 28 September 2026.
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Illustrative example. Names and details are made up.
The laws.
- Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007, enforced by the Department of Internal Affairs
- Privacy Act 2020, overseen by the Privacy Commissioner
THE RULES
What they mean for WhatsApp.
| Rule | What it means for WhatsApp |
|---|---|
| What’s covered | Commercial electronic messages, including instant messages, sent to, from or within New Zealand. A single message can be spam. |
| Consent | Express, inferred or deemed consent. |
| Identify yourself | Accurate sender information in every commercial message. |
| Unsubscribe | A functional unsubscribe in every commercial message, honoured within 5 working days. |
| Contacts you didn’t collect yourself | From 1 May 2026, IPP 3A requires reasonable steps to tell people when you collect their information from someone else, such as a list partner. |
| Privacy breaches | Notify the Privacy Commissioner and affected people as soon as practicable if a breach is likely to cause serious harm. |
RISK
Enforcement.
Organisations face fines of up to NZ$500,000 under the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act.
META
Plus Meta’s rules, everywhere.
- Opt-in: people must agree to receive WhatsApp messages from your business, and the opt-in must name your business.
- Templates: messages you start outside a customer’s 24-hour window must use approved templates.
- Opt-outs: respect requests to stop, made on WhatsApp or anywhere else.
- A human: give people a way to reach a person.
- No sensitive data requests: never ask for full card numbers, bank account numbers or ID numbers in the chat.
IN THE PRODUCT
How ConvoHut helps.
HOW CONVOHUT HELPS
- A compliance review for each market before an automation or campaign goes live, covering consent, an unsubscribe option in the template and your sender details.
- Every contact has a consent status, visible in the inbox next to the conversation.
- Opt-outs stop journeys for that contact and exclude them from future marketing messages.
- Quiet hours by market, so messages aren’t sent in the middle of the night.
- A confirmation step before any campaign is sent, with the Meta cost shown first.
ConvoHut’s checks help you follow the rules. They don’t replace your own legal obligations, and you’re responsible for the consent you collect and the messages you send.
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