Originally Posted by
IMOA
I really don't understand why any non New Zealanders are the least bit fussed about this. For a foreigner the rule, at least implicitly, was give us your password or we can simply not let you in the country. The only people this change really applies to is New Zealanders who they can't refuse entry so it gives them some leverage in that space but for a non citizen if you don't want to hand over the password and don't want to pay the fine you can just refuse and be refused entry which is exactly the position you're in now.
I've seen non-citizens of New Zealand allowed entry into New Zealand despite not being able/willing to provide the access codes for locked electronic devices when asked for them. That didn't result in a fine, nor did it necessarily result in being refused entry.
Where in official governmental publication do you get that the fine doesn't apply to non-citizens who are unable/uwilling to provide the access codes for electronic devices when asked for them by the New Zealand authorities at ports of entry/exit?