His appearance was brief, with his lawyer noting there had been an issue receiving disclosure from police. He asked the matter be put off to a callover date in April.
Young’s supporters waved to him from the gallery as he stood in the dock.
After Judge Tania Warburton remanded Young on bail, he left the courtroom announcing the word “freedom”.
One of his supporters chimed in, saying “truth is not a crime”.
The data Young allegedly shared had garnered both local and international attention after initially being shared by conspiracy theorist and former political candidate Liz Gunn.
Te Whatu Ora chief executive Margie Apa has said the information was made available on a downloadable file which was leaked to a US blogsite.
The process of contacting every person who was affected had begun.
“This is a highly complex situation, and our investigation is ongoing. We are working with local and international cyber security experts to assist and monitor for signs of the data being disclosed online,” Apa said in an earlier statement.
“There is also a small group of vaccinated people, who through the use of considerable effort and technical expertise, could potentially be identified within information earlier made publicly available.”
Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.
