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Review of Privacy Act Released
Rt Hon Doug Graham MP, Minister of Justice, today tabled in Parliament the Privacy Commissioner's report on the review of the operation of the Privacy Act. The report is the first review since the Act came into force.
Mr Slane said the comprehensive review had concluded that the Privacy Act was soundly based and worked well in practice. However, 154 recommendations had been made to improve the Act's effectiveness and reduce compliance costs.
"I consider the Act is firmly on the right track. The recommendations I make do not imply any major change in direction. However, I believe they would enhance the operation of the Act," said Mr Slane.
"There was generally a very positive attitude taken by the people who contributed to the review. There was certainly no significant view that the new rights given to individuals should be scaled back. The common sense of the information privacy principles seems to be widely accepted. For business, they provide a good guide to sound administrative practices for handling personal information."
In the course of the review a wide range of views had been canvassed, 12 discussion papers had been circulated and the extensive experience of the office in dealing with 3500 complaints and thousands of enquiries had been invaluable.
Mr Slane said a large number of changes aimed to make the Act more accessible and more easily understood. Others were required to ensure that New Zealand law was "adequate" for the European Union Directive on Data Protection.
The Privacy Commissioner said that his recommendations include new protections from use of personal information on public registers for direct marketing and the right to be taken off direct marketing lists.
Mr Slane said the report also proposed banning prospective employers from requiring people to provide records of convictions before obtaining jobs, and coercing people into supplying their medical records for insurance or employment.
The report will now be considered by the Minister of Justice.