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Your obligations

Agencies – that is, almost everyone holding personal information about others – have to comply with the Privacy Act.

This isn’t as hard as you might think. The Act’s twelve information privacy principles model the way in which good businesses handle personal information.

Information Privacy Principles

The principles deal with:

  • how you collect information;
  • how you store it, and what procedures you have to protect its security;
  • the need to keep it complete, up to date and accurate before you use it;
  • how long you can keep it;
  • what you can use it for;
  • when you can disclose it;
  • allowing the person who is the subject of the information to access it;
  • correcting it if it is wrong.

Getting started

The Getting started section will help you to plan how you will comply with the information privacy principles.

Other statutes

The Privacy Act can be “trumped” by other legislation, if that legislation says something different to the standards set out in the privacy principles.

For example, if another statutory provision allows you to disclose information in the circumstances, you won’t be in breach of the Privacy Act by disclosing the information regardless of what principle 11 says.

Having a privacy officer

The Act requires all agencies (including businesses) to have a privacy officer.

It’s too hard for everyone in an agency to know all the privacy principles and what other law might apply. So have a privacy officer – a person who is responsible for finding out what to do, and giving advice to other members of staff.

Let us know who your privacy officer is. We can provide training, and assist that person to train others in your agency. Or we can give the person information about the Act. We can also put them in touch with other privacy officers in your area.

The only thing we can’t do is give you direct legal advice on individual problems, just in case that problem ends up as a complaint to the Commissioner.

Our enquiries line

Don’t forget – if you need general information about your obligations under the Act please contact us.

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