The ongoing issue of New Zealand citizens with criminal records being deported from Australia has prompted questions as to what their privacy rights are under Australian law and whether they can access those rights from New Zealand.

The World Wide Web was invented in 1989 at much the same time that final drafting touches were being made to a privacy bill to be introduced to New Zealand’s Parliament. By 1993, when the Privacy Act was finally enacted, there were – wait for it – an estimated 15 million users of the Internet worldwide. That same year, according to Down to the Wire, Nat Torkington created New Zealand’s first ‘real web site’.

Digital communication is ubiquitous: a hair salon sends you text messages reminding you of appointments; movie tickets are booked through apps on your phone – and you wave a card in the air to pay for groceries. Our expectations might be that our health records can be also be swiftly and easily transferred.