As schools and students begin another busy academic year, we often receive enquiries from teachers and other school staff about what they can and can't do with student information. So we've bundled some of these questions and the answers together in the FAQs below. If you are a school teacher or principal reading this, we hope they are a help to you. 

Having access to the Motor Vehicle Register is valuable for any business working with motor vehicles, whether you’re a trader, insurer, finance company, or mechanic. With authorised access you can get the information you need to make accurate decisions quickly, making life easier for both you and your customers.

Several recent data breach incidents reported to us provide examples of how letting it go may not be as liberating as hoped. Using Software as a service (or SaaS) offerings makes sense for many organisations. Like Elsa in Frozen, you may feel like you are casting off the burden of an obligation. But as Elsa found out, there may also be impacts on others that you did not realise might occur.

You may not think about credit reporting that often, but credit reporters can collect information about you and your credit history. That information can affect your ability to take out a loan, buy or rent a home, get insurance, and even get a job in some cases.

There has been an international shift towards stronger privacy and data protection laws, something the UK Information Commissioner, Elizabeth Denham, described as a “race to the top” when she spoke at the International Privacy Forum in Wellington this month.

On 3-4 December, we hosted the 50th Asia-Pacific Privacy Authorities (APPA) Forum in Wellington. We welcomed representatives from fifteen privacy authorities from the Asia-Pacific – as well as guests from around the world – to discuss global trends, share experiences, and work towards greater cooperation.

Privacy and data protection commissioners from around the globe gathered in Queenstown on 29-30 November for the 64th meeting of the International Working Group on Data Protection in Telecommunications (IWGDPT).

If you believe that an agency has interfered with your privacy, you have the right to complain to our Office. However, as a responsible regulator we need to screen complaints. Investigations can consume time and resources for all parties and will open a respondent agency to the possibility of litigation in the Human Rights Review Tribunal.