Our work doesn’t have to all be hard slog - especially at this time of the year, and nor do our blog posts. I thought I’d take a lead from Public Address and give a Friday post over to music that can loosely be linked to a privacy theme.

Pen testers are the people who hack into websites or systems connected to the internet to test whether they have been securely designed and implemented. Pen test is short for penetration testing and nothing to do with making sure ink flows when required from writing implements.

ANZ’s privacy and data protection manager Hannah Johnston was a recent guest speaker at our last Technology and Privacy Forum for 2014 and she gave a comprehensive overview about what the bank – New Zealand’s third largest employer after its merger with the National Bank – was doing to protect customer privacy.

Over the last few months we’ve talked about how our Office is trying to provide more effective and efficient responses when we investigate complaints by taking a practical approach to dispute resolution -  including trying to talk with people more and calling compulsory conferences where appropriate.

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner wants to get in front of the looming tech trends, from wearable devices to AI to drones. But is that the best approach? Following a series of tech-related privacy workshops, the OPC is having second thoughts - maybe it's time to take a step back and tackle a few basics? In this post for IITP's Techblog, our Policy and Technology Team Policy Adviser, Tim Henwood, takes a look at our current thinking.

We’ve been grappling with a difficult question recently, and one that’s featured in New Zealand’s courts too. What is and isn’t news media and when should the Privacy Act apply?

Over the past few months, I have visited over 40 government agencies to talk about privacy. In many cases I’ve been impressed by the depth of knowledge that exists across the sector on this topic, although there is still much work to be done.

We get it. As a lawyer, one of the least fun things about your job is chasing the money. Sometimes people just don’t cough up for the service you provide.