Update: We've received 11 submissions on our proposed 'naming policy'. Given the level of interest in the proposal, we've decided to postpone making the change to the new policy which was to take effect on 1 November. It will now not be adopted before December and we will be taking the extra time to fully consider the detailed and thoughtful points raised by submitters.

Many an email has gone to the wrong recipient because a sender has unwittingly accepted an incorrect auto-complete entry. For this reason, like many others, we encouraged all our users to disable auto-complete.

In trying to resolve a privacy dispute or complaint, the Privacy Commissioner has the power to make people attend a compulsory conference. This is a little known feature of the Privacy Act and it has been perhaps underutilised in the 21 years that the Act has been around.

As a general rule in New Zealand, if you go to Court and you lose, you’re going to have to foot the bill – and not just your own legal bill but a chunk of the other party’s costs too. 

The four finalists for the biennial Walters Prize have been announced and one has a distinct privacy connection. The artists have had their works installed inside - and outside - the Auckland Art Gallery. But for readers primarily interested in privacy, there is really one must see work – the massive installation by Simon Denny entitled All you need is data - the DLD 2012 Conference REDUX.

Apps can be convenient and fun to use. It is a world of incredible choice but one that also sets off privacy alarm bells. When a New Zealand news media organisation upgraded its app for Android phones earlier this year, one person was concerned enough to contact us.

A gateway has been added from our website directly to the International Privacy Law Library (IPLL). If you haven’t heard about it, the online library contains the largest freely accessible and searchable collection of privacy law materials in the world and is a brilliant resource for anyone serious about privacy law.

For those of you who, like me, fondly remember their contract law lectures on the postal acceptance rule, it’s time to update our notes. The law has caught up with the digital age.