2 August 2011


The Law Commission has released its fourth and final report in its 4-year Review of Privacy. This extensive report has over 100 recommendations for change. Reports on the other three stages of the review have also been released and include recommendations. Some of the notable recommendations from the Privacy Review are outlined below:

The privacy complaints process would be streamlined:

• The Privacy Commissioner would be able to making binding decisions on complaints where a person has asked for information about him or herself and has been refused.

• Groups of people would be able to bring "representative" complaints - similar to class actions.

• Bringing a privacy case to the Human Rights Review Tribunal would be simpler, with a more direct route.

The Privacy Commissioner would have two new powers:

• The ability to issue a compliance notice, where a government agency or business was acting in breach of the Privacy Act.

• The ability to require an audit of a government agency or business, where there was good reason.

Other significant recommendations for change include:

• Data breach notification would become mandatory where there was a risk of significant harm or where the breach was a serious one

• Establishing a "Do-Not-Call" register by law

• Better regulating the way government agencies share personal information

• Narrowing the "domestic affairs" exemption in the Privacy Act, to better protect people from publication of offensive or harmful material online

• A new "Surveillance Devices Act" would cover surveillance, interception and tracking.

The final report reviewing the Privacy Act, and earlier reports on other aspects of privacy, are all available at: www.lawcom.govt.nz

ENDS

Note for Editors
The Privacy Commissioner has issued other media releases covering different aspects of the Privacy Review. These are available at: www.privacy.org.nz
For further information contact: Annabel Fordham 021 509 735 or 04 474 7598