23 Mar 2021, 09:00

A man complained that his neighbour had installed a security camera aimed at the back gate of his property, which made him feel intimidated.

Section 27

The man’s complaint raised issues under section 27 of the Privacy Act 2020.

Section 27 provides that the information privacy principles do not apply to the collection of personal information where it is collected or held solely for the purposes of, or in connection with that person’s personal, family, or household affairs.

We found that section 27 applied here as there had been ongoing disputes between the man and his neighbour over parking and interactions with guests. Therefore, in our view, the information was collected in connection with the neighbour’s domestic affairs.

However, section 27 does not apply where the collection, use or disclosure of the information in question would be highly offensive to an ordinary, reasonable person. We considered that the collection of images in the man’s backyard did not reach the threshold of highly offensive.

We informed the man of our decision that the collection of information was in the context of an individual's household affairs and did not meet the threshold of highly offensive.

In other words, the exception in section 27 applied in this case because the collection of personal information was being carried out by an individual in the course of their domestic affairs. The exception to this exception is if the collection of information met the threshold of being highly offensive.

We decided the collection did not meet the threshold of highly offensive and that the exception in section 27 applied. We then closed the file.