An employee of a large company asked for access to personal information held by the company after a dispute involving the use of a company vehicle. His request was refused on the basis that it was vexatious (Privacy Act 1993, s 29(1)(j)). The employee complained to me.

The company explained that, at the time of the employee's request, it was in the midst of significant industrial action, coordinated and supported by a trade union. The union had encouraged members to make mass requests for access to personal information pursuant to the Privacy Act. The company thus considered the request to be vexatious.

I considered that for a request to be refused on the grounds that it is vexatious, the requester must be believed to be patently abusing the rights of access to information, rather than exercising those rights in a bona fide manner.

Section 29(1)(j) recognises the possibility of unbalanced, mischievous or malicious individuals bothering agencies with time-wasting requests. To determine whether a request is vexatious, the nature of the request in light of the surrounding circumstances needs to be considered.

In refusing the employee's request the company appeared to have relied on the timing of the request to decide that the request was part of the industrial action and consequently to be deemed vexatious. It did not consider all of the circumstances surrounding the employee's request.

The request was influenced by the dispute over the use of a company car, which did not seem related to industrial action. The employee's request seemed bona fide and made in good faith. I was unable to conclude that it was vexatious.

For these reasons, I considered that the company did not have a proper basis to withhold the information from the employee. I closed my file after the information was released to him.

August 1999