1 Feb 2002, 09:00

The president of a club with national affiliations complained that the national body required club members to provide personal information, including their names and addresses, as a condition of membership. The national body's constitution made it clear that the information was to be used to:
- determine the exact fee payable by each club;
- determine the delegate entitlement of each club; and
- enable the national body to meet any contractual obligations to sponsors, including the provision of membership lists.

The complaint raised issues under information privacy principles 3 and 11. Having considered those issues I concluded that the complaint did not have substance.

Principle 3

Where an agency collects personal information directly from the individual concerned, principle 3 requires it to take reasonable steps to ensure the individual concerned is aware of a number of matters including:
- the fact the information is being collected;
- the purposes for which the information is being collected; and
- the intended recipients of the information.

In this case, a clause in the constitution made it clear what information was to be collected, and why, and who might receive it. I formed the opinion that this clause, together with another clause requiring the people collecting the information to inform members about it, were reasonable steps for the purposes of principle 3. The practice of circulating membership details, and the proposed recipients, were also highlighted in the standard membership nomination form.

Principle 11

Principle 11 restricts the instances in which personal information may be disclosed. Principle 11(a) provides that personal information may be disclosed by an agency if it believes, on reasonable grounds, that the disclosure is one of the purposes in connection with which the information was obtained.

In this case, one of the purposes for the national organisation obtaining members' details was to disclose them to sponsors, should that be required by the sponsorship deal. This purpose was made clear by the constitution and I formed the opinion that disclosure in connection with this purpose by the national organisation was permitted by principle 11(a).

For these reasons I formed the opinion that the complaint did not have substance.

The complainant's real concern was the fact that members were obliged to provide information that might be disclosed to sponsors. However, the Privacy Act does not generally prohibit clubs from forming their own policies concerning the collection and disclosure of personal information for such a purpose, provided that they are open with their members about their intentions and consistent with their policy in the use they make of the information.

I did not consider the merits of the national organisation's sponsorship arrangements and noted that democratic processes could be brought to bear if members disapproved of them. Members have the right to access and correct such information in the hands of the club and the national organisation. Clubs would need to remind members of this right from time to time, or when updating membership details, in accordance with principle 3.

Indexing terms: Collecting personal information - Club - Notification of purpose for collecting members' details - Notification of intended recipients of members' details -Information privacy principle 3

Disclosure of personal information - Club - Disclosure of membership lists to sponsor - Disclosure to sponsor was directly related to a purpose for which the information was obtained - Information privacy principle 11(a)

January 2002