1 Feb 2007, 09:00

An airline pilot applied for a position within the airline he worked for. He believed that he was unfairly treated during the selection process. He applied for access to personal information about himself, particularly copies of the 360° feedback forms, with his colleagues' responses to questions about his strengths and competencies. He believed that the information about him was collected in an unfair manner and that it was used for a purpose other than that for which it was collected. He therefore complained to my office.

Access

Principle 6 of the Privacy Act provides that individuals have a right to access personal information held about them by an agency.

The airline had already provided the pilot with a copy of the cumulative results from the 360° feedback forms. However, it argued that it could withhold copies of the actual 360° feedback forms under section 29(1)(b) of the Privacy Act. This section allows information to be withheld if:

(b) The disclosure of the information or of information identifying the person who supplied it, being evaluative material, would breach an express or implied promise -
(i) Which was made to the person who supplied the information; and
(ii) Which was to the effect that the information or the identity of the person who supplied it or both would be held in confidence.

"Evaluative material" is defined in s 29(3) as evaluative or opinion material compiled solely for a limited number of purposes, including the purpose of determining whether to employ someone, or whether to promote them, or continue to employ them.

Before information can be withheld under s 29(1)(b), four conditions must be met:

1. The information must be evaluative or opinion material compiled solely for one of a limited number of purposes set out in s 29(3).
2. The information must be supplied to the agency seeking to withhold it.
3. There must have been an express or implied promise made to the person providing the information that their identity or the information (or both) would be held in confidence.
4. Releasing the information to the requester would breach that promise.

Here it appeared that all four conditions were met. The information was to assess his suitability for a position with the company. The forms required individuals to rate the competency of pilots by giving them scores from 1-5 and answering a series of questions about their strengths and competencies. This was clearly opinion or evaluative material.

The individuals who filled in these forms were fellow pilots. While filling out these forms was common procedure, it was not normally what a pilot would do in the course of his or her employment. I was therefore satisfied that the information had been "supplied" to the airline.

The airline had expressly promised the pilots who filled out the forms that their responses would be kept confidential from the complainant. I was satisfied that releasing the forms would breach that promise.

I therefore concluded that the airline had a proper basis for withholding the 360° feedback forms from the pilot.

Manner of Collection

Principle 4 prevents agencies from collecting information by means that are unfair or intrude unreasonably into the affairs of the person concerned.

Here the pilot believed that, because the information was collected in a confidential manner, he had no ability to challenge the accuracy or objectivity of the information provided.

I accepted that feedback collected confidentially raised the potential for misuse. However, in these circumstances, there was value in obtaining feedback in this manner to ensure that the airline had the best possible information about applicants for this job. In addition, the pilots’ union had agreed to this kind of collection and the complainant was aware of this process before he made his application. Pilots were also able to access the cumulative results so that they could comment.

The collection was therefore not unfair in the circumstances.

Use of personal information

Principle 10 provides that an agency holding personal information that was obtained in connection with one purpose is not to use that information for any other purpose unless the agency believes, on reasonable grounds, that an exception applies.

The complainant believed that the information collected in the peer review process was used to address performance issues in his current job.

I was satisfied that the information had been collected in order to assess the pilot's competency and had been used for that purpose. To the limited extent it had been used to evaluate his performance in his current position, the exception at 10(e) applied, since the purpose of use was directly related to the purpose for which the information had been collected.

I found that the airline had not interfered with the pilot's privacy, and I closed my file.

August 2007

Access to personal information - Airline - Evaluative material - 360° feedback forms - Privacy Act 1993, principle 6, section 29(1)(b), 29(3)

Manner of collection of personal information – Airline - 360° feedback forms - confidentiality of information - manner of collection not unfair - Privacy Act 1993, principle 4

Use of personal information - Airline - information used for purpose directly related to that for which collected - Privacy Act 1993, principle 10(e)