7 August 2009 - Media release

Privacy Commissioner, Marie Shroff, today publicly notified a proposed amendment to the Credit Reporting Privacy Code and invited anyone interested to make a submission by 18 September.

The proposed amendment will update the Code to ensure consistency with forthcoming amendments to the Insolvency Act 2006 by:

• clarifying that credit reporters can collect personal information from the No Asset Procedure Register and retain that information for five years;
• clarifying that credit reporters can retain personal information from the Bankruptcy Register, where an individual has entered into multiple insolvencies, indefinitely.

View the proposed amendment, along with an information paper at www.privacy.org.nz/credit-reporting-privacy-code/.

ENDS

For further information contact: Annabel Fordham 021 509 735 or 04 474 7598.

Notes for editors: The Credit Reporting Privacy Code 2004 is a code of practice issued under the Privacy Act 1993. It controls the practices of agencies that carry on the business of reporting on the creditworthiness of individuals. Amongst other things, the code limits the information that may be disclosed by credit reporters, limits who may access credit reporting databases and provides retention periods for credit information held by credit reporters. The full code is also available at www.privacy.org.nz.