Privacy Commissioner - Te Mana Matapono Matatapu

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BDM(Deaths)/NZTA Deceased Drivers Licence Holders Programme

• Annual report
• Technical information
• System description
• Historical activity

Annual report

Purpose: To improve the quality and integrity of data held on the Driver Licence Register by identifying licence holders who have died.

Year commenced: 2008

Features: Data transferred each fortnight by online transfer.

BDM disclosure to NZTA: BDM provides death information for the fortnight prior to the extract date. The death details include the full name (current and at birth), gender, date and place of birth, date of death, home address and death registration number.

2008/09 activity:

Match runs	19
Records received for matching	20,073
Possible matches identified	11,238
Notices of adverse action	8,156
Challenges	1
Successful challenges	0
Courtesy letters sent[1]	2,398
Driver licence records cancelled	10,559

Commentary: A one-off historic match covering deaths that occurred between 1 January 1987 and 30 September 2008 was initiated in March 2009. Processing is still in the early stages because of the large number (600,000) of records involved.

Compliance: Compliant.

Technical information

Information matching provision	Births, Deaths, and Marriages Registration Act 1995, s.78A
Year authorised	2001
Programme type	Confirming eligibility
On-line transfers	Yes

System description

Death information is drawn from the BDM Death Register portion of the Data Aggregation Layer (DAL), and is originally sourced from death registration forms. BDM provide information in XML file format from the Deaths Register covering the fortnight prior to the latest extract date.

The death extract includes the full name (current and at birth), gender, date and place of birth, date of death, home address, and a death registration number.

NZTA retrieve the BDM file by online access to the DIA Agency Pick-up Service, a secure web-based facility available through the DIA web portal. The file is returned to the NZTA server using an encrypted online transfer.

The matching process is completed against a copy of the Driver Licence Register information stored in the NZTA Driver Licence Data Warehouse.

The matching process uses the first names(s), middle names(s), surname, date of birth, and gender. The BDM unique identifier is not used by either BDM or NZTA in the matching process. The Death Registration Number is only used by NZTA in situations where they need to verify the results of a match with the source agency (DIA).

All match results (including exact matches) are manually checked by NZTA staff before further action is taken. Section 103 notices (notices of adverse action) are sent out where NZTA intends to cancel a photo driver licence that is current or expired less than two years. Where the cancellation of a licence record is not considered to be an adverse action, but is still the result of a recent death, NZTA send out a courtesy letter advising the estate that the licence record is being cancelled.

Historical activity

Matching programme started in 2008/09.

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[1] Where the cancellation of a licence record is not considered to be an adverse action, but is still the result of a recent death, NZTA sends out a courtesy letter advising the estate that the licence record is being cancelled.