Privacy Commissioner - Te Mana Matapono Matatapu

Privacy Commissioner recommendations for updates to privacy law:

Privacy Commissioner recommendations for updates to privacy law:

Fourth supplementary report

 

The Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff has released a report that proposes new means to protect privacy. The report surveys developments internationally and in New Zealand over the last four years to update earlier recommendations to the Minister of Justice for modernising New Zealand’s privacy law.

Among other recommendations, Mrs Shroff calls for consideration to be given to new mechanisms to help protect privacy in the 21^st century including: 

• requiring an organisation to notify affected individuals where a security breach by the agency puts the individuals at risk
• enabling the Commissioner to conduct privacy audits
• exploring the possibility of national do-not-call database, as a response to telemarketing.

“Mandatory security breach notification, privacy audit and national do-no-call lists already exist in overseas laws but are not yet part of our privacy regime”, Mrs Shroff said. “We need a range of regulatory tools to effectively address the range of current and future privacy risks. These three suggestions focus upon empowering individuals and proactively identify and address the risks of our digital world.

“This particular report will bridge the earlier report and supplements and the current Law Commission’s review. I hope that it will be useful to the Law Commission as well as the Minister of Justice,” Mrs Shroff added. She noted that because the Law Commission was conducting a thorough review of privacy, it was an ideal time to consider innovative new means to provide privacy protection.

This report is the Fourth Supplement to the First Periodic Review of the Operation of the Privacy Act 1993.  It joins three other supplements that seek to update earlier recommendations.