Q. How do I make a submission?
Make a submission online through the ‘Submission field’ on the TalkPrivacy page
Send in a written submission to: Privacy Act Review Project Coordinator
Law Commission
PO Box 2590
Wellington 6140
Email: privacy@lawcom.govt.nz
Q. When do submissions close?
The Commission has extended the deadline for submissions to the end of May, but we will not be able to accept submissions after that date.
Q. What will the Law Commission do with the comments on this website?
All of the comments on this website are of great interest to us. We will consider and use all comments as well as public submissions made on our Issues Paper to help us decide how the Privacy Act might be improved. We will then prepare a report to the Government, with recommendations for changes to the Privacy Act.
Q. Why is the Law Commission entrusted with this review?
In 2006, the Law Commission was asked by the Government to undertake a thorough review of New Zealand’s privacy laws. The project has proceeded in stages, with the review of the Privacy Act being the fourth and final stage of the project. In previous stages, the Law Commission published a study paper on privacy concepts, a specific report on public registers under the Privacy Act, and an issues paper and final report on penalties and remedies for invasion of privacy. These publications are available from the Law Commission’s website www.lawcom.govt.nz.
The Law Commission is an independent Crown Entity, responsible for reviewing New Zealand’s laws and providing law reform advice to Government.
Q. What is involved in the research for this Review?
A series of forums and meetings with privacy experts and academics has assisted us in the preparation of the issues paper.
The review team has worked closely with the Privacy Commissioner and the Ministry of Justice to analyse what currently works well under the Privacy Act and where there is room for improvement. The Privacy Commissioner conducted a comprehensive review of the Act in 1998, called Necessary and Desirable – Privacy Act 1993 Review, and the Law Commission has considered all of the Privacy Commissioner’s suggestions. The Necessary and Desirable review is available from the Privacy Commissioner’s website www.privacy.org.nz. The review team has also considered the Australian Law Reform Commission review of the Australian Privacy Act, called For Your Information: Australian Privacy Law and Practice available from www.alrc.gov.au.
Q. What does the Issues Paper cover?
In the Issues Paper we have explored a number of options for improving and updating the Privacy Act. We have looked at wording changes to the privacy principles, their definitions and exceptions. We have examined changes to the powers and functions of the Privacy Commissioner and the operation of the Privacy Commissioner’s complaints process. For example we have raised the option of giving the Privacy Commissioner the power to audit the way the agencies handle personal information. Another option is to give the Privacy Commissioner the power to issue enforcement notices if the Privacy Commissioner considers that an agency is in breach of the Privacy Act. We have also raised the option of requiring agencies that put personal information at risk to notify the people concerned about any breach that has occurred.
We have surveyed topics of particular importance such as government information sharing (including law enforcement information sharing), information matching, direct marketing, identity crime and trans-border data flows. We have also surveyed developments in technology such as social networking, search engines, cloud computing, deep packet inspection, behavioural targeting, location technologies including radio frequency identification, and biometric technologies as well as privacy enhancing technologies.
Refer to our ‘Library’ section for links to individual chapters of the Issues Paper.
Q. What happens next?
After the closing date for submissions the Law Commission will consider the views outlined in the submissions received before developing final recommendations for the Government about how the Privacy Act could be improved and updated. These recommendations will be discussed in the final report which will be presented to Government to consider by the end of 2010. The Government will then decide what to do with the Commission’s recommendations. The Government does not have to accept our recommendations. If the Government does agree with our recommendations, the Privacy Act may be amended.
