Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Labour to lodge privacy complaint over Bennett
Charles Chauvel
Climate Change Issues Spokesperson
28
July 2009 Media Statement
Labour to lodge privacy
complaint over Bennett
Labour’s Associate Justice Spokesperson Charles Chauvel plans to lay a complaint with the Privacy Commissioner over Paula Bennett’s clumsy and vindictive attempts to silence her critics.
“I believe the Social Development Minister has breached her obligations under the Privacy Act and if unchallenged, will have set a disturbing new benchmark.
“The Minister admitted in Parliament today she had taken no advice whatsoever on her decision to peddle personal information about DPB recipients to the media – aside from having a look at a website.
“This is a shocking admission of just how casually the Minister approached what was an invasive and totally unnecessary step. You would at least expect that she would have bothered to check the legal, and any other, ramifications of such a heavy-handed move.
“The Minister should know that she is obliged to comply with the Privacy Act. In particular, she is required to treat the information contained in her department’s massive data-base carefully. She must not release that information without consent, or in an incomplete or misleading way.
“Aside from admitting she took no advice, the Minister also admitted in Parliament that that she had made no enquiries about all possibly relevant entitlements, meaning that she cannot have been sure that she was releasing complete or non-misleading information,” says Charles Chauvel.
“The Minister’s decision was clearly not taken in good faith and I believe it breaches several of the Information Privacy Principles contained in the Privacy Act. Even the most basic taking of advice from officials or a lawyer would have made this clear to the Minister.
“It is evident that this has been nothing more than an attempt to intimidate and silence people who are disappointed the Minister has allowed access to the Training Incentive Allowance for sole parents – which she herself used - to be severely curtailed.
“This is a display of extremely poor judgement by the Minister and her performance in Parliament only confirmed this to be the case.”
ENDS
Gordon Campbell: Gordon Campbell On A Neglected, Enduring Aspect Of The Francis Era
NZ Labour Party: Consenting Change Opens Door For Cowboys
New Zealand Government: Accelerating The Roll-Out Of Public EV Chargers
Save the City-to-Sea Bridge: Join on Sunday afternoon to save Wellington’s City-to-Sea Bridge
New Zealand Defence Force: Second World War Veterans Receive Message From King Charles
New Zealand Government: More Than 900 Health Graduates To Receive Financial Boost Through Bonding Scheme
New Zealand Police: Stacks Of Cocaine Unpacked In Mt Wellington
