Source: New Zealand Privacy Commissioner – Blog
Welcome to our latest round-up of privacy news stories for the week.
Kim Dotcom may get compensation from taxpayer for breaches of privacy
Kim Dotcom has taken a step closer to winning compensation after the Attorney General unlawfully declined 52 urgent Privacy Act requests in 2015. Dotcom requested copies of his personal information from 52 government agencies, but the requests were all dealt with by the Attorney General who declined them. The Court of Appeal has determined that the requests should have been dealt with by each of the agencies separately. Read more here.
Privacy Commissioner offers advice, online tools, as new law looms
A sweeping update to our privacy laws comes into effect on December 1 and Privacy Commissioner John Edwards is encouraging organisations to prepare for its tighter rules now. The Commissioner’s office is offering online tools and resources to help people understand the new legislation. Read more here.
New Privacy Act designed for data innovation
A new privacy law comes into effect in New Zealand in a matter of weeks and businesses need to consider a privacy check-up to see if they are ready. Under the Act, failure to notify the Privacy Commissioner of a notifiable privacy breach is an offence and businesses should consider whether is it timely to undertake a full privacy health check. Read more here.
Audit reveals new tech tools in police’s digital armoury
A stocktake triggered by a controversial trial of facial recognition technology has revealed new tools in NZ Police’s digital armoury. The audit lists more than a dozen investigative tools, including live-streaming drones, a superfast system to spot suspects in CCTV feeds, and a cellphone scourer with facial recognition capability. Read more here.
Covid card experiment underway in Ngongotahā
A Covid-19 contact tracing card is being trialled in Ngongotahā near Rotorua. Rather than logging the wearers’ every movement like a GPS, it notes other cards it comes close to. A spokesperson for the Covid-19 Response team says the privacy, security and sovereignty of people’s data is key to the success of the trial. Read more here.
Dr Bloomfield warns media against overstepping on Covid patient privacy
Dr Ashley Bloomfield has warned the media against intruding on the privacy of Covid-19 patients, following an incident in which a media representative visited the house of a close contact. Dr Bloomfield reminded journalists to respect the processes that are in place, particularly regarding the privacy of individuals involved. Read more here.
How to preserve the privacy of your genomic data
Genome sequencing has become relatively routine since the early 2000s but decoding and recording your genetic fingerprint presents the real privacy risk that your personal information could be stolen or leaked. A developing area of encryption, called fully homomorphic encryption (FHE), promises to protect genomic data in ways that even future quantum computers won’t be able to crack. Read more here.
Image credit: Canvas backed Duck via John James Audubon’s Birds of America
