New Zealand Parliament

05/02/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 05/01/2024 22:02

Have your say on the Privacy Bill

In 2011 the Law Commission reviewed the Privacy Act 1993. The review recommended repealing and replacing the Act with this Privacy Bill. Social media, e-commerce, internet based devices, and cloud storage have all transformed the way personal information is kept and used. Large quantities of this information can now be stored, sent, disclosed, and retrieved easily all over the world. While the technology has enabled many benefits, it has also created new challenges for how that information is protected. This Bill aims to update and modernised the law to reflect the changes technology has created over the last 25 years.

Like the Act, the Bill regulates the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information. It also introduces new provisions and enhances others such as:

  • mandatory reporting of privacy breaches
  • compliance notices
  • strengthening cross-border data flow protections
  • new criminal offences
  • Commissioner making binding decisions on access requests, and
  • strengthening the Privacy Commissioner's information gathering power.

These changes better align New Zealand's privacy law with international developments, such as the 2013 OECD Privacy Guidelines and the European Union's forthcoming General Data Protection Regulation.

If you have a view on the Privacy Bill that could help the committee inform parliament then follow a link bellow and share your thoughts with the committee.

Tell the Justice Committee what you think about the bill

Send your submission by midnight on 24 May 2018 using the link below:

Make a submission

For more details about the bill:

  • Read the full content of the bill

Privacy Bill

ENDS

For media enquiries contact:

Justice Secretariat; phone 04 817 9506, or email; [email protected]