Private data and the public good

Abstract

Internationally, and across many jurisdictions, there is a tension between the rights of individuals to have their privacy respected and the roles and responsibilities of Government in relation to how it protects these rights on the one hand and how it conducts itself as the governor and protector of this information on the other.

Most recently an issue has arisen in the New Zealand context (hereafter ‘the Case Study’) relating to privacy and a perceived conflict between the rights of individuals together with the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working with them and the Ministry of Social Development (MSD). This has captured the attention of many, including the media, and triggered a Privacy Commission inquiry.¹

Whilst some may not view this issue as being all that significant when considering the myriad of political and cyber security events currently threatening the security and protection of information globally, it has touched a chord amongst many.

This paper will explore the Case Study from the perspectives of four key stakeholders, referring to a range of legislation that is primarily concerned with health, privacy and the rights of the individual. In so doing, it aims to describe and highlight how in one instance the government reconciles, or fails to reconcile, its responsibility to protect individual privacy with the need to uphold the public good. It will discuss more generally how modern political and economic drivers are challenging current legal requirements governing the collection, use, retention, storage, disclosure and dissemination of individual citizens’ data (with a backdrop of exponential growth in information technology developments) and directly challenging the rights of individuals to privacy. It will include some comments on the Privacy Commissioner’s recent report to the Minister of Justice regarding Privacy Act reform.

¹ John Edwards Privacy Commissioner’s Inquiry into the Ministry of Social Development’s Collection of Individual Client-Level Data from NGOs. (April 2017).