Maintaining+employee+Privacy+in+NZ+Businesses



Employee Privacy within New Zealand Business (What rights do I have as an employee to for my information to remain private)?

Before you start your employment it is assumed that your employer would have completed a proper pre-employment screening process eg criminal check, reference check and credit check which is information than an employer can lawfully collect under the Privacy Act 1993 Your employers must follow both the Employment Relations Act 2000 and Privacy Act 1993. Your right to privacy is protecetd by the Privay Act 1993. The Act sets out rules that agencies have to follow if they want to keep personal information about you. Personal information is any information that identifies you. The Privacy Act was passed in April 1993. The Act applies to almost every person, business or organisation in New Zealand. It sets out 12 information privacy principles, which guide how personal information can be collected, used, stored and disclosed. [] There are a for some case studies on the Privacy Commisson website that can be referred to: //Case Note 211294 (2010) NZ Priv Cmr 16: Man has to supply details of pending criminal charges pre-employment :-// In this case A man wanted to apply for a job at an education institution. On the job application form there the was a question asking the man to list his criminal convictions.The man did feel that this information was necessary for the job he was applying for. The Privacy tribunal investigated and concluded that is was necesary for the institution to ask for criminal conviction as the principal 1 of the Privacy Act states requires that personal information shall not be collected by an agency unless the information is collected for a lawful purpose connected with a function or activity of the agency and the collection of the information is necessary for. The education institution was collection information for a lawful purpose for the position as the instituion deals with students as well as preschoolers.
 * Before Employement occurs**
 * Once in employment**
 * About the Privacy Act 1993**

The Privacy Act has twelve information privacy principles. For the full text of each you princple you can view the Privacy Commissioner website [] [|Principle 1], [|Principle 2], [|Principle 3] and [|Principle 4] govern the collection of personal information. This includes the reasons why personal information may be collected, where it may be collected from, and how it is collected. [|Principle 5] governs the way personal information is stored. It is designed to protect personal information from unauthorised use or disclosure. [|Principle 6] gives individuals the right to access information about themselves. [|Principle 7] gives individuals the right to correct information about themselves. [|Principle 8] and [|Principle 9], [|Principle 10] and [|Principle 11] place restrictions on how people and organisations can use or disclose personal information. These include ensuring information is accurate and up-to-date, and that it isn’t improperly disclosed. [|Principle 12] governs how “unique identifiers” – such as IRD numbers, bank client numbers, driver’s licence and passport numbers – can be used.
 * Brief description of the privacy principles**

The Privacy Act 1993 can be view on [|www.legislation.govt.nz]

Privacy is a very important issue when managing a company. If your know the rules it will help both employer and employee. Below is guideline to help employers:
 * Employer**:
 * how you collect information;
 * how you store it, and what procedures you have to protect its security;
 * the need to keep it complete, up to date and accurate before you use it;
 * how long you can keep it;
 * what you can use it for;
 * when you can disclose it;
 * allowing the person who is the subject of the information to access it;
 * correcting it if it is wrong.

You are a person and your are entittled to privacy, therefor you are best able to protect your privacy. Knowing your rights, asking questions, being aware of the risks and knowing how to aviod them are your tools to help with privacy.
 * Conclusion:**

The Privacy Commission []
 * References:**

New Zealand Legislation [|www.legislation.govt.nz]

by: Mirese Abbott ID: 1350713