NZCB InHouse magazine October/November 2020

Page 20

IN THE KNOW —

Privacy rights in today’s environment Parliament recently passed the Privacy Act 2020. This new Act will replace the current Privacy Act 1993 and will come into effect on 1 December 2020. The Privacy Commissioner has announced that the “new Privacy Act provides a modernised framework to better protect New Zealanders’ privacy rights in today’s environment”. personal information if a request has been made for it. Maximum fines will be $10,000 per offence. • Requirement for compliance with the Privacy Act 2020 by international platforms. This will mean that if an international platform is carrying on business in New Zealand, with New Zealanders’ personal information, they will have to comply with the Privacy Act regardless of where they, or their servers, are based.

The key reforms in the Privacy Act 2020 include: • Mandatory notification of harmful privacy breaches to both the Privacy Commissioner and affected parties. • The introduction of compliance orders, which will enable the Privacy Commissioner to require compliance with the Privacy Act. Failure to comply with a compliance order could result in a fine of up to $10,000. • Access determinations, which will give the Privacy Commissioner the power to demand release of information if any organisation or business refuses to make personal information available on request. • Controls on the disclosure of information overseas. These will require that, before disclosing personal information overseas, New Zealand organisations or businesses will need to ensure the overseas entities have similar levels of privacy protection to those in New Zealand.

Breach of privacy claims can already (i.e. under the Privacy Act 1993) result in significantly high awards of damages if they are successfully taken to a hearing before the Human Rights Review Tribunal. Under the Privacy Act 2020, damages will be able to be awarded for: • Pecuniary loss suffered • Expenses reasonably incurred • Loss of any benefit, whether or not of a monetary kind • Humiliation, loss of dignity, and injury to the feelings of the aggrieved individual. We expect that breach of privacy claims will continue to be a risk for an employer or previous employer and with the strengthening of the new Privacy Act 2020, may even become a greater risk. A breach of privacy issue we commonly encounter is a previous employer talking to third parties or giving verbal references about an employee or former employee. You cannot do so unless you have been expressly permitted to do so by the employee concerned. This is the case even if you are phoned out of the blue by a prospective employer. If you have not been permitted to speak to that prospective employer, then you must decline to do so on the basis you do not have the employee’s permission.

• New criminal offences which will make it an offence to mislead an organisation or business in a way that affects someone’s personal information or to destroy Danny Jacobson and Trudy Marshall are Partners at Employment Lawyers Tauranga and they specialise exclusively in employment law. They operate our Employment Helpline for NZCB members: phone 07 928 0529 for 10 minutes free advice on any employment related issues. (The above is by its nature general, and is not intended to be a substitute for legal advice.)

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Articles inside

What is the difference between our NZCB Partners?

2min
page 54

Solving moss and mould problems

1min
page 49

Cavity sliders in wet areas

2min
page 48

Nine ways to recognise a man’s stress

3min
pages 40-41

Message from our South Island BDM

3min
page 42

Coping with stress during infectious disease outbreaks

5min
pages 38-39

Site Safety and the new normal

3min
pages 36-37

NZCB welcomes new Regional Presidents

2min
page 43

Concrete NZ issues concrete panel lifting anchor warning

2min
pages 34-35

AST Trust update

1min
page 47

Overlapping duties: working with other businesses

2min
pages 32-33

The Estimators A-Z tendering checklist

4min
page 30

Reducing emissions in the building and construction sector

3min
pages 22-23

Halo 10-Year Residential Guarantee is here

3min
pages 28-29

Handle job variations easily with tech

3min
pages 24-25

The payment retentions rules get some teeth

6min
pages 26-27

Dig the well before you are thirsty

2min
page 19

The key to revolutionising your leadership

3min
page 31

Privacy rights in today’s environment

2min
pages 20-21

Jacobsen helps to reduce waste with product stewardship programme

3min
page 18

Message from the Chief Executive

3min
pages 6-7

Contract Works Insurance

2min
page 15

Save the date! NZCB 22nd AGM, Conference and Expo

2min
page 14

NZCB public website – is your business profile up-to-date?

1min
pages 12-13

NZCB Building Trade Professionals Workshop – Exempt Building work

2min
page 10

Apprenticeship support for employers

2min
pages 16-17

Message from the Group Technical Manager

2min
pages 8-9

Message from the NZCB Board

3min
pages 4-5
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