Government Chief Digital Officer Issues Standard To Protect Government-held Personal Information
Press Release – Department Of Internal Affairs
Mr James, also Secretary for Internal Affairs, emphasises the importance of this new standard in maintaining public trust and confidence.
The Government Chief Digital Officer Paul James today issued a new standard to enhance the protection of government-held personal information.
'To retain the trust and confidence of the public, government agencies must put privacy and transparency at the heart of their service delivery and management of personal information,' says Mr James. 'The new Standard for providing non-government third parties with access to, or collection of, government-held personal information places clear expectations on all parties and will support agencies to adopt stronger information security, management and assurance practices.'
Agreements with third parties must confirm that any potential, perceived or real conflicts of interest have been disclosed, that these will be appropriately managed by the third party, and that the third party has processes for ongoing disclosure of new conflicts.
The new standard, developed by the GCDO in collaboration with a cross-agency working group, sets minimum expectations for public service agencies when arranging access to or collecting personal information with non-government third parties.
Many public services are delivered by third-party providers who are best placed to do so due to their location, relationships, knowledge and expertise. Sharing personal information is an essential component of this therefore we must get it right.
The new standard requires public service agencies to conduct a risk assessment whenever personal information is to be shared and includes robust safeguards to protect individual privacy and directs agencies to apply best practices when granting access to personal information.
Mr James, also Secretary for Internal Affairs, emphasises the importance of this new standard in maintaining public trust and confidence.
'Government agencies are custodians of New Zealanders' personal information. How they handle that information is essential to public trust and confidence,' says Mr James. 'This new standard aims to ensure personal information is accessed and used responsibly, with appropriate safeguards to protect privacy.'
'We are committed to working closely with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner to ensure that the standard aligns with existing legal requirements and enhances the overall protection of personal information,' says Mr James.
The standard will be mandatory for all public service agencies from 1 July 2025. Other State services agencies are encouraged to adopt it. It offers more options for assurance, audit, and addressing non-compliance, helping agencies establish clear legal responsibilities with third parties. Chief Executives must ensure their agencies implement the standard.
The development of this standard follows an inquiry into the protection of personal information which found some agencies fell short on their responsibility to protect and manage the sharing of personal information.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Otago Daily Times
3 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Scraping the bottom of the barrel
Just when you think things can't get any worse, they often do. That is precisely what we have seen politically this week when it comes to the behaviour of our politicians. As if Leader of the House Chris Bishop's ill-conceived and poorly controlled ramblings at the Aotearoa Music Awards about a Stan Walker performance featuring Toitū Te Tiriti banners and people waving tino rangatiratanga flags weren't enough, the country had to endure even ghastlier behaviour in Parliament on Thursday. The debate about whether to endorse the recommendation to suspend three Te Pāti Māori MPs really showed New Zealanders the worst of Parliament. Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, and Rawiri Waititi have now been barred from the House for seven days, 21 days and 21 days respectively for performing a haka in Parliament during debate last November about the waste of time, energy and money that was the Act party's contentious Treaty Principles Bill. Their intimidatory behaviour towards Act MPs then was at the core of the complaints considered by the Privileges Committee. Despite efforts by Opposition parties to reduce the length of the recommended suspensions, the government on Thursday ratified the committee's recommendations for punishments which, in the case of Ms Ngarewa-Packer and Mr Waititi, are the most severe ever handed down to MPs. While there can be little doubt that the behaviour of the three MPs last November was threatening and failed to meet the standards of Parliament, the severity seems unnecessarily vindictive. Interestingly, an RNZ poll of just over 1000 people, with a margin of error of 3.1 %, now shows that most respondents – 37% – think the punishment is 'about right" while 36.2% consider it too harsh. It is 'too lenient" in the minds of 17.2% of those surveyed. Of Labour Party supporters, 8% believe it should have been tougher, as do 3.8% of Green Party followers and, surprisingly, 9% of Te Pāti Māori supporters. The poll shows 54.2% of respondents either support the penalties or think they were too weak, a reflection of the government's view. While the impromptu haka by the three was seen by some as unacceptable and a breach of parliamentary protocol, it was Ms Ngarewa-Packer's foolish mimicry of shooting Act MPs which was the worst and most intimidatory action that day. The second she put her two fingers together, made the pretend gun and pointed it at Act leader David Seymour and colleagues marked the start of this whole sorry saga – though of course it can also be argued the real start came with the introduction of Mr Seymour's divisive Bill, allowed to happen by a prime minister too focused on stitching up a coalition deal with him at the top. The inciting incidents, the response and the reactions this week leave a stain on the reputation of Parliament. Some of the grandiloquence in the House on Thursday was vituperative and unwarranted. NZ First leader Winston Peters went way too far when he likened Mr Waititi's moko to scribbles, though he did apologise after the Speaker's intervention. Mr Waititi also stepped over the line by bringing a noose into the House. It was a bit rich for Mr Peters to tell RNZ it was a sad day in Parliament when he played a significant role in making it that. Parliament is no place for shrinking violets. We have seen that time and time again. It has had more than its share of biffo and nastiness over the years, which never led to suspensions anywhere near the length of those rubberstamped this week. Let us hope we don't see the like of this miserable drama again. Saw that coming It was always going to be a case of 'this town ain't big enough for the both of us". The implosion in recent days of United States President Donald Trump's simpering friendship with Elon Musk, the world's richest man, has been both highly predictable and highly amusing. Mr Musk has become increasingly caustic and is now calling for Mr Trump to be impeached. In turn, the president wants all Mr Musk's government contracts to be cancelled. When two such massive egos meet, there can only be one winner. Who that will ultimately be remains to be seen. In the meantime, let's be honest, the feud provides some much-needed light relief.
1News
10 hours ago
- 1News
Call to rethink tax on KiwiSaver
KiwiSaver members could be significantly better off if New Zealand adopted a taxation model similar to Australia's, an economist says. Simplicity chief economist Shamubeel Eaqub ran some numbers modelling a system similar to Australia's, where contributions and returns are taxed at 15%. In New Zealand, full tax is paid on income contributed to KiwiSaver, and returns in PIE schemes taxed at an investor's prescribed investor rate up to 28%. Eaqub said an "average" KiwiSaver investor starting now could end up $60,000 better off in nominal terms at retirement on a model similar to Australia's. If tax was not paid on contributions or returns, they could be about $1 million better off - and if only taxes on returns were removed the gain would be about $300,000. "In Australia, the context is there's some conversation about whether the tax breaks are too generous for richer people. It's not that it's perfect but the point is in other countries it's heavily incentivised for people to save in their private pension." ADVERTISEMENT But it was not in New Zealand. Kirk Hope, chief executive of the Financial Services Council, which represents KiwiSaver providers, said the Australian model was different because that country has a means-tested pension. "The tax break that occurs in New Zealand occurs when you retire, when you get national super... that is the equivalent of about $500,000. So I think it's hard to do a comparative analysis without acknowledging that there are significant differences between the schemes and what they are trying to achieve." Winter's here, supermarket spying, and TikTok's new feature. (Source: 1News) But he said if the tax on savings for New Zealanders was reduced it would give future governments more "fiscal options" in relation to superannuation. He said New Zealand previously had a system that was EET — or exempt, exempt, taxed, where contributions were tax-exempt, exempt from tax within the scheme and then fully taxed when withdrawn. The Tax Working Group in 2018 acknowledged that the change from that system had potentially created incentives for New Zealanders to direct savings into investments like houses instead. ADVERTISEMENT Hope said it would be expensive to adjust back to EET but there could be other changes that would be more affordable. The tax working group estimated that ignoring behavioural changes, it would cost $200m to $300m a year to move to a system where returns and withdrawals were not taxed, and $2.5b a year to move to an EET system. "The higher initial cost for an EET regime arises from the fact that there will be a substantial deferral period before significant amounts are withdrawn from the scheme, and thus taxed under the third 't'. Although these are very different initial costs, the costs will be the same in the long run on a net present value basis." Hope said providing different forms of tax incentives would be beneficial for savers. He said removing or reducing the employer contribution tax would be particularly useful for low-income people. Kernel Wealth founder Dean Anderson said New Zealand was one of the few countries operating a TTE — taxed contributions, taxed returns and exempt withdrawal — model. "Our future savings would be much better off under an EET approach, where we don't pay tax on the way in but on the way out. ADVERTISEMENT "With low savings rates in NZ, the government should be exploring everything in its powers to grow savings rates, which benefits NZ and Kiwis over the long term. "But it's not a surprise. The recent meek KiwiSaver policy announcement did all the hard work to announce a positive gradual increase to KiwiSaver contributions, yet they fell short by announcing a three-year policy rather than outlining a decade plus long policy of incremental KiwiSaver increases." Ana-Marie Lockyer, chief executive at Pie Funds, said KiwiSaver members were at a disadvantage compared to Australians because there was no upfront tax incentive or concession as in Australia to encourage them to contribute more. "Maybe consideration of a mid-tier flat tax rate on savings up to a certain amount would encourage savings." She said employer contributions were also taxed so investors lost the benefits of compounding, and investors paid tax on bonds and deemed dividends on global equities so they were effectively paying a capital gains tax. "So contrary to the government's stated goal of helping New Zealanders' grow their KiwiSaver balances, these factors mean New Zealanders have less incentives to make voluntary contributions and pay more tax on investment earnings, resulting in smaller balances at retirement relative to our Australian friends."
NZ Herald
12 hours ago
- NZ Herald
SMEG returns to New World
New World is serving up kitchen style with its latest promotion. This article was prepared by New World and is being published by the New Zealand Herald as advertorial. New World is once again serving up a big dollop of kitchen style with its latest promotion. For the past six years, these eagerly awaited campaigns have been elevating kitchens across the country. This year, New World has once again, partnered with premium brand SMEG to offer a kitchenware collection that combines luxury with everyday functionality. The promotion launches June 9 and runs until August 31, or while stocks last. New World's retail marketing manager Sarah Austin says the SMEG kitchenware range was chosen for its premium quality and useability. As with previous promotions, the range is expected to be hugely popular. 'Our promotions are all about giving customers the chance to add a little bit of wonderful to their weekly shop,' she says. 'We know New Zealanders are familiar with and love the SMEG brand, but treating themselves to quality kitchenware isn't often a priority. This promotion gives New World shoppers the chance to elevate their kitchen space with a touch of luxury and can collect stickers just by doing their usual shop.' The SMEG range is finished in high gloss while the brasier is cast iron, making it ideal for low-and-slow cooking and safe for both the stovetop and oven. The range has been chosen so customers can choose the items they like, without needing to collect the whole set, with one sticker collected for every $20 spent in store and online**. Items can be collected by redeeming between 20 stickers for the utensil rest to 55 stickers for the larger baker. Shoppers can also use a combination of stickers and cash to collect items. The cast iron braiser is a Clubcard exclusive and only available with 45 stickers and a cash top-up. Value is top of mind this year and New World's fresh and improved Clubcard programme offers a truly rewarding shopping experience with our own New World Dollars – a currency that turns everyday shopping into real value. With no minimum spend, customers earn every time they shop and can redeem New World Dollars like cash in-store or online. Combined with exclusive Clubcard deals, prize opportunities, and exciting campaigns like SMEG, it's easier than ever for Kiwis to get more from their grocery shop – all backed by our enhanced app for a seamless, personalised experience and rewards for every dollar you spend. Throughout the SMEG promotion New World teams across Aotearoa will be helping customers to keep track of what stock is available and what's running out. 'We anticipate the promotion is going to be super popular, and it's important to remember it's only while stocks last,' says Sarah. 'Some items will be more sought after than others, so customers should redeem their stickers as soon as they have enough for their chosen pieces, or they may lose out.' You can keep an eye on your local New World's Facebook page for updates on stock availability and take note of the in-store signage about what's available and what might be running low. As we always say, if you really want a particular item, don't sit on your stickers, they are strictly while stocks last.
