Anger over council sale of personal information

When Palmerston North man Gary Clark applied to build a garage on his property, he did not expect his personal information would be "sold" to a third party.

But within two days, Mr Clark was approached by a building firm in Auckland.

"My concern is that the council is passing on my information for a fee – selling the information to these people," he said.

Like all territorial authorities in New Zealand, Palmerston North City Council is required to keep a public register on building consents and to forward data to Statistics New Zealand.

The council charges an annual fee of $100 to companies that want that data. About 100 firms have signed up for the service.

The fee was for administering the data and posting reports, council head of land administration services Diane Oliver said. The information had to be supplied to whoever wanted it.

Mr Clark's irritation over the use of his information comes as the Law Commission conducts a comprehensive review on privacy.

Bulk access to register information for commercial purposes was an "oft-voiced concern", the commission reported last year.

Mr Clark said he wanted his name removed from the public register relating to building consents, but was told the council was legally obliged to hold the information.

HAVE YOUR SAY
What do you think about the council passing on private details?
Write to the editor at PO Box 3, Palmerston North, or editor@msl.co.nz (include names and addresses), or text to 0274981242, or post your comments below.

- © Fairfax NZ News

Newest First

Oldest First

Wazza   #1   03:06 pm Nov 26 2009

I totally agree with Mr Clark,it is very irritating. At the very least people should be advised of the fact that their information will be going on to a public register and will be sold onto a third party, then they should be given the option to choose whether they wish to recieve advertising.

I am sure the council could set up a system which has a list of applicants that wouldn't mind recieving the mammoth amount of correspodance that is recieved from companies wanting to sell you all kinds of things. As part of their "administration" the companies recieving the information can be told that this applicant does not wish to recieve advertising or something to that effect.

Ad Feedback