NZ Council for Civil Liberties

Photo of a silhouette of a man against a large screen showing computer data

Articles / Submissions

Briefing on the Data and Statistics Bill

The New Zealand Council for Civil Liberties is opposed to the Data and Statistics Bill and wants it withdrawn. Once in a generation law reform, on a topic that needs all-party support to have credibility, should be developed collaboratively to ensure public confidence. Read our briefing to MPs ahead of the final stages of the Bill's passage through Parliament. Keep reading “Briefing on the Data and Statistics Bill”

Blog Posts / News

The Ombudsman’s reply

Yesterday, the Council wrote to the Ombudsman, Peter Boshier, to complain about the decision made in his name to close our complaint against the former Minister for Covid-19 Response. The Ombudsman has replied to the Council, apologising for the management of our complaint, re-opening the matter, and undertaking to conduct an investigation. The text of the Ombudsman’s reply is below. Keep reading “The Ombudsman’s reply”

Articles

Media release: Disappointment at Select Committee’s refusal to fix the Data and Statistics Bill

The deeply flawed Data and Statistics Bill has passed through the Governance and Administration Select Committee largely unchanged.  The Committee has fallen in line with the advice of Stats NZ and ignored the significant concerns raised by, amongst others, the Ombudsman, a former Government Statistician, and the NZ Council for Civil Liberties. Keep reading “Media release: Disappointment at Select Committee’s refusal to fix the Data and Statistics Bill”

Articles

Media release: Privacy Commissioner joins Ombudsman and former Government Statistician in criticising the Data and Statistics Bill

The NZ Council for Civil Liberties is pleased that the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) has reacted to public pressure and made a late submission highlighting problems with the Data and Statistics Bill. In doing so, the Privacy Commissioner joins the Ombudsman, and the former Government Statistician Len Cook, in highlighting serious flaws in the Bill. NZCCL and Mr Cook have both called for the entire Bill to be withdrawn, and the Ombudsman has called for part 5 of the Bill to be scrapped. Keep reading “Media release: Privacy Commissioner joins Ombudsman and former Government Statistician in criticising the Data and Statistics Bill”

Submissions

Supplementary Submission: Data and Statistics Bill

Our oral submission asked some important questions including "Where is the Privacy Impact Assessment?" and "Why is Statistics talking about the NZ govt 'warming up the public gradually' to further data sharing?" . The Committee asked us to put these points in a supplementary written submission. Keep reading “Supplementary Submission: Data and Statistics Bill”

Submissions

Submission: Oversight of Oranga Tamariki System and Children and Young People’s Commission Bill

The Council calls for the Oversight of Oranga Tamariki System and Children and Young People's Commission Bill to be withdrawn. The Council doubts the effectiveness of the bill's core measures and opposes restrictions on freedom of information, freedom of expression, and our right to justice. Keep reading “Submission: Oversight of Oranga Tamariki System and Children and Young People’s Commission Bill”

Submissions

Submission: Data & Statistics Bill

The Council opposes the Data and Statistics Bill, which gives more power to the state, and takes it from the public. The bill increases government collection, use and sharing amongst itself of information about us, while weakening our rights both to privacy and to access information held by government agencies. Keep reading “Submission: Data & Statistics Bill”