David
CLARK
Revenue spokesperson

28 September 2012 MEDIA STATEMENT
IRD privacy breach worrying moment

IRD’s breach of 30 people’s privacy is a worrying development for an agency that holds such important information and will hopefully not snowball into another ACC, says Labour’s Revenue spokesperson David Clark.

“IRD’s privacy breach is a seriously worrying development. We’ve learnt from the ACC case that one privacy breach is often just the beginning and the problem can be deep within the culture of the organisation.

“In February even John Key admitted the IRD is an agency that is struggling, saying it is being ‘held hostage to a lack of technology’. In the two weeks ahead of the tax return deadline 70,000 phone calls to the IRD went unanswered. It is a tax collection agency that has around $7 billion of tax yet to collect. It will cost $1 – 1.5 billion to upgrade its computer systems. There would be no surprise if privacy structures are neglected.

“This Government has a shonky record on privacy. The ACC privacy debacle saw a breach of 6,000 people’s privacy on incredibly sensitive issues. I await with interest the Privacy Commissioner’s views.”

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