12 May

Dunne Calls For The Primacy Of Privacy

UnitedFuture Leader, Peter Dunne, is marking Privacy Week by calling for the Right to Privacy to be included in New Zealand’s Bill of Rights.

"Today we live in a digital world, a world where the privacy of individuals can more readily be trampled upon.

"It is for that reason that I am today calling for the right of privacy to be elevated as an expressed right in our Bill of Rights, much like our freedom of expression.

Privacy is important value in New Zealand society but in today's New Zealand an individual's right to not have their private information intruded upon by the Government, companies or individuals has become more important.

"Without that recognition we will continue have our privacy placed as a second tier right, one that can be trumped. Without this recognition we will continue to have individual's privacy recklessly disregarded."

Mr Dunne, who has a long history of advocating for the right of privacy, is calling for the privacy right to be implemented alongside the Government's reforms, planned for later this year.

"Twenty five years ago, I introduced the Information Privacy Bill into Parliament as a Member's Bill. Twenty five years later, the issue of privacy is even more important, "

"The Government is already planning on introducing changes to our privacy law. In order to ensure privacy is treated with the respect due to it, it is important that we signal its place as a fundamental right for all New Zealanders," said Mr Dunne.

According to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner over sixty percent of New Zealander's remain concerned about privacy. That illustrates that a strong signal needs to be sent from the Government about how seriously we treat your right to live a private life that you control, not others.

"By entrenching privacy in our Bill of Right's we make a statement about what modern New Zealand values. We value an individual's right to live free from unreasonable intrusion and free to choose what is revealed to the public.

"The value of privacy is intrinsic to our identity and it is time we recognised it as such".

Ends.

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