Legislation allowing driver licences to be suspended when people haven't arranged to pay overdue traffic fines would have "significant privacy impacts", the Privacy Commissioner says.Marie Shroff warned about the disclosure of personal informati
Legislation allowing driver licences to be suspended when people haven't arranged to pay overdue traffic fines would have "significant privacy impacts", the Privacy Commissioner says.
Marie Shroff warned about the disclosure of personal information to credit recovery agencies,in a submission to a parliamentary select committee today.
The Courts and Criminal Matters Bill creates the new enforcement measure of driver licence stop orders (DLSOs) which can be issued against fine defaulters.
People with overdue fines would be given 14 days warning before a DLSO was be issued against them.
Licences would remain suspended until the overdue fines were paid outright or through time-to-pay arrangements.
It contains other measures, including substitution of home detention or prison sentences for unaffordable and unenforceable reparation orders, and allowing the Ministry of Justice to release overdue penalty amounts to credit reporting agencies.
The bill, which passed its first reading on a vote of 113-9, is now before the law and order select committee for public submissions.
Ms Shroff's office recommended the removal of a clause allowing "identifying particulars", including the debtor's full name, former names and aliases, past and present addresses, occupation and employer, to be passed on to credit reporters.
In a written submission, the commissioner said the merits of dealing with fines defaulters did not outweigh the privacy implications, including "unavoidable" identity mismatches with innocent people.
The office also said the disclosure of sensitive personal information by the Government to the private sector was "disturbing" and could reduce public trust in the government.
The Property Investors Federation said other provisions of the bill would enable creditors to recoup civil debt or other monetary penalties, benefitting landlords out of pocket because of unpaid rents, the New Zealand
The bill would enable addresses to be supplied to Ministry of Justice collectors to enforce tenancy tribunal orders on owed rents, particularly in the case of beneficiaries whose information was held by the Ministry of Social Development.
The federation said personal information should only be given to an officer of the court, and it did not want the information for itself.
The select committee is due to report back to Parliament in November.
