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Privacy in Schools - Office of the Privacy Commissioner

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<strong>Privacy</strong> at work<br />

Transfer – an <strong>of</strong> records <strong>in</strong>troduction<br />

between schools ..............................................31<br />

Counsellors and health <strong>in</strong>formation .................................................32<br />

Introduction<br />

Classroom activities/exercises and personal <strong>in</strong>formation .................33<br />

Volunteers ......................................................................................33<br />

Information and communications technology ..................................33<br />

Welcome to “<strong>Privacy</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Schools</strong>” – a book designed to help New Zealand<br />

primary and secondary schools and <strong>the</strong>ir associated units fi nd solutions to<br />

issues <strong>in</strong>volv<strong>in</strong>g privacy.<br />

Security cameras/CCTV .................................................................35<br />

Enquiries by Police and o<strong>the</strong>r government agencies .......................35<br />

Compla<strong>in</strong>ts procedure ........................................................37<br />

Contact details for <strong>the</strong> Offi ce <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Privacy</strong> <strong>Commissioner</strong> .............37<br />

Appendix A: <strong>Privacy</strong> pr<strong>in</strong>ciples and sections 27 & 29 ......38<br />

The start<strong>in</strong>g po<strong>in</strong>t for New Zealand privacy law is <strong>the</strong> <strong>Privacy</strong> Act 1993, and<br />

at <strong>the</strong> heart <strong>of</strong> this Act are 12 <strong>in</strong>formation privacy pr<strong>in</strong>ciples. While <strong>the</strong> privacy<br />

pr<strong>in</strong>ciples are law that schools must follow, <strong>the</strong>y are not so much hard and<br />

fast “rules” as basic guidance, with agreed exceptions, on how schools<br />

should handle personal <strong>in</strong>formation. These privacy pr<strong>in</strong>ciples are based on<br />

<strong>in</strong>ternationally accepted ways <strong>of</strong> how best to protect privacy. For <strong>in</strong>stance,<br />

you’ll fi nd <strong>the</strong> same ideas <strong>in</strong> Australian, Canadian, British, Hong Kong and<br />

South Korean law, to mention only a few.<br />

PRIVACY<br />

Appendix B: Forms .............................................................47<br />

Appendix C: Request for access to <strong>in</strong>formation checklist ....50<br />

To apply <strong>the</strong> privacy pr<strong>in</strong>ciples <strong>in</strong> your school, fi rst <strong>of</strong> all you need to<br />

understand <strong>the</strong>m. In this book you will fi nd a discussion <strong>of</strong> each <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />

privacy pr<strong>in</strong>ciples, with examples to help with <strong>the</strong> explanation. The<br />

pr<strong>in</strong>ciples are all reproduced <strong>in</strong> Appendix A, page 38.<br />

Secondly, you need to work out if <strong>the</strong>re is o<strong>the</strong>r relevant law. This is<br />

because you must follow o<strong>the</strong>r legislation fi rst if it requires you to handle<br />

personal <strong>in</strong>formation <strong>in</strong> a particular way. For example <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> situation where<br />

a student is expelled, all schools (<strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g state, private and <strong>in</strong>tegrated)<br />

need to comply with <strong>the</strong> Education Act by notify<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> M<strong>in</strong>istry <strong>of</strong><br />

Education. In this book you will fi nd more examples where o<strong>the</strong>r legislation<br />

takes precedence over <strong>the</strong> privacy pr<strong>in</strong>ciples.<br />

From <strong>the</strong>re, you need to be able to apply <strong>the</strong> pr<strong>in</strong>ciples and any o<strong>the</strong>r<br />

relevant law to a particular situation. So, under <strong>the</strong> head<strong>in</strong>g “Application <strong>of</strong><br />

<strong>the</strong> privacy pr<strong>in</strong>ciples”, page 26, you will fi nd discussion <strong>of</strong> how <strong>the</strong><br />

pr<strong>in</strong>ciples and o<strong>the</strong>r law applies to common issues such as enrolment<br />

forms, report<strong>in</strong>g to parents, and behaviour modifi cation or discipl<strong>in</strong>ary<br />

processes. While <strong>the</strong> <strong>Privacy</strong> Act is not about creat<strong>in</strong>g a paper war <strong>of</strong><br />

authorisations and consents, I have also provided some draft forms <strong>in</strong><br />

Appendix B, page 47, to help schools develop <strong>the</strong>ir own forms.<br />

F<strong>in</strong>ally, acknowledg<strong>in</strong>g that <strong>the</strong>re are times when mistakes or errors are<br />

made, <strong>the</strong>re is some <strong>in</strong>formation on compla<strong>in</strong>ts and reference to fur<strong>the</strong>r<br />

resources.<br />

PRIVACY<br />

4<br />

5

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