The Government has begun advertising for a chief privacy officer to lead, engage and influence an all-of-government approach to privacy.
According to the advertisement, an early priority will be to establish and foster a close working relationship with the Ministry of Justice and the Privacy Commissioner to ensure the three roles complement each other.
Creation of the role was announced last year by State Services Minister Jonathan Coleman and Internal Affairs Minister Chris Tremain.
“It is important that New Zealanders have confidence in government agencies to do all they can to ensure personal information is kept said,” Coleman said.
“The Department of Internal Affairs is being realigned to strengthen privacy and security across the public service. The creation of a Government Chief Privacy Officer gives additional support to the Government Chief Information Officer (GCIO) to set standards and provide leadership and assurance that privacy is managed appropriately.”
The GCIO is leading a two-year programme to ensure New Zealanders have trust and confidence that their information is secure by improving information privacy and security practices in government.
“Agencies are reporting regularly to the GCIO, Colin MacDonald, on their growing capability and their plans to improve,” Tremain said.
“98% of agencies now have accountability for privacy and security at senior executive level, compared to 21% a year ago. While significant progress has been made, on-going work is required to ensure improvement is system-wide and sustained.”
State sector chief executives remain accountable for privacy in their agencies, and the Ministry of Justice continues to manage privacy policy.
Read more: One third of New Zealanders feel they have no control over government use of personal information
Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff described the plan to appoint a chief privacy officer as a smart move