Deputy State Services Commissioner Helene Quilter has today announced the findings of an investigation into a breach of privacy regarding sensitive personal information.

The investigation looked into who or what caused the disclosure of the information, and what might have prevented the information from being disclosed and what, if any, improvements might prevent that happening again in the future.

The deputy commissioner said the investigation, led by Mr Michael Heron, QC, found that sensitive personal information was passed to someone who was not authorised to see it, who then placed it in the public arena.

The breach happened after the then Acting Chief Executive of the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust, Ms Michelle Boag, passed on the information, without authorisation, to Mr Hamish Walker, MP. Mr Walker subsequently passed the information on to the media.

The report findings around Ms Boag, the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust (ARHT) and Mr Walker have raised privacy issues which are outside the deputy commissioner’s jurisdiction. Ms Quilter has therefore referred the report to the Privacy Commissioner. In particular, she has referred the actions of Ms Boag, the ARHT and Mr Walker for specific attention. Mr Walker’s actions may fall outside the jurisdiction of the Privacy Commissioner but that is for him to determine.

The deputy commissioner has also shared the report with the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Leader of the National Party, who are referred to in the report and who may have jurisdiction.

In relation to matters under the Commissioner’s jurisdiction, Ms Quilter said the policy around the security of personal information within the Ministry of Health could have been tighter and the agency should have reviewed this earlier.

The Director-General of Health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield, has assured the Commission that the agency is fixing the areas identified in the report for improvement.

“The Ministry’s policy should have been reviewed when the context shifted and it was not,” said Ms Quilter.

“I am not going to criticise the Ministry of Health beyond that when lives have been saved as a result of their actions on the broader COVID-19 front.

“The information should not have been placed in the public arena. The Ministry of Health did not place it there.”

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