You work for Ernst Waterhouse (EW) an accounting firm in Auckland. The partner you work for (Juliette) has just moved from overseas to New Zealand and is not familiar with New Zealand Information Privacy Law. She would like you to brief her on certain aspects of the Privacy Act 2020 (PA).

Juliette would like to know:

Firstly, the reasons why information privacy is important to practicing accountants, especially in New Zealand.

Secondly, an outline of the Information Privacy Principles (IPP) which Juliette understands are essential to understanding the PA.

Thirdly discussion of two other aspects of the PA (other than the IPP's). These two aspects are (1) notifiable breaches, and (2) pretexting.

Lastly, Juliette would like the PA law you have discussed above (especially the IPP's) to be illustrated using the following hypothetical examples.  

• An accounting firm engages a marketing firm to make an advertising campaign to attract more customers. The marketing firm inspects a number of clients files and creates an "example client", called Jeffrey West, to use in the advertising campaign showing how the accounting firm helped Jeffrey overcome financial difficulties. The example client was meant to be a composite of many different clients but in fact the marketing firm has simply chosen one client, named John East, and changed his name for the campaign. The advertising campaign is launched but many people recognise that "Jeffrey" is actually John. This is reported in the local newspaper.
• An accountant goes to a café for lunch. Upon returning to the office, she realises she has left a package of financial documents, concerning a client, on a table at the cafe. The accountant rushes back to the cafe but the package is not there.
• An accounting firm has Judie Roberts as a client. An estranged family member contacts the accounting firm saying she is Judie and asking the firm to send her copies of her (Judie's) accounts. The address she gives is a different one from the address the accounting firm has on file for Judie Roberts.

Discuss the new Privacy Act 2020 focusing on the four matters that Juliette has raised in the scenario.

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

Introduction The Privacy Act 2020 PA in New Zealand plays a crucial role in safeguarding individuals privacy and ensuring responsible handling of personal information For practicing accountants compli... View the full answer