The Office of the Privacy Commissioner says it's time for Kiwis to start pushing back on how their data is being collected and retained in the wake of the biggest-ever data breach.
A million past and present New Zealand drivers' licences were caught up in a mid-March cyber attack on Latitude Financial, which offers loans and credit to customers at stores including JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman.
In total some 14 million New Zealand and Australian customer records were stolen.
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner is working with its Australian counterpart on this, and there's the potential for joint investigations and regulatory action. In the meantime, it says this breach should serve as a wake up call to companies and agencies to ditch the "it won't happen to us" attitude.
It also wants Kiwis to challenge why an agency needs to collect and retain their personal information - because the more people challenge, the more likely it is that organisations will change their behaviour. Deputy Commissioner Liz McPherson joins Kathryn to discuss.
If you have been caught up in the data breach, the Privacy Commissioner recommends contacting Latitude Financial directly. If you don't receive a response from them within 30 days, you can contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.
Photo: 123RF
