The Privacy Commissioner John Edwards has found the Ministry of Social Development has been systematically misusing its powers while pursuing people it suspects of benefit fraud. He says the Ministry has been bypassing beneficiaries and going to third parties for information. They've been obtaining text messages, domestic violence and other police records, banking information and other billing records. Privacy lawyer Liane Dalziel says there are grounds for the affected beneficiaries to have a legal case against the MSD.
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