ACC claimants make privacy complaint

Northland-based ACC claimants who have had their personal information leaked out to a former National Party executive have lodged a complaint to the Privacy Commissioner.

ACC advocate Jeanette Brock, representing at least three claimants in Whangarei, wrote to Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff on Friday on behalf of all Northlanders who fell victim to the leak that led to Cabinet Minister Nick Smith's resignation.

Ms Brock said she was not satisfied with ACC's response after she sought an assurance that a repeat of the breach would not occur again. Among her clients were two claimants, who lost their claims at a review hearing, and whose cases were yet to be heard in the District Court.

"My main concern with the information being leaked unintentionally, the information consisted of not only medical issues but there is a legal component to these files," Ms Brock said in her letter.

She said if ACC wanted statistical information about review hearings, it should source them from the Dispute Resolution Services.

It seemed that legal information on review hearing outcomes were freely available to anyone with a password within ACC, she said.

"I do not believe that ACC has gone far enough to rectify the problems in regards to the retention of records under The Information Act of 1993, which is why I am addressing my concerns with you."

In another letter to the ACC, Ms Brock said she did not feel reassured by the steps in place to prevent further leaks.

ACC has since entered into a joint review with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner and an independent auditor to review its privacy policy.