Hawke's Bay Power Consumers' Trust chairwoman Diana Kirton has apologised for the privacy breach.
Hawke's Bay Power Consumers' Trust chairwoman Diana Kirton has apologised for the privacy breach.
The Hawke’s Bay Power Consumers’ Trust has admitted it breached the Privacy Act by publishing personal details of power consumers who made submissions to its ownership review.
The trust confirmed on Wednesday that publicly listing the home addresses, landline and mobile phone numbers, Installation Control Point numbers and email addresses of some submitters to the review was a breach of their privacy.
Hawke’s Bay Power Consumers’ Trust (HBPCT) chairwoman Diana Kirton told Hawke’s Bay Today, in an article published on Saturday, that publishing personal details was common practice during the five-yearly ownership reviews.
Following questions on the issue from Hawke’s Bay Today, Kirton indicated the HBPCT did “intend reviewing the mechanics of the submission process”.
Now Kirton has admitted the HBPCT’s deed requires personal details from submissions, of which there were 200 in 2023, to be deleted before being made publicly available.
“This didn’t happen and that means that we have not complied with the Privacy Act. On behalf of all trustees, I sincerely apologise; we should have got this right,’’ Kirton said.
Brian Anderson, of the Free the Funds lobby group, said the admission calls into question the efficacy of the Hawke’s Bay Power Consumers’ Trust entire ownership review.
Free the Funds is seeking to challenge the established ownership model, which sees Unison shares held in a trust and Hawke’s Bay’s 61,000 connected consumers paid an annual dividend of $240.
The 2023 ownership review process has already been the subject of some backlash since it was announced, with complaints including that it is being held in the shadows of a general election, and that the trust has not provided consumers with information about what their shares in lines company Unison are worth.
“This is a real indictment of the trust and the trustees,” Anderson said.
The Hawke's Bay Power Consumers' Trust hold shares on behalf of local Unison customers. Photo / NZME
The HBPCT has now removed all submissions from its website. Submissions will be republished, but without personal details.
Letters of apology will be sent to each of the 200 submitters.
An assessment is also being done to determine if the HBPCT is required to notify the Privacy Commissioner, Kirton said.
If it is determined that a notifiable breach for the purposes of the Privacy Act 2020 has occurred, the trust would provide a further update at that stage.
In the meantime, Kirton said she wants to “reassure power consumers that HBPCT values their submissions and personal information and takes matters of compliance very seriously”.
Submitters get the opportunity to address the HBPCT at a public meeting on November 10. The trust will then announce its decision on the ownership model on November 17.
Hamish Bidwell joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2022 and works out of the Hastings newsroom.
