This box of files was found beside a dumpster in central Wellington. Photo / Supplied
This box of files was found beside a dumpster in central Wellington. Photo / Supplied
A Wellington gym has been slammed for a "pretty disgusting" breach after a box of files including phone numbers and email addresses was left on the side of the road.
A local man who only wanted to be referred to as Scott said the Revive Fitness gym on Willis St had closed down recently, and had been moving items out of the building.
"I believe on Friday when they were moving they left a box by our dumpster," he said.
The box was left on a private accessway, but was visible from the footpath, he said.
"I found that it had a lot of files with people's phone numbers and their emails and so forth ... I didn't look into it too deep because I didn't want to breach anyone's [privacy]."
Scott moved the box to a slightly more sheltered area.
"I thought it was a pretty disgusting breach of the personal lives of the people who go there, especially because Revive Fitness is a safe gym for women," he said.
He would have felt "sick" if his own information had been left there.
A Revive Fitness staff member said there was no personal information in the box, and that it had only been old diaries and files, but no contracts or contact information.
But Scott said there was "definitely" personal information in the box.
"There were records of membership renewals with phone numbers attached."
The box was handed into a nearby restaurant, and was then given back to Revive Fitness, the staff member said.
A spokesman for the Privacy Commissioner said cases of old files not being securely destroyed or stored were reported quite often, but the commissioner currently does not have the power to penalise agencies.
He recommended anyone who found such information notify the company it belonged to.
If anyone felt they had suffered harm as a result of a breach, they can make a complaint for the commissioner's office to investigate.
Unresolved complaints of a serious nature are then referred to the Human Rights Review Tribunal, which can decide to award damages to a complainant.
If the Privacy Bill currently before Parliament becomes law, the Privacy Commissioner will have the power to issue fines and use other enforcement tools.
This box of files was found beside a dumpster in central Wellington. Photo / Supplied
The incident comes a month after the Herald revealed there has been more than 60 reports from government organisations of material being mistakenly left unaccompanied in public.
Documents lost or left behind by DHB staff contained information on more than 345 patients, including blood tests, detail on mental health treatment and medication lists.
In one case, a new mother was phoned by a member of the public, who had found the woman's pregnancy and delivery record blowing about in their Wellington front yard.
In another case, an intelligence agency staff member left a bag containing sensitive information in a cafe bathroom.
A negotiator also lost a confidential document about a Treaty of Waitangi settlement while taking a train to work.
Revive Fitness made headlines in May after a transgender woman was refused membership at the same branch.
Penelopy Mansell said the gym wanted to see a medical document certifying that she'd had sex reassignment surgery, which she hadn't, due to the length of the waiting list.
The gym's area manager, Cherie Cooper, said in a statement that they were "urgently reaching out to organisations within the Wellington GLBTI community for guidance and advice to review our policy and ensure that our gyms are a safe and comfortable environment, and an inclusive and understanding community for all women".
