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Are you ready for the new Privacy Act?

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Data protection and privacy laws have been revised and strengthened in: Australia, Canada, the EU’s GDPR, Britain and Singapore and the wheels are turning on a new privacy act here in New Zealand.

A Date To Remember: 1 July 2019

A year from now (1 July 2019) the new privacy bill (The Bill) is expected to replace the current New Zealand’s Privacy Act 1993 so what does this mean for our marketers and businesses sending out marketing emails to their email lists and collect data online?

Our Current Privacy Act

As of June 1999, New Zealand’s Privacy Act 1993 (Act) was hailed in a speech given by the then UK Assistant Privacy Commissioner; as being seemingly first-class, with superior data protection measures compared to what was in Europe and that it adequately covers both the public and private sectors.

However even back in 1999, there were areas of concern that have since been addressed in The Bill and marketers and businesses collecting data for promotion of their business need to take note of the changes in how sensitive data is handled and allow for data export of personal data irrespective of the person’s geographic location.

What’s New

So the Privacy Bill has been a work in process since 2011 and it covers these areas and better aligns New Zealand with the guidelines in other data protection laws including the GDPR and OCED Privacy Guidelines.

This Bill is set to become law 1 July 2019 and it will impact on all businesses whom have and continue to collect personal data especially the property industry of which New Zealand, some might say has more than it’s fair share of operators so we can look to how others have managed the transition and avoid their mistakes.

How To Avoid Mistakes

So what can you do now or imminently to manage the data collection component of your email lists? As aforementioned we can gleam the best tips on offer from the experiences of businesses who have gone through the re opt-in requirement in the UK and the GDPR.

Reconfirmation of Opt-In Process

We’ve set up the re-confirmation feature in our email marketing system for our clients and the basics of it’s workings are in our help guide. We recommend doing research and thinking creatively about the content of your reconfirmation campaign. Of course we’re hear to assist you and recommend contacting us directly before initiating the campaign.

There is still a glimmer of hope that the release into law of the new privacy bill may be delayed however it’s better to be forewarned and forearmed so you get the best outcome for your business. We will be writing more on the topic over the coming months. There is of course the legal interpretation of it all to discuss and share. Check out the references below.

More Resources:

https://www.businessblogshub.com/2018/05/understanding-complying-with-gdpr-for-businesses/
http://www.mondaq.com/NewZealand/x/686066/Data+Protection+Privacy/Privacy+Bill+introduced
https://minterellison.co.nz/our-view/the-general-data-protection-regulation-are-we-ready

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