The new Privacy Act comes into effect today (1st of December 2020) so it’s a great time to make sure you understand your new obligations. Being on top of these changes allows you to remain compliant and do the right thing by the people you hold data on. So we’d like to remind you about some tools and resources we’ve found useful.
As a starter for 10, be sure to go through the Office of Privacy Commissioner (OPC) free eLearning modules. We recommend the Privacy Act 2020 and Privacy Breach Reporting modules. You may also want to cast your eyes over the 13 pages comparison between the 1993 and 2020 Privacy Acts. Given that notifications have a special emphasis in the 2020 Act, we recommend that you bookmark NotifyUs, the OPC privacy breach reporting tool. NotifyUs helps you determine whether a breach is notifiable, in addition to reporting breaches and updating a previously notified breach.
As the 2020 Act has a new principle (IPP 12), which holds businesses and agencies responsible for ensuring that personal information is protected when sent overseas, you may want to ensure that you keep the relevant guidance, model contract clauses and example agreements handy. If you need a deep dive into the OPC Compliance and Regulatory Action Framework, consider reviewing their approach here. As a wrapper, the Transitioning from Privacy Act 1993 to Privacy Act 2020 blog post is an excellent read.
In addition to all of the previous, and since nothing beats organisation-wide awareness, the OPC has developed the Privacy breach brochure and three “Privacy is precious” posters specifically for the 2020 Act. Finally, remember that you can always use our free Privacy Threshold Assessment tool or contact us if you need help conducting a Privacy Impact Assessment.