Privacy trumped other rights during pandemic in NZ

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-03-31 03:00

New Zealand

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Researchers say the Covid-19 pandemic showed how New Zealand is stuck in the 19th century when it comes to privacy in disasters. The authors compare NZ’s response to Taiwan’s, where technology is used to avoid lockdowns through rapid contact tracing. They say New Zealand’s focus on individual privacy meant it had to rely on lockdowns, which restrict freedom of movement and association - rights which are entrenched in our Bill of Rights, unlike privacy. The researchers point out that NZ’s privacy model allows individuals to give their information to global companies with the click of a button, but make it hard for individuals to provide their data to public agencies for the ‘greater good’.