Privacy Commissioner: Facebook must comply with NZ Privacy Act

The Privacy Commissioner says Facebook has breached the Privacy Act 1993. The Commissioner’s finding comes after Facebook refused a complainant access to personal information held on the accounts of several other Facebook users.

The social media company said the Privacy Act did not apply to it and it did not have to comply with the Commissioner’s request to review the information requested by the complainant. The Commissioner found Facebook was subject to the Privacy Act and had fundamentally failed to engage with the Act. He said Facebook’s position that the Privacy Act did not apply to it was surprising and contrary to its own Data Policy in regards to responding to legal requests for any personal information it held.

Source: Office of the Privacy Commissioner | Privacy Commissioner: Facebook must comply with NZ Privacy Act