Error marks living drivers as deceased

Photo / Wanganui Chronicle

Officials were left red-faced after the Transport Agency cleared its registry of deceased driver licence holders, only to receive letters from 23 people informing them they were still alive.

The embarrassing error is outlined in the annual report of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for the year to June 2010, which was released yesterday.

The office monitors 49 programmes of data-matching between Government agencies, which for the most part run smoothly.

But among the few botch-ups was a one-off operation by the NZ Transport Agency and the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages to match death records with driver licence records from 1987 to 2008.

The operation cleared 216,582 records of dead people from the registry of driver licence holders, but 421 matches were not properly checked.

"Of the 421 notices sent, NZTA received responses from 23 people who advised that they were not deceased," the report said.

NZTA tried to contact the 421 people to apologise, but after reaching only a handful, it decided to play it safe and keep all 421 records on the registry.

Another error - Inland Revenue under-reporting income to the Ministry of Social Development - put community services cards into the hands of 5500 people who actually earned too much to be eligible.

The ministry decided not to cancel the cards, so those people can enjoy the healthcare discounts until September 30, 2011.

Data sharing between the Justice Ministry and Immigration NZ to find people with outstanding fines also hit a snag when the justice team failed to follow proper procedures.

The team filed proceedings directly in the district court instead of giving people five days to challenge any allegations. Several innocent people found themselves visited by court officials who "required that they prove their identity on the spot".

Meanwhile the report shows government agencies are cracking down on the use of portable storage devices (PSDs) such as USB memory sticks.

69 per cent (up from 38 per cent the previous year) prohibited the use of personal PSDs for work use.

79 per cent (up from 62 per cent) of agencies kept a PSD register.

76 per cent (up from 59 per cent) limited their use through hardware and software controls.

The office of the commissioner received 7151 inquiries - up 500 on the previous year - in 2009/10, while complaints also rose from 806 to 978. Most complaints were against the police, followed by ACC, the Social Development Ministry and the Corrections Department.

One quarter of all complaints were resolved through mediation or settlement, including cash settlements.

The report noted the ongoing case against Cabinet Minister Paula Bennett, who is alleged to have breached the privacy of Natasha Fuller after releasing Ms Fuller's benefit details to the media.

The case has been referred to the Director of Human Rights Proceedings.

EMBARRASSING WHOOPSIES
* NZ Transport Agency cleared its registry of licence holders of drivers who had died, only to be sent 23 letters from people who were still alive.
* Inland Revenue under-reported income to the Ministry of Social Development, making 5500 people eligible for community services cards who actually earned too much.
* Justice officials forgot to give people five days' notice in taking court action over outstanding fines, resulting in innocent people getting visits from court officials.