ACC claimant tried to use data leak to secure benefit

An ACC claimant who was mistakenly sent personal information about 6700 ACC claimants last year attempted to use the data to get a two year guaranteed benefit from the corporation, ACC has revealed today.

The corporation today supplied ACC Minister Judith Collins with a report on the massive breach of privacy which occured in August last year.

ACC has acknowledged senior manager Philip Murch should have done more when he learned of the breach in a December meeting with the disgruntled claimant.

Today's report reflects ACC chief executive Ralph Stewart's statements that the claimant did not make clear exactly what information she held when she met with Mr Murch and another manager on December 1.

"At the same meeting the client proposed that in relation to her own individual case she would like to negotiate a guaranteed benefit payment for two years," the report said.

"She made threats that if her demands were not met she would not return the information and she would inform the media of the alleged privacy issue."

The report went on to say that "given the serious nature of the alleged breach and the presence of a threat, the details should have been escalated to senior ACC management at that time and the police advised."

The claimant had also incorrectly advised staff that the information had been received in an email from one of the managers attending the December meeting.

"In fact the information had been sent in August by an ACC staff member who was not at the meeting. The result of this was that when an email sweep was made of the email records of the managers attending the meeting, no information was found to support the client's claim."

The ACC is currently about half way through the task of contacting other claimants whose personal information was contained in the email.