Changes to New Zealand privacy laws have implications for Australian businesses

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New privacy laws in New Zealand mean Australian businesses holding personal information about New Zealand residents will not only need to report data breaches, where Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is accessed by unauthorised users, but, for the first time, from December 2020, will also have to report when that data becomes inaccessible. In this important change, NZ privacy laws will differ from Australian law.^{_{Eric Keser, published by Australian Security Magazine}}

In an age where ransomware, a computer system failure, or the sudden disappearance of a cloud service can make PII inaccessible, New Zealand’s proposed data breach laws will require Australian businesses to report when data can’t be accessed where the loss of access causes harm.