Privacy complaint over council emails
To say I’m disappointed is an understatement. Christine Toms
A Horowhenua woman has laid a complaint with the Privacy Commissioner after discovering the district council’s chief executive was intercepting her emails.
A draft audit report on the Horowhenua District Council revealed this month that incoming and outgoing emails from people on a ‘‘blacklist’’ had been intercepted by chief executive David Clapperton.
Once the emails were intercepted, Clapperton could then either block or redirect them, or let them continue to their intended destinations, the report showed.
Horowhenua resident Christine Toms said she laid a complaint to the Privacy Commissioner on Monday after being outraged to discover she was on the ‘‘blacklist’’.
‘‘To say I’m disappointed is an understatement. This is quite serious stuff.’’
By initially failing to communicate that her emails were being intercepted, the council was not meeting her expectations as a ratepayer, Toms said.
Toms, who was previously mayor Michael Feyen’s interim secretary outside of the council, said she should have the right to communicate directly with council staff and Feyen.
She said she had also filed a complaint with the Ombudsman’s office in the hope the council’s practices would be investigated.
Toms thinks Clapperton should stand down during an inquiry into the matter.
Clapperton confirmed, in a statement on Tuesday, that Toms’ emails were still being intercepted and that she ‘‘was advised as to why’’.
In an earlier statement, Clapperton said he had not breached privacy in any way in his communications practices.
‘‘Emails addressed to an @horowhenua.govt.nz email address are the property of the Horowhenua District Council as is outlined in the electronic communication policy.’’
Office of the Privacy Commissioner spokesman Charles Mabbett said that was an area where there were ‘‘common misunderstandings’’.
‘‘Council ownership of computer equipment or paper is one thing. Ownership of the information is a different question.
‘‘The Privacy Act gives people certain rights and obligations when it comes to the collection, use and storage of personal information. These legal rights apply regardless of who owns, or claims to own, that information.’’
Mabbett would not confirm if a complaint had been laid, as investigations were confidential.
In Tuesday’s statement, Clapperton said the council’s role was to be ‘‘more of a guardian of the correspondence’’.
He said a peer review of the draft audit report should be completed by the end of the week.
The council’s chairman of the finance, audit and risk committee, Phillip Jones, would decide whether the report should be made public, Clapperton said.
Clapperton said Jones, who is not a councillor, would also be responsible for signing off on the peer-reviewed report.
Feyen said he was ‘‘relieved’’ the report was out in the open, but once the peer review was done, he wanted the issue sorted out in the council before going to the public.