Law Society sorry about info blunder

The New Zealand Law Society has apologised after a staff member sent confidential information to the wrong person.

The privacy breach occurred when the staffer intended to email a colleague but emailed someone with a similar name.

“The email contained a complaint to the Law Society by a legal practitioner about his own conduct, alleged to amount to sexual harassment or bullying,” the society said in a statement.

President Kathryn Beck said it was unacceptable and preventable: “This error has caused additional and unnecessary stress for those whose information was disclosed.

“The Law Society was entrusted with information that it should have been able to properly protect and we fell short of our internal standards. We are profoundly sorry for this unacceptable mistake.”

This “human error” had been created by the email programme’s “auto fill” response.

The society had sought a court order preventing the publication of the details of the email to protect the privacy of the people involved.

Beck said the society accepted the matter had raised questions about how it handled confidential information.

She said the Law Society had reviewed its processes and instructed staff to follow procedures at all times.

Privacy Commissioner John Edwards said the Law Society had taken “responsible steps” after the privacy breach.