Blocked Website Viewing

Mason made this Official Information request to Department of Internal Affairs

The request was successful.

From: Mason

Dear Department of Internal Affairs,

My name is Mason and about 3 weeks ago I was browsing the internet as I usually do. I accidentally opened a web page that, unbeknownst to me, obviously contained "objectionable" material and was blocked from viewing by the New Zealand internet filters. I did not view the content of the website as the filter prevented that from happening, but the page showed the definition of "objectionable" material according to the Films, Videos and Publications Classification Act 1993 and a notice stating that my IP address was recorded. Since then I have been anxious and worried that further action could be taken against me, as I might seem like a pedophile or someone attempting to access prohibited material, even though I am not. It was a total accident visiting the blocked page, and I hope it will never happen to me again. I understand that such situations could commonly arise on the internet, but if you could tell me if any action like tracking my IP address or analysing my computer for objectionable material is likely to happen as a result of this incident that would be great. Thanks heaps.

Yours faithfully,

Mason

Link to this

From: Telephon Telephon
Department of Internal Affairs

Thank you for your correspondence.

We will endeavour to respond to you as soon as possible.

You can make formal complaints about unsolicited commercial electronic
messages you have received by email, TXT (mobile/smart phone) message, or
fax (facsimile).

Email spam:
To complain about email spam, please complete our online [1]Spam Complaint
Form.

 

TXT (mobile/smart phone) spam:
To complain about TXT spam, please forward the message to our free SPAM
(7726) short code.

 

Fax spam:

To complain about fax spam, please visit our [2]Complain About Fax Spam
web page.

 

Scams

To submit scams for publication on our website, please send the scam
message to [3][email address] along with any other information that
may be useful. A selection of present and past scam messages can be viewed
on our [4]Reported Scams web page.

Please note: We may not take action on every individual complaint. Where
numerous complaints are received about a particular spam message, we will
investigate the campaign as a whole.

 

Kind regards,

Electronic Messaging Compliance Unit

Department of Internal Affairs

 

References

Visible links
1. http://complaints.antispam.govt.nz/Email...
2. http://www.dia.govt.nz/diawebsite.nsf/wp...
3. mailto:[email address]
4. http://www.dia.govt.nz/diawebsite.nsf/wp...

Link to this

From: Telephon Telephon
Department of Internal Affairs

Dear Mason

Thank you for your email. We are working on your enquiry and you will hear from us again as soon as possible.

Kind Regards,

Customer Services Team
Service Delivery and Operations
Department of Internal Affairs - Te Tari Taiwhenua
Phone: (+64 4) 495 7200
www.dia.govt.nz

-----Original Message-----
From: Mason [mailto:[OIA #1330 email]]
Sent: Saturday, 23 November 2013 4:14 p.m.
To: Telephon Telephon
Subject: Official Information Act request - Blocked Website Viewing

Dear Department of Internal Affairs,

My name is Mason and about 3 weeks ago I was browsing the internet
as I usually do. I accidentally opened a web page that, unbeknownst
to me, obviously contained "objectionable" material and
was blocked from viewing by the New Zealand internet filters. I did
not view the content of the website as the filter prevented that
from happening, but the page showed the definition of
"objectionable" material according to the Films, Videos
and Publications Classification Act 1993 and a notice stating that
my IP address was recorded. Since then I have been anxious and
worried that further action could be taken against me, as I might
seem like a pedophile or someone attempting to access prohibited
material, even though I am not. It was a total accident visiting
the blocked page, and I hope it will never happen to me again. I
understand that such situations could commonly arise on the
internet, but if you could tell me if any action like tracking my
IP address or analysing my computer for objectionable material is
likely to happen as a result of this incident that would be great.
Thanks heaps.

Yours faithfully,

Mason

-------------------------------------------------------------------

This is an OIA request done via the FYI website.

Please do not send progress updates as PDF files.

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be
published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

If you find this service useful as an OIA officer, please ask your
web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

hide quoted sections

Link to this

From: Craig Press
Department of Internal Affairs


Attachment RSOC13163 signed response.pdf
63K Download View as HTML


Dear Mason

 

Thank you for your Official Information Act request dated 23 November
2013. I have attached my decision on your request.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Craig Press

 

 

Craig Press | Team Leader Official Correspondence
Department of Internal Affairs Te Tari Taiwhenua

 

Link to this

From: Mason

Dear Craig Press,

Thank you for your reply. I have read through it multiple times, and one thing is bugging me. You say that the DCEFS does not record a person's IP address, but the blocking page I viewed definitely said that it was, and it also listed my IP address and that I was located in Timaru. I now have a feeling that the filter page was run or enforced by someone other than the Department of Internal Affairs. I also noticed the Department is aware of internet scams in the form of fake blocking pages that have no origin or authority from the Department. I believe I have visited a fake blocking page. Does the Department know if these have the potential to be a threat eg IP tracking, viruses, illegal inquiries etc. Could you also please provide me with some more information about these scams?

Yours sincerely,

Mason

Link to this

Things to do with this request

Anyone:
Department of Internal Affairs only: