25 June 2021
S. Rowe
By email:
[FYI request #13907 email]
Dear Requestor,
Request for information
We refer to your Official Information Act 1982 (
OIA) request received on 2 October 2020
via email from the website fyi.org.nz (
FYI) seeking information about Southern Response’s
processes for obtaining Arrow International documents requested under the Privacy Act
(
Request).
The full details of your Request can be accessed on FYI via this link and are included as
Appendix 1 at the end of this letter.
https:/ fyi.org.nz/request/13907-missing-documents-from-privacy-act-requests
Eligibility to request information
We initially responded to your Request by asking you to contact us directly to discuss
whether you meet the eligibility criteria in section 12 of the OIA.
However, on 7 April 2021 the Office of the Ombudsman informed us that it had sighted your
New Zealand passport and was satisfied that you are eligible to request information under
the OIA. We are now responding to your Request on this basis.
Request 1
Did Southern Response adopt the trial ed method of making sure that Privacy Act bundles
are complete?
Answer: Yes.
Request 2
Since June 2019 has Southern Response used methods of document extraction, for every
request, to ensure complete responses to Privacy Act requests?
Answer: Yes. Southern Response uses the methods of document extraction set out in the
Information Request Process document provided in response to Request 6 below.
Request 3
What did Southern Response do to correct previous Privacy Act bundles that had missing
documents?
Answer: Southern Response subsequently provided the document that had been
inadvertently excluded from the Privacy Act bundle in the one
2019 Incident in which this is
known to have occurred
Request 4
Has Southern Response made public the fact that the system of extraction for Privacy Act
requests was faulty from 2012? Please provide the details, and methods of how this was
made public.
Answer: No.
Request 5
How many claimants has Southern Response directly advised that they may be missing
documents in their Privacy Act bundles?
Answer: None.
Request 6
Please provide the details of current practices, including any training material, reference
material, and technical details, relating to how documents are extracted that ensure that no
documents are missing from the final bundle.
Answer: We have included two internal documents providing details of how Southern
Response currently extracts emails and document attachments from the Arrow Aconex IT
system to which your Request relates:
• Southern Response’s
Information Request Process; and
• a
Privacy Manual.
These files are available for download for 7 days from the following link:
https:/ southernresponse.sharefile.com/d-sa86ad7cc757d4f659c8a3c39552694fc
Your rights
Please feel free to contact us if you have any concerns about this response. You also have
the right to contact the Ombudsman about this response. To do so, you can visit their
website -
http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/
Yours sincerely
Casey Hurren
General Manager
Appendix 1
“In July 2018 Southern Response was informed by a claimant that the way it created
Privacy Act bundles was flawed and meant that documents could be excluded from
the bundles. A request was made to investigate this.
It wasn’t until June 2019 that Southern Response looked into the issue and found
that there was a fault with the extraction method.
At this time it was stated that “Southern Response is currently trialling the changes to
Southern Response’s document extraction process suggested on the final page of
the attached report. We anticipate that this wil reduce the risk of the issue that
occurred with your discovery request in 2018 from occurring again in future.“
Information requested:
Did Southern Response adopt the trial ed method of making sure that Privacy Act
bundles are complete? [Request 1]
Since June 2019 has Southern Response used methods of document extraction, for
every request, to ensure complete responses to Privacy Act requests? [Request 2]
What did Southern Response do to correct previous Privacy Act bundles that had
missing documents? [Request 3]
Has Southern Response made public the fact that the system of extraction for
Privacy Act requests was faulty from 2012? Please provide the details, and methods
of how this was made public. [Request 4]
How many claimants has Southern Response directly advised that they may be
missing documents in their Privacy Act bundles? [Request 5]
Please provide the details of current practices, including any training material,
reference material, and technical details, relating to how documents are extracted
that ensure that no documents are missing from the final bundle. [Request 6] "
