Interception of communications by former CE or Hororwhenua DC
Amy S Van Wey Lovatt (Account suspended) made this Official Information request to Horowhenua District Council
The request was successful.
From: Amy S Van Wey Lovatt (Account suspended)
Dear Horowhenua District Council,
Background:
In 2017 it came to light that the former CE of Horowhenua District Council had engaged in the interception of communications without the consent of the intended recipient or the consent of the sender. The CE referred to this interception as a "communication plan". The Ombudsman had ruled that it was wrong, amongst other things, and recommended the Horowhenua District Council to modify their email and communication policies with the assistance of the Privacy Commissioner (Ombudsman Reference number: 333185).
[https://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/site....
Request:
I request all documents Horowhenua DC received from Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner regarding recommended changes to communication and email policies at Horowhenua DC. I request copies of the communication and email policies before and after the implementation of the recommended changes. I ask that these documents be in electronic form and in searchable form (e.g., pdf rather than scanned documents).
Thank you for your assistance in this matter.
Kind regards,
Amy S Van Wey Lovatt
From: Customer Services - Public
Horowhenua District Council
Thanks for emailing us, we try to respond as soon as possible.
Please call us any time on (06) 366 0999 to report something that is
causing an immediate risk to the safety of a person, people or property.
This phone line is available 24 hours a day.
We have a lot of information on our website [1]www.horowhenua.govt.nz if
you wish to have a look,
Kind regards,
Customer Experience Team
Whakawhanaunga Kiritaki
126 Oxford Street, Levin • Private Bag 4002, Levin 5540
(06) 366 0999
Working together to take Horowhenua from Good to Great
Customer Experience
| Whakawhanaunga Kiritaki
Waea Mahi | (06) 366 0999
126 Oxford Street, Levin
Private Bag 4002, Levin 5540
[2]Facebook [3]Instagram [4]LinkedIn [5]Youtube
[6][IMG]
[7][IMG]
References
Visible links
1. http://www.horowhenua.govt.nz/
2. https://facebook.com/HorowhenuaDC
3. https://instagram.com/Horowhenua_nz
4. https://linkedin.com/company/horowhenua-...
5. https://youtube.com/channel/UC_WCKYirkzk...
6. https://www.horowhenua.govt.nz/
7. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HDCcusexp
From: LGOIMA Officer
Horowhenua District Council
Good morning Amy,
Thank you for your request.
I have reviewed said request and find that the link to which you refer
below is not in line with the body of your request.
The link you have attached is in reference to a Complaint about Council's
investigation into a councillor's alleged breaches of its Code of Conduct,
dated October 2014.
Can you please review the sent link?
Kind regards,
Sheleigh
LGOIMA Officer
Waea Mahi | (06) 366 0999
126 Oxford Street, Levin
Private Bag 4002, Levin 5540
[1]Facebook [2]Instagram [3]LinkedIn [4]Youtube
[5][IMG]
-----Original Message-----
From: Amy S Van Wey Lovatt
<[FOI #14865 email]>
Sent: Sunday, 7 March 2021 6:07 am
To: Customer Services - Public <[email address]>
Subject: Official Information request - Interception of communications by
former CE or Hororwhenua DC
Dear Horowhenua District Council,
Background:
In 2017 it came to light that the former CE of Horowhenua District Council
had engaged in the interception of communications without the consent of
the intended recipient or the consent of the sender. The CE referred to
this interception as a "communication plan". The Ombudsman had ruled that
it was wrong, amongst other things, and recommended the Horowhenua
District Council to modify their email and communication policies with the
assistance of the Privacy Commissioner (Ombudsman Reference number:
333185).
[[6]https://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/site....
Request:
I request all documents Horowhenua DC received from Ombudsman and Privacy
Commissioner regarding recommended changes to communication and email
policies at Horowhenua DC. I request copies of the communication and email
policies before and after the implementation of the recommended changes. I
ask that these documents be in electronic form and in searchable form
(e.g., pdf rather than scanned documents).
Thank you for your assistance in this matter.
Kind regards,
Amy S Van Wey Lovatt
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References
Visible links
1. https://facebook.com/HorowhenuaDC
2. https://instagram.com/Horowhenua_nz
3. https://linkedin.com/company/horowhenua-...
4. https://youtube.com/channel/UC_WCKYirkzk...
5. https://www.horowhenua.govt.nz/
6. https://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/site...
7. https://fyi.org.nz/change_request/new?bo...
8. https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers
hide quoted sections
From: Amy S Van Wey Lovatt (Account suspended)
Dear LGOIMA Officer,
Thank you for letting me know that I had inadvertently cited the wrong complaint against the District Council. The reference would be Ombudsman Opinion, “Investigation into Council’s email quarantining practice” (12 November 2018), Ombudsman Case numbers 459861, 459877, 462166, 465831 and 470152.
Yours sincerely,
Amy S Van Wey Lovatt
Amy S Van Wey Lovatt (Account suspended) left an annotation ()
Thank you Alex for your annotation. I see that you cited section 2 of the Local Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987, which states:
official information—
(a) means any information held by a local authority; but
(b) does not include—
(i) information contained in library or museum material made or acquired and preserved solely for reference or exhibition purposes; or
(ii) information which is held by a local authority solely as an agent or for the sole purpose of safe custody and which is so held on behalf of a person other than a local authority; or
(iii) information contained in any correspondence or communication that has taken place between the office of the Ombudsmen and any local authority and that relates to an investigation conducted by an Ombudsman under this Act or under the Ombudsmen Act 1975, other than information that came into existence before the commencement of that investigation; and
(c) does not include information contained in any correspondence or communication that has taken place between the office of the Privacy Commissioner and any local authority and that relates to any investigation conducted by the Privacy Commissioner under the Privacy Act 2020, other than information that came into existence before the commencement of that investigation.
To note, the privacy commissioner had not undertaken an investigation, but was recommended by the Ombudsman to assist the council to ensure their policies were consistent the the legislation. Thus, the exceptions under clause (c) does not apply in this case to the request for documents from the PC.
As to the requested policies, the section 30(4) of the OIA sates:
Except as provided in subsection (1), nothing in section 22 [Right of access to internal rules affecting decisions] of the Ombudsmen Act 1975 shall apply in respect of a decision that may be investigated and reviewed under section 28(1) or section 28(2) of this Act.
Thus, there is no restriction for requests for policies. Section 22(1) also applies to the recommendations made by the Ombudsman and the PC after an investigation. Section 22(1) states: On a request made under this section, a person has a right to, and must be given access to, any document (including a manual) that—
(a) is held by a public service agency, a Minister of the Crown, or an organisation; and
(b) contains policies, principles, rules, or guidelines in accordance with which decisions or recommendations are made in respect of any person or body of persons in their personal capacity.
I also note that you may find the Ombudsman report online: https://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/site....
From: LGOIMA Officer
Horowhenua District Council
LGOIMA Response Amy Van Wey Lovatt Interception of communications 9 March 2021.PDF.pdf
1.7M
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horowhenua district council email policy nov 2018 pdf2.pdf
533K
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Good morning Amy,
A response letter with supporting documentation is attached from Lisa
Slade, Executive Sponsor – LGOIMA, with regards to your request for
information.
If you have any questions or concerns please contact me via return email.
Kind regards,
Sheleigh
Requests for official information? Email the LGOIMA Officer at
[1][email address]
Requests for personal information? Email the Privacy Officer at
[2][email address]
All requests are treated in the strictest confidence.
LGOIMA Officer
Waea Mahi | (06) 366 0999
126 Oxford Street, Levin
Private Bag 4002, Levin 5540
[3]Facebook [4]Instagram [5]LinkedIn [6]Youtube
[7][IMG]
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]
3. https://facebook.com/HorowhenuaDC
4. https://instagram.com/Horowhenua_nz
5. https://linkedin.com/company/horowhenua-...
6. https://youtube.com/channel/UC_WCKYirkzk...
7. https://www.horowhenua.govt.nz/
From: Amy S Van Wey Lovatt (Account suspended)
Dear LGOIMA Officer,
Thank you very much for the information and for how quickly you provided it. Really excellent.
Kindest regards,
Amy S Van Wey Lovatt
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Alex Harris left an annotation ()
Investigation-related communications with the Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner are exempted from the definition of "official information". See sections b(iii) and (c) of the definition here:
https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/publ...
Link to this