In any new proposal to establish, consolidate or continue a public register there is scrutiny by departments and my office in respect of the information privacy issues. Often there is a need to have a statutory register for official purposes of verification and law enforcement. Sometimes registers are made available for direct public inspection. Proposals are scrutinised to identify the purpose for granting such rights of public search. There are questions as to which of the official register information is also necessary to be available for public search.
Questions arise as to how the register is to be accessed.
The privacy consequences may significantly differ depending on whether, for example, the name of an individual is a search reference. Existing registers span the spectrum from being solely available at public counters by way of inspection of a paper record through to remote searches by post, fax, telephone or electronic access. The privacy implications of each differ. In some cases, the mechanisms that are available make a tremendous difference to the privacy balance. In this case, the proposal is a marked change from how the existing registers are searched.