Many people are concerned about the way their personal information is used by the private sector.
The legislation will come into effect on 21 December 2001. National Privacy Principle 2.1 in the legislation deals with the use and disclosure of personal information for a secondary purpose, including for the purpose of direct marketing. It provides that information provided for a particular purpose, such as renting a car or ordering an item from a magazine, may not be used or disclosed by the organisation for a different purpose, except in certain circumstances. One of those circumstances is direct marketing. Although the National Privacy Principles allow for the use of information for direct marketing purposes, they also require that the organisation provide an individual with an opportunity to opt-out of receiving any further direct marketing.