| |
Privacy and Credit Reporting
Privacy continues to be an important issue for credit providers as policy makers attempt to find a balance between the community’s (including credit providers) need to know and its desire to remain private. At the national level for over a decade the credit reporting provisions of the Privacy Act have developed, under the oversight of the Privacy Commissioner, towards a reasonable (if paper heavy) balance.
From December 2001, the Act was expanded to regulate information-handling within the private sector more broadly through the enactment of a set of principles. AELA participated in their development as non-credit information of individuals was caught within these principles. To assist members comply with the new law, AELA developed a compliance strategy consisting of four phases: audit; review; changes to documents, operations and systems; and a training program. In implementing their compliance programs members identified a range of operational issues, and in response AELA prepared compliance assistance notes for members, and also prepared notes for distribution by members to their introducers to assist increased compliance awareness.
Recently, AELA has helped shape a range of recommendations for reform of the privacy laws, including the credit reporting provisions, advanced on completion of a review by the Australian Law Reform Commission. AELA’s objective in this regard has been to maintain the integrity and current access by equipment financiers to the credit reporting system while modernising the law to achieve operational efficiencies. In brief, if adopted by the Government, the reforms would result in a standard set of information handling principles (termed UPPs) to regulate information of individuals in both the private and public sectors. Relevant recommendations relating to credit reporting included a proposal to repeal and replace the current provisions with a simplified and modernised framework that retains the current level of consumer privacy protection while recognising business imperatives and technological developments. Importantly, more positive information (eg type of account, date opened / closed and limit and repayment history) was recommended for inclusion on the credit file. Proposals of a more general nature relevant to AELA members included “bundled” consent, removal of small business and employee record exemptions and access to public register information for identity validation purposes. The Government has announced a staged approach to consideration of the reforms with legislation being developed to implement the UPP and credit reforms over the next 12 to 18 months. AELA will continue to work with the Commonwealth Government through this process.
As a separate issue, at the State level, privacy affects members’ operations with several jurisdictions indecisive as to how credit providers can locate their secured chattels (e.g. vehicles) which have disappeared but which are readily traceable through Motor Registry files. The availability of name and address details from the electoral roll and telephone customers’ IPND information can also be a difficulty which impacts on financier’s risk management in a range of areas. AELA continues to work with governments to find an appropriate means of balancing the individual’s right to privacy against social responsibilities, including fraud, credit and regulatory risk management.
|
|
