Data breach notifications in New Zealand more than doubled in the year ending June 30, 2013 climbing to 107, New Zealand’s Office of the Privacy Commissioner stated in its annual report last week. Three quarters of the breaches originated in the public sector.
Breach reporting, which has no formal definition in New Zealand, is voluntary in the country. It was the first time that data breach notifications were included in the report.
“Data breaches are being reported to us more frequently, and we have noticed a growing responsiveness by business and government to the reputational benefits of notifying clients when things go wrong,” the report stated.
The Privacy Commissioner has been tracking notifications since 2007 but is now formalizing the program.
The most common type of breach reported has been the sending of physical information to the wrong person, with 23 breaches. However, electronic data breaches of various kinds are now much more common overall with the sending of electronic information to the wrong person ranking second with 17 notifications, followed by website problems with 12 notifications. Four instances of hacking also were reported.