An alleged blackmail furore over sensitive ACC data should have been escalated earlier to inform clients and police of the privacy breach, the prime minister says.© 2012 MediaWorks TV
ACC client Bronwyn Pullar, a brand expert linked to the National Party, was erroneously emailed a spreadsheet in August that included the names of about 6752 clients and the date and outcome of their review with the ACC. She later passed the information to a media organisation.
In a report to ACC Minister Judith Collins last week, ACC did not name Ms Pullar, but said the client threatened to send the information to the media unless her benefit payments were guaranteed for two years.
ACC laid a complaint over the matter with police on Monday, while the Privacy Commissioner is also investigating.
Ms Pullar rejected ACC's report as false, saying she made no threats or demands of the company.
Prime Minister John Key says ACC could have handled the matter better from the beginning. "My understanding of the situation is when they were informed there was a privacy breach that the staff member at ACC wrote to the [client] indicating that they wanted the material returned or that material should be destroyed.
"There's an argument about whether that person should have kicked that up to another layer of management or potentially informed the police of that situation," Mr Key says.
The police would have been able to intervene and recover the information before it came into the public domain. Another option "could have been to proactively engage with those [clients] that were on the file".
"As I understand it they didn't, and I'm sure ACC has learnt from that experience," Mr Key says.
He would not be drawn on which side he believes is telling the truth, but said he expects ACC to be honest and open with the government. "I've got no reason to believe any of the information they have supplied us is incorrect."
http://www.3news.co.nz/ACC-handled-blackmail-row-badly---Key/tabid/1607/articleID/247254/Default.aspx
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