The Privacy Commissioner's office wasn't satisfied with the Sensible Sentencing Trust's (SST) response to incorrectly listing a man's picture with a description of a convicted paedophile.
Uploaded to the SST's 'Offender Database' by a member of the public, the photo of the man was not verified. While the man shares the same first and last name to the paedophile, they have different middle names.
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The photo was on the site for almost two years, and in that time the page received 574 unique views.
The Privacy Commissioner said it raised privacy issues where agencies must make sure personal information is accurate, complete, relevant and up to date.
SST volunteers operate the database, but the organisation doesn't know who uploaded the photo, and there were no processes available to verify the information.
It ruled the man had suffered pecuniary loss as he had to take time out from running his business to fix the issue, while the customer who alerted the man to the issue said he wouldn't do business with him after seeing the image.
The man was concerned the picture may have led to other loss of business.
"The SST's failure to check the accuracy of its information implicated an innocent person for a terrible crime, tarnished his reputation, caused him emotional harm, and potentially put him at risk of violence."
His image had also been posted on school and community group Facebook pages, calling him a threat to children.
He said it had humiliated him and his family and called the situation an "emotional nightmare".
"The SST has interfered with his privacy."
The SST accepted the issue, apologised, and made some steps to respond, including ringing some of the man's clients, offering to hold a public meeting, and publishing a notice in a school's newsletter.
But the Privacy Commissioner said the SST could have been more proactive in assessing and fixing the harm it had caused.
The SST has now taken the 'Offender Database' down while it reviews its records.
It will also contact Facebook and Google to see if there were any defamatory posts about the man, provide privacy training to operators and officers, and produce processes for volunteers adding to the database in the future.
Due to the significance of the case, and the fact that it was not settled, the Privacy Commissioner will now refer it to the Director of Human Rights Proceedings.
Newshub.
