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Types

Topic(s): Collection | Use

B v Charity Organisation [2010] PrivCmrA 3

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Case Citation:

B v Charity Organisation [2010] PrivCmrA 3

Subject Heading:

Collecting and using personal information for direct marketing

Law:

National Privacy Principles 1 and 2 in Schedule 3 of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth)

Facts:

The complainant received a letter addressed to them at their address from a charity organisation asking them to provide further personal information and to support the charity.

They complained that the charity organisation should not have collected and used their personal information given they had no previous dealings with the charity.

Issues:

NPP 1.1 states that an organisation must not collect personal information unless the information is necessary for its functions or activities.

NPP 2 provides that an organisation must not use or disclose personal information other than for the primary purpose of collection, unless an exception applies.

Outcome:

The Privacy Commissioner investigated the matter under section 40(1) of the Privacy Act.

In response to the Commissioner's investigation, the charity organisation advised that it had not collected or used the complainant's personal information. The charity organisation had outsourced its marketing activities to a third party contractor. While the charity organisation had provided the template for the letter that was posted to the complainant, the third party contractor had used its own database of customers to generate the name and address on the letter. The third party contractor did not provide this database to the charity organisation.

Based on the above information, the Commissioner was satisfied that the charity organisation had not collected the complainant's personal information or unlawfully used it to direct market them. The Commissioner also advised the complainant that they could complain against the third party contractor.

The Commissioner closed the investigation under section 41(1)(a) of the Privacy Act, on the grounds that the charity organisation had not interfered with the privacy of the complainant.