Back in 2011 and over on DataBreaches.net, I covered the leak of Labour Party donors by a blogger, Cameron Slater. The database included “a mailing list containing the names and email addresses of about 18,000 supporters and a list of hundreds of recent online donations, complete with names and amounts given.” Slater denied any hacking of their site.
Now, in what appears to me to be an unrelated case, Radio New Zealand reports that Cameron Slater is facing prosecution for breaching the privacy of an Auckland businessman:
The office of the Director of Human Rights will begin prosecuting Mr Slater on 28 October.
The case relates to the publication of information stored on a hard-drive belonging to Matt Blomfield. It is alleged Mr Slater published the material on his blog Whale Oil.
Auckland barrister Simon Judd, who will act as prosecutor for the office of the Director of Human Rights, says it will be argued that Mr Slater was not entitled to publish the information under the Privacy Act.
The Office of the Privacy Comissioner says it received Mr Blomfield’s complaint in December 2012 and passed it the office of the Director of Human Rights in May 2013.
Read more on Radio New Zealand.
If any NZ reader would like to try their hand at providing a summary of what this case is about, I’d welcome it. Does it involve using data leaked to a citizen journalist and does it implicate press freedom? Or is press freedom not implicated under NZ law? I need to read up on this case.