June

"The tribunal recognised applicants would probably have expected their personal information to be kept confidential. The decision of the Human Rights Review Tribunal to make a company disclose to a failed job applicant the CVs and reference checks of others going for a job is an example. The aggrieved party complained that he was discriminated against on the basis of age, so he wanted to see the credentials of others who applied or succeeded in the process. Under the court system's rules of ""discovery"", which the tribunal adopts, all information pertinent to an action needs to be handed over from the defendant to the plaintiff. So Alpine and its recruitment agency must give the man the information it has on the successful candidate and those who contested and lost. This could include references, security checks, medical information, criminal records, past behavioural issues or work performance details provided by former employers and referees. This is a complex legal zone of overlapping public and private interests and parallel laws. While the sanctity of anti-discrimination law and the principle of full discovery are vital, surely the discrimination against and invasion of others' privacy requires a clear, fair legislative fix."

An Auckland private investigator claims 80 per cent of CVs his firm is called in to check turn out to be false in some way. Other private investigators and recruiters say while CV fraud is widespread, the number of CVs that prove to be either misleading or outright incorrect is more in the range of 15 to 20 per cent. They say private investigators often get called in once a company already has suspicions over a candidate. It's a problem that has been around for many years and it reared its ugly head again last month when it was revealed Michael Vukcevic falsely claimed to have a law degree from Victoria University when he applied for the top job at multinational law and patent firm Baldwins. PwC's 2014 Global Economic Crime Survey, out last month, found human-resources fraud - which includes fake CVs - had for the first time become one of the big five frauds affecting Kiwi businesses.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has declared the Data Retention Directive invalid. The Court's decision was grounded on its conclusion that, by requiring the retention of the data falling within the scope of the Directive, and by allowing the competent national authorities to access those data, the Directive interferes in a particularly serious manner with the fundamental rights to respect for private life and to the protection of personal data. The judgment was rendered in response to questions posed to the ECJ by the national courts of two EU Member States. The Irish High Court posed questions regarding the legality of national legislative and administrative measures concerning the retention of data relating to electronic communications. The Austrian Constitutional Court posed questions arising from an action by 11,130 individuals in Austria questioning the compatibility with the Federal Constitutional Law of the Austrian provisions transposing the Data Retention Directive into Austrian national law. The ECJ's decision will trigger a rethink of both EU and EU Member States' laws on government surveillance.