Publication:Sea Talk Summer 2008/Have a little respect
By Gai Brodtmann
Did you know that personal information about you at work, including your work contact phone numbers, should only be given out to non-Defence personnel with your consent or prior informed knowledge?
Or that health records should only be transferred over the Defence Restricted Network once they’ve been encrypted?
And that images of individuals – no matter what their age – should only be published if the person has agreed?
These are general tips on good privacy, but there are other considerations and exceptions that may apply. For example, consent is only one of five situations in which you may lawfully disclose personal information.
Everyone in Navy is legally obliged to manage personal information appropriately. Doing this demonstrates your respect and courtesy to your colleagues and team mates.
So the Fairness and Resolution Branch (FR) has launched a new set of tools to help you quickly and easily get across your privacy obligations.
Did you know?
* Learning and development activities in performance assessments should
be marked staff-in-confidence and filed appropriately.
* You should stick to comments on work performance when giving a referee
report – it’s inappropriate to discuss political or religious views or
health information.
* Calls to the 1800 Defence Service Centre lines are recorded – but only
after you’ve been informed.
* You are obliged to make sure the personal information you hold is
accurate, up-to-date and complete before you use or disclose it.
* Home addresses and after hours and emergency contact numbers should be
stored in a secure place and marked as staff-in-confidence.
* To avoid privacy issues when you’re preparing a farewell speech or
testimonial, ask the individual to give you a summary of their career
highlights. If this isn’t possible, make sure you gain their consent
before you use information from their personal file.
* A list of telephone numbers is not personal information unless it’s
linked to the names and/or addresses or positions of individuals.
* Personal information should not be used in case studies or scenarios
when you’re taking part in or conducting workshops or training modules.
It’s best to de-identify the information.
* Check the website for more information or contact details.
Training
To celebrate Privacy Awareness Week, FR introduced two new privacy awareness training courses on CAMPUS.
The courses give a broad overview of your legal obligations, particularly the appropriate way to collect, secure, use and disclose personal information.
Working with privacy is a two-module training course that targets people who work on personnel issues every day in policy and support roles. The course includes case studies and details the information privacy principles covered in the Privacy Act 1988 that apply to government agencies.
Introduction to privacy is a one-module course that targets managers and supervisors and provides a general outline of the principles. If you want to get a quick overview of your privacy obligations, this is also a good course for you.
“Sometimes the judgement of our people on privacy issues is compromised by a lack of knowledge or not knowing the questions to ask,” said Director General, Fairness and Resolution Branch, Di Harris. “These courses are designed to put an end to that, particularly for our people who are dealing with privacy issues frequently or on a daily basis.
“Personnel professionals need a thorough knowledge of privacy matters because they regularly manage personal information or sponsor policies and procedures that involve it. Managers and supervisors also need to know their rights and responsibilities. The courses ensure our personnel professionals and managers and supervisors appropriately handle privacy issues.”
A-Z guide
FR has also developed an A-Z guide to good privacy practice to make managing personal information easier for everyone. The guide has lots of general workplace tips to help you meet your legal obligations.
“The guide covers some of the practical privacy issues that may arise during the course of working in Navy. It doesn’t provide exhaustive advice on every topic. Rather, it clarifies, in plain English, how privacy issues relate to and support good privacy security practices in the workplace,” said Ms Harris.
Website
In addition to the courses, FR has a Defence privacy website that’s a one stop shop for all privacy matters. The website includes guides, complaint notes, case studies, checklists, and advice on how to handle a personal information security breach, the use of images and privacy issues when briefing a minister.
Respect and courtesy
“Privacy is all about respect and courtesy,” said Ms Harris.
“Everyone in Navy, and anyone dealing with us, should have confidence that their personal information is properly protected and only used where it’s necessary, appropriate and reasonable to do so.
“Understanding our legal obligations through the training courses, guide and website are the first steps towards establishing a culture of good privacy practice in Navy,” she said.
