Legal Publications - Duncan Cotterill

Publications

We produce a range of articles, legal publications and resources on a wide range of legal subjects and hot topics critical to our clients needs. These include briefings on key legal issues, newsletters on practice areas and industry developments via the below headings.

Is your child’s privacy protected when using apps online?

When companies develop apps that are targeted at children, you want to know that your children’s well-being and privacy at the centre of their activities. As a parent, you want to be absolutely sure that privacy protection is considered, especially if the app your child is using collects More »

AI on IP: should artificial intelligence own IP rights?

The question of whether AI should be able to own intellectual property (IP) rights is a complex and controversial one that has yet to be fully resolved by the legal system. Currently, the prevailing view is that IP rights such as patents, trademarks, and copyrights are only granted to natural More »

New GILC Cyber Insurance report: cyber risk growing on an exponential scale

The Global Insurance Law Connect (GILC) has released its first ever Cyber Insurance report with expert commentary from global law firms including Duncan Cotterill. Law firms from 19 countries described the critical issues in cyber crime and how the insurance industry is responding to it as the More »

Current trends of cyber risk in New Zealand – the role of risk management and insurance

Over the last two years New Zealand (NZ) insurers have seen a significant increase in the number of notifications and claims for cyber attacks. In this article we identify what cyber risks Kiwi businesses are currently facing, how businesses can manage this risk, and what cyber insurance can do to More »

Protecting privacy when developing apps targeted at children

Protecting privacy is an important part of being in business, and is one of many things to factor in when developing a mobile app. Privacy protection is especially important if your app will collect personal information from children, in which case there are additional requirements and precautions More »

Privacy obligations in the cloud

Cloud computing offers significant benefits to businesses and organisations in terms of scalability, availability, and cost. However, entities that store information in the cloud still have responsibilities for that information under the Privacy Act 2020. A business or organisation that stores More »

Final whistle imminent for introduction of new Protected Disclosures legislation

The Protected Disclosures (Protection of Whistleblowers) Act 2022 ( the PDA 2022 ) has been a long time coming. Having finally passed through Parliament, the new legislation received Royal Assent on 13 May 2022 and will come into force on 1 July 2022, replacing the Protected Disclosures Act 2000. More »

Collection, retention, and destruction of vaccination status information: Important privacy considerations as many COVID-19 vaccine mandates are removed

Early this month (April 2022) the Government announced that some COVID-19 vaccine mandates for workers have been removed. Vaccine mandates now apply only to workplaces that support vulnerable populations (such as health and disability sector workers, prison and border/MIQ staff), or work in high- More »

Crown gets a healthy telling off: Treaty principles and health information privacy

Last week, in well publicised news, the Ministry of Health was the subject of judicial criticism for its failure to respond to a request from a Whānau Ora health agency in a manner consistent with the Treaty of Waitangi principles. The Crown has received wide acclaim over the past 18 months for its More »

Virtually witnessed documents – are they valid?

The main purpose of having a witness to a document is to authenticate that the person signing was in fact the person noted on the document. The implementation of electronic signatures was already common practice and with the advancement of technology, was always likely to increase in use. In New More »

Changes to the Privacy Act

The Privacy Act 2020 replaced the Privacy Act 1993, and came into force on 1 December 2020. The exponential change in the use of technology in society since 1993 together with globalisation, was a driving force for the necessary change to New Zealand’s privacy laws. The central information More »

Mandatory breach reporting and the case for tighter security

Cyber security breaches are now so prevalent, they almost seem an everyday occurrence. Those security breaches that place personal information in jeopardy tend to be particularly newsworthy, because the harm becomes particularly human (privacy is, after all, a human right). The new Privacy Act 2020 More »

Five things to do by the end of the year

End of year checklist for employers With the end of the year approaching, businesses are looking at wrapping up before the Christmas break. We have put together a checklist of things for employers to keep in mind. 1. Payment during closedown periods The recent employment court decision of Labour More »

The countdown is on. Are you ready?

On 1 December 2020 the Privacy Act 2020 (the Act ) comes into force. For the first time in New Zealand, businesses and organisations who are found to be non-compliant with their obligations around collecting, storing, using and disclosing personal information risk committing an offence and a fine More »

Privacy Act 2020 - Reporting tool and serious harm

As part of the build up to the Privacy Act 2020 coming in to force on 1 December, the Privacy Commissioner has launched an online tool to help assess whether a privacy breach is notifiable. One of the key elements of the Privacy Act 2020 is the need for organisations to notify the Commissioner and More »

Privacy considerations for Covid-19 contact tracing registers and tools - August 2020

With the re-emergence of “community transmission” of Covid-19 in August 2020, and the associated change to Level 3 in Auckland and Level 2 in the rest of New Zealand, businesses are now required to do more to help facilitate effective contact tracing. While compliance is mandatory, we More »

The new Privacy Act 2020 – what you need to know

After a lengthy parliamentary process, the Privacy Bill received Royal Assent on 30 June 2020 to become the Privacy Act 2020 ( the Act ). This completes the long-anticipated overhaul of New Zealand’s privacy law. The Act repeals and replaces the Privacy Act 1993 to more closely align the law More »

Privacy Bill update – April 2020

The long-anticipated overhaul of New Zealand’s privacy law was expected to be passed last month, with the Privacy Bill ( the Bill ) scheduled to proceed to its third reading. Although this did not proceed as planned, Justice Minister Andrew Little tabled a Supplementary Order Paper on 17 More »

COVID-19 and data protection: What you need to know (updated)

New Zealand businesses are facing unprecedented challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. As we adapt to Alert Level 4, it is important to remind ourselves that, while privacy laws do not hinder measures taken in the fight against COVID-19, even in these exceptional times, businesses must ensure the More »

Electronic signatures - when can I use them and when can't I?

While many businesses have been signing electronically for some time, the current environment has a number of businesses seeking clarity on what they can and cannot sign electronically. Part 4 of the Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017 ( CCLA ) (previously the Electronic Transactions Act 2002) More »

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