Personal Data Privacy and the Internet - A Guide for Data Users

Data users who are public sector organisations - other considerations

=>Dissemination of public information on the Internet. The Internet is a highly suitable medium for the delivery of public information to the on-line community. In doing so, a public sector organisation could encourage users to visit its site, with trust and confidence, by reassuring them about its privacy protection practices. For example, the site may have an anonymous browsing policy for visitors who are not required to disclose any personal identifiable information. Such a practice should be included in the organisation's privacy policy notice which should be easily accessed or downloaded by users visiting the site (see section on "Openness of the organisation's personal data privacy policy").

=>Public service on the Internet. Some public sector organisations have chosen to put their service application forms on their web pages for downloading or on-line completion by members of the public. Such on-line forms, like paper forms, would normally result in the collection of personal data of the individuals. In this respect, the provision of a Personal Information Collection (PIC) statement is required (see section on "Collecting personal data on the Internet"). If the submission of the completed on-line forms is allowed to be sent via the Internet, the public sector organisation should offer secure transmission of the data (see section on "Making secure transmission of personal data on the Internet").

=>Conducting electronic business transactions on the Internet. Using the Internet to conduct business via electronic transactions is increasingly an important part of an organisation's effort to improve its services. This is as true for the public sector as it is for the private sector, and possibly more so. When engaging in transactions electronically with an organisation, members of the public will welcome a guarantee of their privacy from the organisation. In dealings with public sector organisations, the public expectation with respect to privacy protection is even higher because of the generally higher quantity of personal data required. In recognising such an expectation, a public sector organisation should consider the use of various privacy enhancing technologies in its implementation of electronic transactions so that the amount of personally identifiable information is kept to a minimum while the integrity, security and authenticity of the data contained in such transactions are adequately maintained.