Simple actions to build trust at every opportunity

Privacy Awareness Week 2022 will be held from 2–8 May and the theme is ‘Privacy the foundation of trust’.

It’s a timely reminder for agencies about the importance of building community trust by protecting and respecting personal information.

When public servants collect, use, store and share personal information they can take simple actions to build trust.

At every opportunity, simply:

• follow your agency policies to safeguard personal information
• adopt a privacy by design approach when you plan new projects, technology applications or in day-to-day activities
• take time to explain how the information you collect will be used, stored and shared
• ensure you have correct addressee and attachments when sending mail or email
• confirm the identity of the person you’re speaking to before providing personal information
• only access the personal information you are authorised to access.

By establishing a foundation of trust through good privacy practices, agencies benefit by faster adoption of new technologies, quicker response to emergent events, improved service delivery and better community outcomes.

Privacy Awareness Week information and resources are available on the Office of the Information Commissioner website.