Randal Jackson Wellington of Computerworld NZ reports:
Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff is calling on the government to create an independent oversight body to monitor New Zealand’s DNA Databank following Computerworld’s revelations of a security breach last week.
“The Government is currently proposing expansion of the criminal DNA database. I have recommended an independent oversight body be set up to ensure that the interests of individuals in such a state-run scheme are balanced and protected,” Shroff said in a statement following our report.
According to the Police, an as yet unnamed woman was due to appear in the Auckland District Court last Friday charged with unlawfully disclosing information from a DNA database.
(Update: Alexandra Monique Cranstoun, 27, entered no plea to the charge in the Auckland District Court. She is bailed until August 28 under a diversion scheme.)