Nicky Hager has filed a case against Westpac with the Human Rights Review Tribunal. This is yet another step in Mr Hager’s response to the unlawful search of his home and private information by Police.
The Privacy Commissioner recently upheld Mr Hager’s complaint against Westpac for breaching his privacy. However, the Privacy Commissioner’s decision is advisory only. To obtain binding orders, Mr Hager needs to take his case to the Human Rights Review Tribunal.
Mr Hager believes the attitude of Westpac has left him with no choice but to continue with his case. “He has asked Westpac to acknowledge that it breached his rights. Despite the Privacy Commissioner’s ruling, it has not been prepared to do that,” Mr Hager’s lawyer Felix Geiringer said.
Mr Hager will be asking the Human Rights Review Tribunal for binding orders requiring that Westpac not give its customers’ bank transaction data to the Police without a production order.
There may be thousands of people in the same position as Mr Hager, but who do not know it. “He has also asked the Human Rights Review Tribunal for an order requiring Westpac to notify everyone whose privacy may have already been breached,” Mr Geiringer said.
Even if Mr Hager is successful before the Human Rights Review Tribunal, the broader issue may remain. “This issue does not just relate to Westpac. All New Zealand’s banks had the same arrangement with the Police. Many other companies have also been releasing personal information without asking for a production order.”
A claim against the Police for making the requests is still before the High Court.
Interesting from only a theoretical perspective.
Anyone who has had dealings with the police knows that the police are an agency of ‘the empire’ and exist to protect ‘the system’, which means the interests of global banking system, the corporations and their various puppets.
What continued prodding at ‘the system’ does is expose how fundamentally rotten it all is, and that there are no mechanisms, other than violent revolution, for changing anything. And matters are not bad enough in NZ to trigger violent revolution, yet.
The police are really there own masters, a law unto themselves, look at that debacle in the court in wellington where ALL charges were thrown out that were given to the great protestors who were arrested on public land whilst demonstrating against the war mongers.
Is Westpac Bank a foreign owned bank?
Is Westpac Bank the NZ’s governments banker?
Is Westpac Bank doing our governments Big Banky-Banky business for us both here and over the oceans?
Is our population a mere 4.7 million?
And Westpac gave the police enforcers or-elsers Nicky Hagers personal info because … ? BECAUSE ? BECAUSE FUCKING WHY?
Is there a Westpac bank in NZ / Aotearoa that’s not yet on fire ?
Nicky Hager’s on fire. And we should all help fan his flames.
There’s not one NZ/Aotearoan alive that I’m more proud of.
Go Nikki!
The police overkill was unwarranted!
The police are just another arm of a dictator Government now being used simply like their own private army.
[Comment deleted. Offensive. Pointless. Fake email account. – Scarletmod]
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