Inland Revenue (IRD) in New Zealand has been giving details of many taxpayers to social media companies like Facebook and Instagram for advertising. This has raised concerns about safety and privacy.
IRD claims it protects these details through a process called “hashing,” which changes names and personal information into numbers. However, some experts, like Associate Professor Gehan Gunasekara, say that hashing does not fully protect identities. Revenue Minister Simon Watts stated that hashing is safe and irreversible, but critics argue that this is outdated and not fully secure.
Cybersecurity expert Jonathan Wright pointed out that hashing can be reversed using simple online tools. He criticized the claim that identities are completely anonymized as misleading. Marketing consultant Jack Yan mentioned he had noticed IRD’s presence in social media ads for years and hopes the current review will lead to better data protection.
Wright added that social media companies control how data is shared, and the only real solution is to stop the practice, which would limit targeted advertising. He believes taxpayers should have more choice and privacy protections.
Minister Watts insisted that IRD is following New Zealand’s information security guidelines and continuously reviews its processes. Some individuals, like employment consultant David Buckingham, have raised concerns about the lack of transparency and knowledge about how their information is used.
The Taxpayers’ Union has stated that IRD is violating the privacy of New Zealanders. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner mentioned it hasn’t received privacy complaints regarding hashing but stressed that each agency must ensure the protection of data, even when sharing with third parties.
