John MacDonald: How would you rate your trust in the public service?

I reckon most of us, when we fill out the census papers, assume that the information we’re providing won’t end up in the wrong hands.  

I know there are some people who don't feel like that. People who just don't want to give personal information to anyone - especially the government. Or the state.  

The Wizard of Christchurch was known over the years for refusing to take part in the census. And, in more recent years, we’ve had people who just can’t be bothered. They’re the ones who ended up getting things like Warriors tickets and pressie cards to do what the rest of us just do anyway.  

But I reckon after these revelations that have come out over the last 24 hours, it’s going to take more than tickets to sports matches and shopping vouchers to get people involved next time the census comes around.  

What’s more, I think the public service has got a major job on its hands to restore public trust. In fact, that may turn out to be the biggest job the recently new head of the public service —Sir Brian Roche— has on is plate.  

Because once you lose trust, it’s very hard to restore it.  

I haven’t lost trust (not yet anyway), but I’m certainly losing confidence in the public service when it comes to keeping my information secure.

And this latest example could actually be the tipping point for me.   

But essentially, an inquiry has found multiple flaws in the way public service agencies protected personal information provided to third party contractors hired to help with the 2023 Census and a Covid vaccination drive.

We don't know whether any of this personal information was “misused”, but what we do know is that, as Sir Brian puts it, “the gate was left open” for it to be misused.  

And what Sir Brian calls “very sobering reading” could be about to get worse.  

That’s because there are other investigations into how other government agencies including the police, the Serious Fraud Office and the privacy commissioner use our personal information.

So what impact is going to have an impact on your trust in the public service and is it going to have an impact on your willingness to share personal information with the state?

Let me quote Sir Brian directly, because there are two words that I think are the focus for us.  

He says: "The report makes for very sobering reading. It raises a number of issues that go to the core of the confidence and trust required to maintain the integrity and sanctity of information entrusted to government agencies.”

The two key words there are trust and confidence.  

Here’s where I’m at with that. Sir Brian says the public service has pretty much failed to keep up with technological changes. And what he's getting at is that it is so much easier these days to share information.  

For example, if someone working in the public service can access someone’s information, what is there to stop them sending that around a few people?  

Not much.  

And when I heard Sir Brian talking about that, that is when I decided that the public service still has my trust. If I said to you that I didn’t trust them, that would be because I believed that there were public sector workers helping themselves to my personal information en masse and doing what they want with it. Intentionally.  

But I don’t think that, even after the revelations of the past 24 hours.  

But what I do think is that it has become so much easier for information to be passed on at the click of a mouse at lightning speed and that’s where I think the public service has been found to be pretty hopeless.  

So for me, I still trust the public sector, but my confidence in it is another story. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Canterbury Mornings podcast with John McDonald
from Newstalk ZB.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
I reckon most of us, most of us, when we
fill out the census papers. I reckon most of us
were just assumed, don't we that the information we're providing
won't end up in the wrong hands. I know there
are some people who don't don't feel like that, people
who just don't want to give personal information to anyone,
especially the state or the government. Was it of christ

(00:36):
Church or was it he was one over the years,
wasn't he for refusing to take part in the census?
And in more recent years we've had people who well
really just can't be bothered. They're the ones who we
ended up getting things like Warriors tickets and pressy cards
to do what the rest of us just do anyway.
But I reckon, after these revelations that have come out

(00:59):
over the last few four hours, it's going to take
more than tickets to sports matches and shopping vouch to
get some people involved in the next census next time
it comes around. What's more, though, I think this is
the bigger issue. I think the public service has got
a major job on its hands to restore public trust.

(01:22):
In fact, that may turn out to be the biggest
job recently or the relatively new head of the Public Service,
Sir Brian Roche has on his plate, because once you
lose trust, it's very hard to restore, isn't it For me?
I haven't lost trust, not yet anyway, but I'm certainly

(01:45):
losing confidence in the public service when it comes to
keeping my information secure. And this, in fact, this latest example,
these revelations, they could be the tipping point for me
where my confidence completely goes, and in fact it could
go within the next middle or so. I'll come back

(02:06):
to that. Essentially, though, here's what's been happening, or here's
what's been discovered. Here's the problem. An inquiry has found
multiple flaws in the way that public service agency has
protected personal information that people provided or that was provided
to third party contractors that were brought in to help
with the twenty twenty three census and a COVID vaccination drive.

(02:28):
Of course, the head of Stats ends that he's gone,
he's resigned on the back of this. Now they don't
know yet whether any of this personal information was misused,
but what we do know is it, as Sir Brian
puts it, we know that quote the gate was left
open for it to be misused, and what Sir Brian

(02:50):
calls very sobering reading could be about to get worse
because there are other they're looking into other agencies, including
the police, the Serious Fraud Office in the Privacy Commissioner
to see how they're using your personal information, how they're
using my personal information. And after ten when we speak
with Labor leader Chris Sipkins, you'll find out his particular

(03:11):
concerns about that Mariah and Mona Raeywan which was used
as a polling place. But the issue right now for
you and I to discuss is this. Is this going
to have an impact on your trust in the public
service and is it going to have an impact on
your willingness to share personal information with the public service.
Now I want to quote Sir Brian directly because there

(03:33):
are two words in here that I think of the
other focus for us, he says, and he's talking about
the report which came out yesterday. He says, quote the
report makes for very sobering reading. It raises a number
of issues that go to the core of the confidence
and trust required to maintain the integrity and sanctity of
information and trusted to government agencies. End of quote. And

(03:55):
there are two words in there that I think are
most relevant for us today, trust and confidence. And here's
where I'm at with it. He might have heard Sir
Brian talking to Mike earlier and he was saying that
the public service has pretty much failed. He was saying
before that, he was saying that the public service has

(04:17):
great people working for it, but he says that the
public service has pretty much failed to keep up with
technological changes. And what he was getting at there is
that it is so much easier these days to share information,
isn't it. When we all know that, for example, someone
working in the public service can access someone's information, what
is there to stop them sending that around a few people?

(04:38):
Not much, it would seem. And when I heard Sir
Brian talking about that, that's what I decided that the
public service still has my trust, but I don't think
it's still in a very good job keeping information safe.
And that's the confidence bit, because if I said to
you that I didn't trust the public service, that would

(04:58):
be because I believed there were public sector workers helping
themselves to my information and doing what they want with
it intentionally. There might be the odd case, but I
don't think that, even after the revelations of the past
twenty four hours. But what I do think is that
because of technology, it's become so much easier for information
to be passed on at the click of a mouse

(05:19):
at lightning speed. And that's where I think the public
service has been found to be hopeless. I mean, thank goodness,
thank goodness, we don't have online voting after all, this
is something I've always been a fan of, not now well,
not until my confidence in the public services restored. So
for me, I still trust the public sector. That my

(05:44):
confidence is disappearing fast.

Speaker 1 (05:48):
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