You may want to collect driver licence details for identification confirmation purposes, such as verifying age. However, driver licences are a form of personal information because they can identify the person they belong to. Therefore, when you collect this personal information, you must comply with New Zealand privacy law as an agency. If this kind of sensitive personal information falls into the wrong hands, it could result in serious harm to an individual. For that reason, you need to ensure you handle driver licence information carefully. Furthermore, you should only collect it when necessary. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This article explains the circumstances under which you can collect and retain driver licence details in New Zealand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Under the Privacy Act, driver licence numbers are a kind of unique identifier. These are usually a string of numbers and letters unique to one person, which you cannot assign to anyone else. Other examples of unique identifiers include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some businesses will assign their customers a unique identifier instead of their name for operational purposes. However, they can only do so for a necessary purpose and cannot use a unique identifier that another business or organisation has assigned to that specific customer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Depending on the nature of the unique identifier, these can be highly sensitive forms of personal information. Due to this, malicious third parties are more likely to use them for identity fraud. Therefore, a data breach<\/a> involving unique identifiers is a serious issue. Furthermore, it is not as easy to change identity information as it is to change other kinds of personal information, such as credit card details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, if an unauthorised third party obtains one of your customers\u2019 driver licence details, they can impersonate that person in some cases. They can then potentially get access to that customer\u2019s financial details or other sensitive information.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n Therefore, the Privacy Act sets additional rules for businesses and organisations that want to collect or keep unique identifiers, including driver licence details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You cannot collect a unique identifier from your customers unless that was the reason your customers have that particular number or a reason directly relating to that original purpose. Additionally, you can only collect personal information for a necessary and lawful business purpose. Therefore, before collecting any personal information, particularly unique identifiers, you need to define this purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, if you hire delivery drivers, it is reasonable to collect their driving licence details to confirm they are qualified to drive your motor vehicles.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n Regarding the collection of driver licence details, verifying an individual\u2019s identity typically falls under both of these requirements. You may need to verify their identity for reasons such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If your reason does not fall within these or similar lawful purposes, it is better to avoid collecting driver licence information altogether. Over-collection can lead to legal complaints, especially if a customer feels their information was taken unnecessarily or without proper explanation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n Continue reading this article below the form\n <\/i>\n<\/a>\nYour Responsibilities When Collecting Driver Licence Details<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n