Data law overhaul raises ethical questions, academics warn

Powers to glean information from New Zealanders could clash with good research practice, experts fear

New Zealand’s revised law on data and statistics has “implications for research” by creating potential ethical conundrums, experts have warned.

In an article for the Health Research Council of New Zealand, University of Auckland researcher Annie Chiang says the country’s Data and Statistics Act, which came into effect on 1 September, creates ethical questions for scientists. The act “makes provisions for the collection of data that is necessary or desirable for research, and [ensures that] access to such data may be granted to researchers”.