Photo: ODTPublic insurer ACC is using a secret computer model to predict how long clients will be on its books, then sorting and targeting those it considers a risk. The software was built using the private information of thousands of ACC clients without their knowledge - and possibly without their consent. It has had no public scrutiny or oversight from agencies such as the Privacy Commissioner, despite having potential mass privacy implications. ACC was responsible for one of New Zealand's worst privacy breaches, sending details of 9000 claims to a person who should not have received them in 2012. Exactly how it works is unclear - despite new best practice data guidelines advocating transparency - because the model is not public.

Source: Otago Daily Times September 14, 2017 21:33 UTC