Privacy (International Money Transfers) Temporary Public Interest Determination 2014 (No. 1)
 
I, Timothy Pilgrim, Privacy Commissioner, make the following determination under subsection 80A(2) of the Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act).
Dated: 7 March 2014
Signed
 
 
Timothy Pilgrim
Privacy Commissioner
 
1 Name of determination
 This determination is the Privacy (International Money Transfers) Temporary Public  Interest Determination 2014 (No. 1).
2  Commencement
This determination commences on 12 March 2014.
3  Period in force
This determination is in force from 12 March 2014 to 11 March 2015 inclusive unless ceased earlier because of subsection 80D(2) of the Privacy Act.
4  Authority
This determination is made under subsection 80A(2) of the Privacy Act.
5  Definitions         
Terms defined in the Privacy Act have the same meanings in this determination
6  Application for a public interest determination
(1)   Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (Applicant) is an APP entity under subsection 6(1) of the Privacy Act because it is an organisation under section 6C of the Privacy Act. 
(2)   The Applicant has applied under section 73 of the Privacy Act for a public interest determination in relation to the acts and practices set out in section 7 below.
7  International money transfer processing
(1)   The disclosure of the personal information about an individual to an overseas recipient by the Applicant breaches or may breach Australian Privacy Principle (APP) 8.1 where:
(a)   the Applicant, as an authorised deposit-taking institution within the meaning of the Banking Act 1959, is processing an international money transfer (IMT) on behalf of one of its customers, and
(b)   in order to process the international money transfer, the Applicant discloses personal information of the individual who is the beneficiary of the IMT (beneficiary) to another financial institution that is not in Australia or an external Territory (overseas financial institution) for the purpose of remitting the relevant funds, to the beneficiary’s financial institution for payment.
(2)   The acts and practices set out in subsection (1) above may also lead to the Applicant breaching other APPs (other than APP 1) by reason of the application of subsection 16C(2) of the Privacy Act if the overseas financial institution does an act, or engages in a practice, in relation to the information that would be a breach of an APP (other than APP 1) if the APPs applied to that act or practice.
8 Public Interest
(1)   The public interest in the Applicant carrying out the acts and practices set out in section 7 above outweighs to a substantial degree the public interest in adhering to APP 8.1 or the Applicant being taken to have breached an APP (other than APP 1) as a result of the acts of practices of the overseas financial institution where:
(a)   It is not practical for the Applicant to rely on the exceptions set out at APP 8.2(a) or APP 8.2(b) when disclosing the personal information
(b)   the other exceptions in APP 8.2 are not relevant to the disclosure of the personal information
(c)    the Applicant takes a number of steps to ensure the security and confidentiality of the personal information disclosed, and
(d)   the nature of the arrangements that support and facilitate the processing of IMTs means that the Applicant is not in a position to take additional steps to comply with APP 8.1 before disclosing the personal information.
(2)   For the purpose of paragraph 8(1)(a) above, it may not be practical for the Applicant to rely on the exception at APP 8.2(a) when engaging in the acts and practices set out in section 7 due to:
(a)   the potentially large number of overseas locations to which the personal information may be disclosed, and
(b)   the Applicant not having any relationship with the beneficiary, or the means to establish that relationship, in order to gain the beneficiary’s consent to the disclosure of the personal information.
9  Temporary public interest determination
(1) The Applicant’s application raises issues that require an urgent decision.
(2) Accordingly, by operation of subsection 80B(1) of the Privacy Act the Applicant is taken not to breach section 15 of the Privacy Act if:
(a)   the Applicant breaches APP 8.1 when engaging in the acts and practices set out in section 7 above, or
(b)   an overseas financial institution does an act, or engages in a practice, in relation to the personal information disclosed to it by the Applicant in the course of the Applicant doing the acts or engaging in the practices set out in section 7 above, that would be a breach of an APP (other than APP 1) if the APPs applied to that act or practice
during the period from 12 March 2014 to 11 March 2015 inclusive.