Dear Department of Internal Affairs,

I am seeking clarification regarding the position of the Department of Internal Affairs and their advice to NZ government agencies, regarding "communication plans" which include "email redirection".

In ACC's response GOV-005668 (04/08/2020), Sasha Wood, Manager Official Information Act Services, stated:
"Redirection of emails, outside of a communication plan, may occur..."

In ACC's response GOV-026875 (11/08/2023), Sara Freitag, Acting Manager Official Information Act Services, wrote:
"ACC’s Communication Plan Policy was approved in December 2022. This policy is a formal document outlining the process undertaken if client’s behaviour or communication is unreasonable; this process includes email redirection."

ACC's Communication Plan Policy v2.0 states:
"The restrictions that can be placed on a client are the same as those outlined by the Ombudsman in Managing unreasonable complainant conduct practice manual."

In ACC's response GOV-029414 (15/12/2023), Sara Freitag, Manager Official Information Act Services, wrote:
"We currently have a total of 71 mail flow rules for email redirection purposes."

In ACC's response GOV-029712 (29/01/2024) Jason Hope, Acting Manager Official Information Act Service, wrote:
"ACC has 75 client email addresses subject to email redirection. These email addresses are either linked to at least one client in EOS or are not linked to a client in EOS but we have otherwise determined are emails used by clients. Some of these may also be linked to non-client records. We have identified a further nine email addresses subject to email redirection, which were previously linked to a client in EOS."

I can find no mention of "email redirection" in the Ombudsman's manual, only references to email blocking or forwarding (both legitimate and lawful). The comment on p 100 could be loosely interpreted as "email forwarding", but then Chapter 20 starts with "What if access cannot be restricted or we have contributed to the problem?"

I request documents, reports, advice, or any other information, that describe the Department of Internal Affairs': understanding of:
(a) the meaning of "email redirection",
(b) when "email redirection" is to be implemented as part of a communication plan,
(c) how "email redirection" is to be implemented,

Please specify whether the "email redirection" should:
(a) occur during transit, that is the email is redirected to an unintended person at an email server and before reaching the intended recipient, or
(b) occur after the intended recipient received the email, which requires either the intended recipient to open and forward the email manually, or the intended recipient sets up a rule so that the email is forwarded to a person that they designated.

To clarify, in scenario (a) all of the sender's emails are redirected to an unintended recipient, including all emails sent to the general complaint team inbox. That is, not one communication is ever received by the intended recipient. However, in scenario (b), the intended recipient receives the communication, but then the intended recipient chooses whom to forward the message to (like their manager).

I request the list of documents which informed the Department of Internal Affairs' advice and the discussion papers as to how restriction of complainants' communications is consistent with obligations imposed under the OIA, Privacy Act, NZBoRA, and any other legislation that confers rights of freedom of expression (seeking, obtaining, and disseminating information)

Please specify whether the extreme steps of restricting communications is applicable when the complainant has legitimate complaints, which are not being addressed in accordance with the law, and when the complainant has not been violent or abusive, but has only been persistent expressed frustration or has been simply annoying.

Thanks
Joe

Dear Ms Reed,

This is a follow up request for the documents which informed your statement "I understand that ACC is already responding to you on the same matter." ACC has not responded to my request.

Yours sincerely,

Joe

Dear Ms Reed,

Thank you for your email; however you have not responded to my request. I used ACC as an example, but my request was not restricted to ACC.

The DOIA has the
- Government Chief Data Officer
- Government Chief Privacy Officer
- Government Chief Information Officer.

These officers are all responsible for providing guidance, standards, interpretation, etc., for the ethical and legal methods for obtaining, seeking, disclosing, using, and/or storing personal information, and hence should all have a position regarding "communication plans" and "email redirection". The DOIA is also one of the agencies who has persons who may intercept personal communications, after having obtained a lawful warrant, under the Search and Surveillance Act. Thus, there must be clear statements about the legality of "email redirection".

Yours sincerely,

Joe

Dear Department of Internal Affairs,

Thank you for your response, however, it was incomplete.

I request documents, reports, advice, or any other information, that describe the Department of Internal Affairs': understanding of:
(a) the meaning of "email redirection",
(b) when "email redirection" is to be implemented as part of a communication plan,
(c) how "email redirection" is to be implemented,

Please specify whether the "email redirection" should:
(a) occur during transit, that is the email is redirected to an unintended person at an email server and before reaching the intended recipient, or
(b) occur after the intended recipient received the email, which requires either the intended recipient to open and forward the email manually, or the intended recipient sets up a rule so that the email is forwarded to a person that they designated.

Yours faithfully,

Joe