That's the view of the Privacy Commissioner on the police setting up a fake breath-testing checkpoint to collect the names and addresses of members of political group Exit International:
In June 2017, OPC completed their investigation and advised the parties of its final view. It found the collection of personal information at the checkpoint to be both unlawful and unfair. The way information was collected breached principle 4 of the Privacy Act 1993.
“Police used an unlawful checkpoint to take advantage of the public’s trust in them and collect information from people who were not legally required to provide it,” Mr Edwards said.
“The primary function of Police is to maintain the law and there is an expectation that they will follow the law and their own policies at all times. This is especially the case when they engage with members of the public or use their powers to investigate offences.”
Some complainants said the visits from Police made them feel uncertain about their ability to speak freely and anxious that more visits would follow.
“Police approached them after unlawfully collecting their information, and questioned them about a socially and politically sensitive subject. It is fair to say that the actions by the Police officers caused those complainants harm,” Mr Edwards said.
The police have said they will delete the information they collected, though whether they really have is an open question. The only way we'll know is if Exit International is exposed to further persecution in future.
Meanwhile there was also an Independent Police Conduct authority investigation into the police's actions and use of the information. Hopefully we'll be seeing the results of that soon.
