Banning of usernames in Trove containing surname and FOI requests containing privacy breaches
Dear National Library of Australia,
Hello and greetings,
I am making this request under the provisions Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, seeking the following documentation held in relation to the following:
a: Further to the FOI disclosure log reference no. 13/21 could you please provide all notes, emails, summaries of discussions, reports, and relevant explanatory details which justify the banning of usernames which contain the potential name and/or surname of a user. Could you please provide the explanation or authority which enables a blanket decision to be made where a user can have details blocked purely because of their name. Surely this decision go against the fairness and impartiality of a Government institution such as the National Library.
b: Why are there documents which have been requested via previous FOI requests which are currently in circulation on the internet which were released by your organization that contain personal information, such as first or last name, email addresses and health information of users? Can you provide all correspondence, emails, submissions and other relevant documents identifying which documents were released with these personal details not fully redacted and what action has been taken to resolve these issues.
I look forward to a relevant response,
Consuela de Amarrvo
Dear Consuela de Amarrvo
The National Library of Australia acknowledges receipt of your FOI request received on Wednesday 15 January 2023.
In relation to paragraph (b) of your FOI request:
"Why are there documents which have been requested via previous FOI requests which are currently in circulation on the internet which were released by your organization that contain personal information, such as first or last name, email addresses and health information of users? Can you provide all correspondence, emails, submissions and other relevant documents identifying which documents were released with these personal details not fully redacted and what action has been taken to resolve these issues".
We would be grateful for clarification and further explanation as to what you are referring to?
Kind regards
Peter
Peter Hutchison | Assistant Director, Legal Counsel
02 6262 1621 | [email address] | National Library of Australia
The National Library of Australia acknowledges Australia’s First Nations Peoples – the First Australians – as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of this land and gives respect to the Elders – past and present – and through them to all Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Parkes Place Canberra ACT 2600 Australia
T +61 2 6262 1111
nla.gov.au
Dear Mr de Amarrvo
I refer to your FOI request below dated 13 February 2023.
Please find attached the decision letter relating to your FOI request.
Kind regards
Peter
Peter Hutchison | Assistant Director, Legal Counsel
02 6262 1621 | [1][email address] | National Library of
Australia
The National Library of Australia acknowledges Australia’s First Nations
Peoples – the First Australians – as the Traditional Owners and Custodians
of this land and gives respect to the Elders – past and present – and
through them to all Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people.
[2]A close up Parkes Place Canberra ACT 2600 Australia
of a logo
Description T +61 2 6262 1111
automatically [3]nla.gov.au
generated [4]signature_1714117851 [5]signature_822455433 [6]signature_1746266624 [7]signature_27538419 [8]signature_43432911
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Dear Peter Hutchison,
Further to your response received in relation to my enquiry, can you please clarify the response based on the following points in the decision by Allison Dellit
3. The Library has taken all reasonable steps to find documents which are held by the Library and
which fall within the scope of your FOI request.
4. The Library identified no documents that fall within the scope of your FOI request.
5. In relation to paragraph (a) of your FOI request, the Library has never had a policy or practice of
banning usernames.
Why is it that, if the above points are correct, that:
i) A relevant document can be found via the nla.gov.au website discussing the banning of the creation of Trove accounts with the term 'trenwith' and the deactivation of a list of Trove accounts with the term 'trenwith' included in them or are associated with accounts with the name 'trenwith' in them in some way. Decactivation or the banning of usernames is in effect the same as banning usernames - we don't need to get into semantics about the terminology.
https://www.nla.gov.au/sites/default/fil...
With the above details in mind, could you please clarify your response sent to me, including details of documents regarding any decision-making process that was undertaken by the appropriate authorities of the National Library of Australia in regard to the banning of usernames or accounts on the Trove system.
PS. I am not a Mr: Conseula is a female name.
Yours sincerely,
Consuela de Amarrvo
Hi
Thank you for your email. I am on leave from Monday 17 April 2023 until
Monday 3rd July 2023.
Please contact Kate Baillie from Monday 26 April 2023 at [email address]
Kind regards
Peter
Dear National Library of Australia,
Given Peter Hutchison's current absence, can someone else provide a response to my query.
Further to your response received in relation to my enquiry, can you please clarify the response based on the following points in the decision by Allison Dellit
3. The Library has taken all reasonable steps to find documents which are held by the Library and
which fall within the scope of your FOI request.
4. The Library identified no documents that fall within the scope of your FOI request.
5. In relation to paragraph (a) of your FOI request, the Library has never had a policy or practice of
banning usernames.
Why is it that, if the above points are correct, that:
i) A relevant document can be found via the nla.gov.au website discussing the banning of the creation of Trove accounts with the term 'trenwith' and the deactivation of a list of Trove accounts with the term 'trenwith' included in them or are associated with accounts with the name 'trenwith' in them in some way. Decactivation or the banning of usernames is in effect the same as banning usernames - we don't need to get into semantics about the terminology.
https://www.nla.gov.au/sites/default/fil...
With the above details in mind, could you please clarify your response sent to me, including details of documents regarding any decision-making process that was undertaken by the appropriate authorities of the National Library of Australia in regard to the banning of usernames or accounts on the Trove system.
PS. I am not a Mr: Conseula is a female name.
Yours faithfully,
Consuela de Amarrvo
Dear Consuela de Amarrvo,
Thank you for your below question regarding the decision dated 15 March
2023 (Decision) made by the National Library of Australia (Library) in
response to your request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI
Act).
Firstly, apologies for the incorrect title used in our past correspondence
with you.
In responding to your request, the Library interpreted your freedom of
information request (reference no. NLA22/1606/12) as seeking documents
that were in addition to those already published on our [1]Disclosure Log
in response to FOI Request no. 13/21. As stated in paragraphs 3 and 4 of
the Decision, after taking all reasonable steps to find documents held by
the Library, the Library could not identify any documents that fell within
the scope of your request that were in addition to those already published
in our disclosure log in response to FOI Request no. 13/21.
As noted in paragraph 5 of the Decision, the Library has never had a
policy or practice of banning Trove usernames without cause. The Library
has, in response to a material breach of the [2]Trove Terms of Use by a
specific Trove user, taken steps to deactivate such user’s account in
accordance with clause 13 of the Trove Terms of Use. The Library has also
taken steps to deactivate other Trove user accounts where such accounts
were, in the opinion of the Library, created by a user in contravention of
clause 13.5(c) and clause 3.4 of the Terms of Use. Please note that any
persons using and accessing any component of Trove are bound by the Trove
Terms of Use and that under the Terms of Use the Library has broad
discretionary powers to terminate and suspend access to Trove and remove
user content.
I hope the above information has answered your query.
I note that if you do not agree with the Decision, unfortunately the time
periods within which you had to lodge applications for an internal review
or a review by the Australian Information Commissioner, have already
expired. Consequently, if you there is other information or documents that
you are seeking from the Library, you will need to lodge a new freedom of
information request. I would be happy to assist you to lodge a new request
either over the telephone or by way of email.
Kind Regards,
Kate
Kate Baillie
FOI Coordinator | Governance | Corporate
02 6262 1600 | [3][NLA request email] | National Library of Australia
The National Library of Australia acknowledges Australia’s First Nations
Peoples – the First Australians – as the Traditional Owners and Custodians
of this land and gives respect to the Elders – past and present – and
through them to all Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people.
Parkes Place Canberra ACT 2600 Australia
T +61 2 6262 1111
[4]A close up of a [5]nla.gov.au
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