The Consumer and Product Data Bill passed its first reading in Parliament yesterday, receiving unanimous cross-party support.
The Bill sets out a Consumer Data Right (CDR) framework whereby customers are provided with a statutory ability to require data holders to share information held about them with trusted third parties, as well as the right to require them to carry out certain actions on their behalf.
The Government has confirmed that the Bill will be rolled out to the banking and electricity sectors first. Our previous insights regarding the CDR are available to view here.
In introducing the Bill, the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Hon Andrew Bayly, said:
"This bill sets up a framework which will make it easier and more attractive for entrepreneurial start-ups to challenge big established players, first in the banking sector and secondly in the electricity sector. It proposes to increase competition and innovation, lower costs and increase choice for consumers."
The Minister went on to say that our slow start has allowed us to learn from other countries' mistakes in their own CDR journeys, saying that "we've observed what has happened and learnt from this and adapted our framework so the same won't happen here". See here for our insights about Australia's CDR experience.
The Minister stressed that the Government will play a limited role in the regime and indicated that significant work was going into ensuring the regime would be simple, safe and easy to use for customers.
Minister Bayly advised that the Bill has the support of the Privacy Commissioner and that he had been working with the Commerce Commission in relation to developing APIs and the rules for data transferral.
Some questions were raised by Te Pati Māori and the Green Party around Māori data sovereignty and Treaty compliance, which we expect will be explored further at the Select Committee stage. See our comments here regarding recent changes to the Bill.
Minister Bayly has now referred the Bill to the Economic Development, Science and Innovation Committee for consideration.
Submissions on the Bill will open shortly. We will continue to monitor developments and will provide further updates as the Bill progresses. In the meantime, if you would like any advice regarding how the CDR might affect you and organisations in your industry, please do not hesitate to contact us.