Responsible use
Information is treated as taonga—we use it fairly and with respect
Responsible use of information refers to the understanding that data and information should be treated as an extension of the person. As such, it is given the same respect that we give to the person.
Responsible use of information is important because…
People expect that we understand that we are stewards of the information we hold, and of information flowing through the system between clients, us and partners. They expect that we manage and use the information respectfully and in a manner that improves outcomes for the people and communities we support. This is in addition to the basic rights afforded to people under legalisation such as the Privacy Act, and are set out in various public sector expectations documents such as those on page 5. This will result in services that treat people with respect, enhancing their mana, demonstrating mana manaaki.
Better use of data and analytics can significantly improve outcomes for our clients, and is one of the cornerstones of enabling MSD's future services model. Leveraging greater value from data relies on us being able to demonstrate that we have prioritised people's rights and expectations when we use their information.
Moving from:
- MSD has government-leading information and data management frameworks for new uses, but we have large legacy services that were designed before these frameworks were applied.
- Information about clients is often treated as something owned by MSD.
- We do not always handle the information in a manner that respects that the information is about a person.
To:
- People are at the centre of the information we collect, use, share and manage and the systems, services and approaches we design.
- We treat information about people as an extension of the person and use it fairly, with respect for the people it is about, and in a way that delivers clear benefits for the person and/or for New Zealanders.
- Diversity is respected by considering bias and discrimination in the development and design of systems, services and approaches.
When this is working well:
Our staff behaviours and use of data demonstrate that information about people is not owned by the Ministry, that it is an extension of the person, that we are stewards and staff are expected to respect the information as such. Services are designed around people and are focused on benefits for those people, their whanāu and their communities. Our staff will have available good training and tools so that they know what responsible use is. Further maturity in the application of our Service Design Principles and Privacy Human Rights and Ethics Framework will enable this. From our roadmap Developing Te Ao Māori data capability (data as taonga), Capability Development, Design information policies and treatment, and Data & Information Governance will deliver capabilities that further enable this.
We understand where information has come from and what we are authorised to do with it, so that we can make respectful decisions about how to use it. We have a data model and technical products that enable us to capture where information came from and to manage what we can do with it accordingly. From our roadmap Data & Information Governance, Enterprise Data Model and Information Architecture, Metadata management and Master Data Management will deliver these capabilities.
Bias in our data sets is understood and efforts are made to compensate for this bias as appropriate when the data is used for future service design or delivery of services. Discrimination is actively considered in service design. Continuing to apply our Model Development Lifecyle and Privacy, Human Rights and Ethics Framework will enable this. From our roadmap Design information policies and treatment, Data & Information Governance, Enterprise Data Model and Information Architecture will deliver this.
