The Office of the Privacy Commissioner is investigating a complaint by an Auckland homeowner who was inundated with mail advertisements after filing building consent applications to have his roof repaired, The New Zealand Herald reports. The application information is released by local councils as required by law, the report states, but the practice is now coming under review by both the privacy commissioner's and ombudsman's offices. Tony Graham of Whats On Report, a company that compiles and sells consent lists based on the application data, said homeowners' phone and e-mail contact information are not passed on, and he is working with the New Zealand Marketing Association to exclude residents on the do not mail list.
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