NZ Politics

A bill designed to give consumers more control over their data will be introduced into Parliament tomorrow, the minister of commerce and consumer affairs says.

Andrew Bayly says the Consumer and Product Data Bill will allow consumers to share their data, which will in turn allow banks, insurance, power and telecommunication companies to compete with each other.

Consumers would be able to compare products in real time, manage accounts across different providers simultaneously, and switch between providers seamlessly.

He said it would include penalties of up to $5 million for misuse by companies, and up to $1m for an individual who fraudulently used it.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment said it was expected to be introduced at the end of last year when the draft was released in June.

The legislation will be applied gradually across the economy on a sector-by-sector basis, with banking the first sector to be designated.

Scams have been increasing in number and complexity with consumers here losing an estimated $200m a year.

Consumer NZ has said it would immediately prevent some scams, and had been in the United Kingdom for five years now.