The New Zealand Privacy Commissioner says that while we are not in a post-privacy world, our understanding of it is changing.

"I keep a folder with headlines and clippings that announce the death of privacy, it has been going on since the 1950s," Commissioner John Edwards told Newshub Nation on Saturday.

"Recently I saw an article entitled" Getting by in a post-privacy world. "We are not in that world, the concepts of privacy change, and what we increasingly see is that consumers and citizens demand more transparency."

Mr. Edwards says it is important that New Zealanders know how seemingly & # 39; free & # 39; services such as Facebook earn their money.

"It has become a bit of a cliché in our world that when you get something online that is free, that appeals to you, you actually contribute your data. Your personal information, in this economy, is currency."

The Commissioner says that our current privacy legislation, the Privacy Act, needs to be updated because it is too reactionary

"In New Zealand we have a certain cultural-legal approach to enforcing this law. We say that the law sets out the principles that companies must comply with, but they are not enforceable until someone actually suffers damage."

Mr Edwards says that we also need legislation that forces companies to inform you about privacy breaches.

"In this respect, we have lagged far behind most countries where we compare ourselves in the world.

"There is no obligation for a company that you have entrusted to your personal information to whom it loses or compromises to inform you about it."

Justice Minister Andrew Little introduced & # 39; The Privacy Bill & # 39; in April, which proposes to withdraw and replace the Privacy Act.

The bill contains mandatory reporting of privacy violations, in addition to many other changes. A closer look at the draft legislation can be found here.

The Privacy Bill is currently in the selection phase of the committee.

Newshub Nation.

Watch Newshub Nation 9:30 am Saturday / 10 am on Sunday on TV3 and follow us on Facebook and twitter.