National Party apologises for error that added thousands to database

  • 19/03/2018
National Party apologises for error that added thousands to database
Photo credit: File

The National Party has apologised to members of the public after signing them up to its mass database without their permission.

People who signed two of the National Party's petitions were mistakenly added to the main email list.  Thousands of people signed the petitions - one about flights to Kāpiti
Airport and the other about the Lumsden Maternity Centre - and began receiving emails, which included being asked to donate to the party.

This led to complaints being made by people who had not given their permission to be added to the database.

A National Party spokesperson said in a statement: "As a party, we encourage every New Zealander to get behind local issues that matter to them, and petitions are a great way of highlighting those issues.

"However, in the last week or so, a small error in two of our petitions was notified to us whereby signers were added to our main email distribution list.

We have since gone back to each individual concerned, apologised for the error, and removed them from the main email list."

The spokesperson said the mistake was due to human error, and changes had been made so it won't happen again.

"This is, and will always be, about championing local issues that matter to New Zealanders."

Newshub.