A State Services Commission (SSC) report looks at the risks to government ownership and the use of information on behalf of citizens when protection schemes controlled by computer hardware and software vendors, and other third parties are taken into account.

The SSC says it deliberately couched the report it in international terms. 'We hope other jurisdictions pick up on our ideas and participate in international debate on the questions [involved here],' says SSC spokesman Jason Ryan.

Local factors, such as New Zealand's Privacy Act, have been sidelined to a 'scope and interpretation' section at the end of each part of the report.

It seems New Zealand is an early mover when it comes to considering these issues.

'We have raised it in a variety of international forums, and a lot of overseas people said they'd not really considered it and that our work was quite groundbreaking,' says Ryan.