The Green Party supports equity in and access to digital tools and information, and recognises the potential that digital products and services have for innovation and connectivity. There are also security risks that need to be addressed to ensure that people and processes are safe from interference, personal data is kept private, and copyright law and consumer rights protections are fit for purpose in a digital world.
Vision
Digital technologies contribute to our personal, educational and professional development.
Values and Principles
- Honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi: Use of digital technologies should protect taonga tuku iho, and uphold the mana and tino rangatiratanga of Māori, which includes protecting data and language sovereignty, tikanga Māori, mātauranga Māori, and collective ownership.
- Ecological Wisdom: The appropriate and innovative use of digital technologies should be used to significantly reduce use and waste of ecosystem resources, so nature has the capacity to replenish and absorb them.
- Social Responsibility: Digital technologies should be accessible to all, to support economic, social and political inclusion, rather than maintain privilege or worsen inequality.
- Appropriate Decision-Making: Digital technologies should enable equitable information-sharing, and promote accountability and well-informed public decision-making, including enhanced democratic processes.
- Non-Violence: Digital technologies should be ethically developed and applied, recognise the individual right to privacy, and treat personal data responsibly.
- Solution-focus: Digital technologies should facilitate local and indigenous solutions to local problems and sustainably increase productivity, innovation and efficiencies in our industries and businesses.
Strategic Priorities
The Green Party’s strategic goals include:
“As a Party we strive to create a more connected, compassionate and equal Aotearoa, free from structural biases that discriminate against groups and individuals.
“All people will be empowered to shape the systems that affect them through community engagement enabled by good evidence, co-design, and adequate resourcing.”
Actions in this policy that work towards these goals include:
- Implement clear actions to monitor and address digital division, to ensure the benefits of digital services are experienced by all and access issues do not generate new economic, social or political inequalities. (1.1)
- Support legislation and government policies that ensure internet rights such as net neutrality, data access, and disconnection rights. (1.8)
- Ensure that all government databases that are eligible to be released into the public domain under the Official Information Act are made freely available in a format that enables the reuse, adaptation and analysis of the information. (1.11)
- Encourage initiatives that promote affordability, accessibility and network resilience in the provision of internet services. (2.1)
- Enable public scrutiny of any digital system that is responsible for the safety of human life (e.g. transportation), or is responsible for crucial democratic processes (e.g. electronic voting). (2.8)
- Promote collaboration and provide opportunities for enhanced communication between the government, the digital sector and users on digital security issues. (2.10)
Connected Policies
Digital technology makes the storage and correlation of personal data much more prevalent than it has been in the past. This information should be collected, stored, and treated ethically, and access to this information by New Zealanders is paramount (see our Privacy and Security Services Policy). This policy is also connected to our Research, Science and Technology Policy.
