Under the new guidelines of the Privacy Commission, firms should not ask job applicants for information such as family background, political affili ation, medical history or reli gion unless it was relevant to the selection process.

Employers who would like to know whether a candidate's spouse works for a rival com pany should only ask whether any of his close relatives work in the same field, instead of ask ing where his family members work. Staff have the right to see their assessment reports and records of disciplinary investi gations .

Employees should be al lowed to correct and update in accurate data upon request. Companies should note staff re quests to correct data if they were unhappy with comments in their records. All records should only be seen by autho rised staff.