There have been a few incidents where public officials have claimed privacy laws prevented them from disclosing information in emergency situations. The reality is privacy laws have exceptions that allow disclosure of personal information in emergency situations or where there is a compelling public interest.

David Fraser has a post worth reading that explains this in more detail.

David summarizes it by saying (and rightly so): Here is the moral of this story: Whenever common sense or humanity seem to bump up against privacy laws, take a close look at the law and its exceptions. You will probably find that the drafters have designed the laws to accommodate common sense and humanity.

Read David’s post