While the year is only just getting under way for many of us, there’s been a lot happening on the privacy front. The issues keep growing and more volunteers are always needed, so don’t feel shy about getting involved if you can!

Big Brother Awards

The Big Brother Awards were announced on 21 January, thanks to the hard work done by Nigel Waters in coordinating the nominations and working with the judges. The awards for intrusive practices targeted electronic health records, GPS tracking of junk mail, reverse search phone directories, government surveillance, research practices and, of course, the national ID card.

National ID Card

The campaign against the national ID scheme continues. Keep an eye on our website for developments. If you haven’t already done so, have a look at the FAQs that we released yesterday, and our media release announcing the FAQs.

NSW Privacy Commissioner

We have approached the N.S.W. Government in relation to the urgent need for a full-time Privacy Commissioner. Since Chris Puplick resigned 4 years ago, the Office has been much-reduced, and there has been an Acting Commissioner, paid for only 1 day per week. The person appointed (on 3-month rolling contracts) had no previous experience in the area, having been previously Chief Censor.

Other policy work

In addition to the campaign against the national ID scheme, the Privacy Foundation has been busy on other fronts as well. A Policy Report for February is attached.

The big effort has been a submission to the Australian Law Reform Commission in relation to its review of the Privacy Act. This has been coordinated by Nigel Waters, with support from several other Board members.

There continues to be a need for more assistance, including from Members outside the Board, particularly on major projects such as ‘Government Agency Coercive Information Gathering Powers’ and the ‘draft RFID Code for retail’. As the attached Policy Report shows, there are 8 current enquiries that the APF is endeavouring to respond to.

Offers of assistance on research matters can be sent to Nigel Waters.

Regards … Lindy Smith, Secretary