The Australian Privacy Foundation has long argued that the requirement for registration for concession Opal users is a breach of the privacy laws. All users of the public transport system in NSW should have the right to travel anonymously and not be tracked. A case was brought against Transport for NSW by Nigel Waters (life… Read More
Close up: the government’s facial recognition plan could reveal more than just your identity
Jake Goldenfein, Swinburne University of Technology A Bill to set up the federal government’s biometric identity system is currently going through Parliament. But there are concerns over just how much information the system would be allowed to gather, and how that might be used to establish more than just the identity of a person. Strongly… Read More
MEDIA RELEASE: We need to have a serious talk about snooping
Protection from public sector snoops is okay for people in Britain but not for Australians? That’s the question being asked by the Australian Privacy Foundation – the nation’s independent privacy advocate. For more than 30 years the Foundation has been fighting for a respectful privacy regime. Just because something is politically advantageous, administratively convenient or… Read More
MEDIA RELEASE: Who is photographing your kids?
Do you want your kids to be stopped, questioned and photographed by the police? Do you know what happens to such photos? Can you be sure that such photos will be safeguarded? And if your kids can be stopped, questioned and photographed at whim like this, can the same be done to you as well… Read More
MEDIA RELEASE: ‘Open Data’: Too much sharing, too little care? Who’s reading your health information now?
There can be benefits from the ‘sharing’ (distribution) of health and other personal information among health care professionals and researchers. Any such ‘sharing’ must, however, be based on an understanding of potential risks. It must only occur within an effective legal framework, and controls appropriate for those risks. A ‘Trust me, I’m from the government!’… Read More