Primary Health Networks (PHNs) have been collecting 400 data points of up to 25 million Australian patient health records since August 2019. The records are apparently deidentified, but as science has long demonstrated, can be later identified so that criminal agents may collect 400 pieces of information about you from this information. Your General Practice asks for your consent to do this by bundling the authority into imprecise packages of tick-box styled general statements. By consenting to be treated by your usual doctor, patients also consent to link information from their confidential medical consult to information stored by health authorities. Read More
ACCC ‘world first’: Australia’s Federal Court found Google misled users about personal location data
The Federal Court has found Google misled some users about personal location data collected through Android devices for two years, from January 2017 to December 2018. Other companies too should be warned that representations in their privacy policies and privacy settings could lead to similar liability under the ACL. But this won’t be a complete solution to the problem of many companies concealing what they do with data, including the way they share consumers’ personal information. Read More
Privacy erosion by design: why the Federal Court should throw the book at Google over location data tracking
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has had a significant win against Google. The Federal Court found Google misled some Android users about how to disable personal location tracking. Will this decision actually change the behaviour of the big tech companies? The answer will depend on the size of the penalty awarded in response to the misconduct. Read More
How safe are your data when you book a COVID vaccine?
The Australian government has appointed the commercial company HealthEngine to establish a national booking system for COVID-19 vaccinations. However, HealthEngine has a track record of mishandling confidential patient information. Read More
MEDIA RELEASE: The government stores all your medical records
A Department of Health funded project is copying medical records from GP databases into a central repository. This is being done under the pretext of improving healthcare. But the data is easily identified by medication and prescribing dates. Read More
What is ‘upskirting’ and what are your rights to privacy under the law?
Queensland federal MP Andrew Laming has been accused of taking an inappropriate photograph of a young woman, Crystal White, in 2019 in which her underwear was showing. So, what do the laws say about this kind of behaviour, and what rights to privacy do people have when it comes to indecent photographs taken by others? Read More