In collaboration with the SurfRider Foundation Surf Coast Branch, Australian Privacy Foundation (APF) Vice-Chair Dr Monique Mann, and APF Surveillance Committee member Dr Ian Warren, have prepared a report that examines a SurfCam that is owned and operated by Swellnet PTY LTD, and is fixed to a private residence on the cliffs overlooking the Bells Beach Surfing Recreational Reserve (BBSRR) on the Surf Coast of Victoria. SurfCams provide surfers with the ability to remotely view surfing conditions and decide whether, when, and where to go surfing. They have the potential to create impacts across social, environmental, economic, and human rights domains. This analysis shows where legal and regulatory reform could occur to regulate the surveillance of public land for private commercial gain. We outline recommendations and proposals for removal of the camera, regulatory reform, and future research. Read More
Optus customers, not the company, are the real victims of massive data breach
Optus executives are paid millions to ensure that, among other things, customer data is safe. These are the people who should be held accountable for the data breach. Straight after the breach, Optus made claims that it was “not currently aware of any customers having suffered harm”. This suggests that Optus doesn’t consider the widespread damage to people’s privacy harmful. This is wrong. Read More
‘Pretty creepy’: Agencies illegally obtained emails, voicemails and texts
Australia’s law enforcement agencies have persistently accessed, retained and used private email, voicemail and text messages without legal authority and failed to provide the data protections that the law requires, according to the Commonwealth ombudsman. In a sweeping annual examination of how the nation’s crime-fighting agencies and investigative and integrity bodies access and handle electronic data, the ombudsman has found repeated breaches of the law. Read More
APF releases 2022 Federal Election Scorecard
In April 2022, we asked political parties where they stood on a set of important privacy priorities for the federal election. This scorecard shows their level of support for these privacy principles.
(Updated May 19th) Read More
APF continues to engage with the ABC over mandatory iView registration
On May 11, the APF responded to the short letter we received on April 28 from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) in reply to our last communication. APF believes a transparent dialogue on these issues surrounding mandatory registration for use of ABC iView online services is of national importance, and remains both deeply concerned and frustrated with the ABC’s lack of consultation on key issues which remain unresolved, particularly regarding disclosure of account-usage-related metadata to foreign commercial data aggregators. Read More