Katharine Kemp, UNSW and Kayleen Manwaring, UNSW On Monday, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) brought proceedings against Facebook in the Federal Court, asking the court to impose financial penalties for serious interference with the privacy of more than 300,000 Australians. To our knowledge, this is the first time the privacy regulator has… Read More
Australian police are using the Clearview AI facial recognition system with no accountability
Jake Goldenfein, Swinburne University of Technology Australian police agencies are reportedly using a private, unaccountable facial recognition service that combines machine learning and wide-ranging data-gathering practices to identify members of the public from online photographs. The service, Clearview AI, is like a reverse image search for faces. You upload an image of someone’s face and… Read More
Australia’s National Digital ID is here, but the government’s not talking about it
Dr Patrick Scolyer-Gray, Deakin University The Australian government’s Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) has spent more than A$200 million over the past five years developing a National Digital ID platform. If successful, the project could streamline commerce, resolve bureaucratic quagmires, and improve national security. The emerging results of the project may give the Australian public cause… Read More
The federal government’s response to the ACCC’s Digital Platforms Inquiry is a let down
Katharine Kemp, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, UNSW, and Co-Leader, ‘Data as a Source of Market Power’ Research Stream of The Allens Hub for Technology, Law and Innovation, UNSW and Rob Nicholls, Senior lecturer in Business Law. Director of the UNSW Business School Cybersecurity and Data Governance Research Network, UNSW Today, the federal government responded… Read More
APF Newsletter 21 November 2019
Our apologies for the gap since the last Newsletter.We’re endeavouring to get back to a cycle of 2 or 3 updates per annum.Annual General MeetingThe AGM was held on 13 November 2019.You can view the detailed Annual Report.The Chair Group remains as before, comprising:Chair: David VaileVice-Chairs: Kat Lane, Bruce Baer ArnoldSecretary-Treasurer: Mark Walkom recently retired after… Read More
Here’s how tech giants profit from invading our privacy, and how we can start taking it back
Katharine Kemp, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, UNSW, and Co-Leader, ‘Data as a Source of Market Power’ Research Stream of The Allens Hub for Technology, Law and Innovation, UNSW Australia’s consumer watchdog has recommended major changes to our consumer protection and privacy laws. If these reforms are adopted, consumers will have much more say about… Read More
Report on the International Implications of the Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Act 2018
The Australian Privacy Foundation (“APF”), have prepared a report in response to the Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment Act (Assistance and Access) Act 2018 (Cth) (‘AA Act’), which amends the Telecommunications Act 1997 (‘TA’). In this report, we provide an analysis of the international ramifications of the AA Act, evaluating the legal obligations that could… Read More
The opt-out period should be extended and My Health Record properly evaluated
The Australian Privacy Foundation fully supports recent calls by the Opposition Parties, Dr Kerryn Phelps, lawyers, clinicians, educators and others to extend the period when people can opt-out of being registered for a government owned and controlled My Health Record. There is obvious broad disquiet and substantive community concern: over a million people have opted… Read More
Submission in response to the Human Rights and Technology Issues Paper
The Australian Privacy Foundation (“APF”), along with the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties (“QCCL”) and Electronic Frontiers Australia (“EFA”) have made a submission in response to the Human Rights and Technology Issues Paper released in July 2018. The rapid development of technology in the Australia human rights context requires careful consideration as technology can be… Read More
The devil is in the detail of government bill to enable access to communications data
Monique Mann, Queensland University of Technology The Australian government has released a draft of its long awaited bill to provide law enforcement and security agencies with new powers to respond to the challenges posed by encryption. According to the Department of Home Affairs, encryption already impacts 90% of Australian Security Intelligence Organisation’s (ASIO) priority cases,… Read More