Annual report of the Victorian Privacy Commissioner 2012/13 tabled in Victorian Parliament
September 20, 2013 |
The 2-12/13 annual report of the Victorian Privacy Commissioner was been tabled in Parliament on 19 September 2013 . It is found here. It provides for interesting reading, if that takes and holds your attention (as it does for me).
Some of the interesting statistics are that during 2012-13:
? the total number of complaints handled remains consistent with previous years;
? by a significant margin, Victorian government departments have been the subject of the highest number of privacy breach investigations over the past five reporting periods;
? the amount of complaints referred to VCAT for determination remains consistent with previous years;
? 76% of complaints referred to conciliation were successfully resolved;
? Privacy Victoria’s complaints process has a satisfaction rate of 86%, and its conciliation process has a satisfaction rate of 72%
? the total number of enquiries remained broadly consistent with previous years;
? the Information Privacy Act continued to generate the largest number of enquiries;
? concerns about CCTV and workplace surveillance continued to rise; and
? enquiries about compliance with IPP 4 (Data Security) was the second most frequently raised issue under the Information Privacy Act
Regarding complaints and complaint trends the Privacy Commissioner stated:
In the 2012-13 reporting period, 69 new complaints were received. The total number of complaints handled was 97 (this figure comes from adding the 69 new complaints to the 28 complaints carried over from 2011-12). This total number of complaints handled is consistent with previous reporting periods since 2010-11. The number of new complaints was slightly down from 2011-12 (75), though not to the same level as in 2009-10, when only 53 new complaints were received. With the exception of two reporting periods (2005-06 and 2009-10) new complaints have risen gradually over the past ten reporting periods, levelling out in 2012-13…
As at 30 June 2013, 75 complaints had been closed with 22 complaints ongoing. Of the ongoing complaints, ten were being investigated, six were in the process of conciliation, with the remaining six representing declined complaints awaiting possible referral to VCAT.
Complaint Trends
Some areas of information handling by the Victorian Public Sector raise greater concerns than others. The ten IPPs under the Information Privacy Act regulate these areas, setting out the way personal information must be collected, used, disclosed, secured, transmitted and disposed of. ..Forty nine complainants alleged a use and disclosure breach in 2012-13, resulting in 71% of new complaints being investigated under IPP 2.1. Use and disclosure allegations have consistently motivated most complaints over the past five years. This is closely followed by allegations of data security breaches (under IPP 4.1). Forty two such allegations (61% of new complaints) were under investigation in 2012-13.
