April 13, 2012
The Information Commissioner has released a resource paper regarding Internal Review for agencies considering a Freedom of Information review. It is found here.
It is a useful recap of the relevant law and what the Commissioner correctly regards as good practice.
April 12, 2012
Today Justice Beach, in Barrow v McLernon & Anor [2012] VSC 134 handed down a very interesting and useful decision regarding discovery and the operation of section 27 of the Civil Procedure Act. It is an appeal from a decision of an Associate Justice.
The Plaintiff is suing Hugh McLernon and IMF (Australia) Limited for defamation arising out of the publication on 30 May 2011 of an email and two pdf attachments [1]. The Plaintiff wishes to use documents discovered in this proceeding in support of issuing other proceedings, also a cause of action in defamation [2]. Five documents discovered constitute Read the rest of this entry »
April 10, 2012
Recent articles in the Economist,Spies, lies and the internet, and Read the rest of this entry »
April 1, 2012
The Economist has a published a fantastic article titled I spy, with my big eye on CCTV and facial recognition technology and the ever present associated privacy issues.
It provides:
WELCOME to China, the land of video surveillance. Guangdong province boasts over 1m cameras. In 2010 the city of Chongqing, governed by the now-disgraced Bo Xilai, ordered 500,000. Other provinces have hundreds of thousands, according to Human Rights in China, an NGO. Video surveillance constitutes over half the country’s huge security industry, and is expected to reach 500 billion yuan ($79 billion) in 2015. China will soon overtake Britain, with around 3m cameras, as the capital of video surveillance.
Yet China is far from alone. In many democracies surveillance cameras are multiplying, too. And face-recognition technology is proving a wonder tool for both governments and marketers.
A jail in Alabama uses it to Read the rest of this entry »