Privacy v protection, a simplistic take from a surprising source.
November 22, 2013
As false dichotomy goes erstwhile Prime Minister Read the rest of this entry »
Private investigators convicted of unlawfully obtaining personal information
The Information Commissioner of the UK has issued a media release (found here) about a conviction of two private investigators who tricked organisations to obtain personal information, usually in connection with debt recovery actions.
The Press Release provides:
Two men who ran a company that tricked organisations into revealing personal details about customers have today been found guilty of conspiring to breach the Data Protection Act.
Barry Spencer, 41, and Adrian Stanton, 40, ran ICU Investigations Ltd in Feltham, Middlesex. The pair were convicted at Isleworth Crown Court of conspiring to unlawfully obtain personal data. Five employees of the company had previously pleaded guilty to the same offence: Robert Sparling (38), Joel Jones (43), Michael Sparling (41), Neil Sturton (43) and Lee Humphreys (41). The company ICU Investigations Ltd was also found guilty as a separate defendant. A sentencing hearing has now been listed for the 24 January 2014.
ICU Investigations Ltd worked on behalf of clients Read the rest of this entry »
Expense Reduction Analysts Group Pty Ltd v Armstrong Strategic Management and Marketing Pty Limited [2013] HCA 46 (6 November 2013): Practice and procedure, Discovery, documents subject to client legal privilege mistakenly listed as non-privileged in appellants’ Lists of Documents, privileged documents inadvertently disclosed to respondents’ solicitors
November 21, 2013
In Expense Reduction Analysts Group Pty Ltd v Armstrong Strategic Management and Marketing Pty Limited [2013] HCA 46 the High Court, in a unanimous decision, considered a dispute that arose in the discovery process, namely whether the inadvertent disclosure of documents for which privilege should have been claimed gave rise to a waiver. The court however went much further and set its stamp on how it regarded such disputes should be handled.
FACTS
The appellants were represented by Norton Rose Australia (Norton Rose). The respondents were represented by Marque Lawyers (Marque). On 22 July 2011 parties to litigation Read the rest of this entry »
Alberta (Information and Privacy Commissioner) v. United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 401, 2013 SCC 62: Privacy and freedom of expression
In Alberta (Information and Privacy Commissioner) v. United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 401 the Canadian Supreme Court had to consider the weighing of privacy considerations against rights of freedom of expression in the operation of an Alberta Statute, the Personal Information Protection Act (“PIPA”). The issue for the Supreme Court ws whether PIPA unjustifiably limited a union’s right to freedom of expression in the context of a lawful strike.
FACTS
In 2006, during a 305 day strike the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 401 (the Union) recorded and photographed individuals crossing a picket line [4]. The Union posted signs stating that images of those persons might be placed on a web site called www.casinosabs.ca.
The Alberta Information Privacy Commissioner received complaints from:
- the Vice-President of the Casino who complained that he was photographed or video-taped. Two pictures of him were used on a poster displayed at the picketline with the text: “This is [x’s] Police Mugshot.”
- a member of the public who testified that cameras were trained on the entrance to the Casino where he would regularly meet friends.
- a complainant testified that she had been photographed and video-taped while working near the Casino entrance [5].
No recordings of the complainants were placed on the website.
At first instance Read the rest of this entry »
That there is no breach of the Privacy Act in the leakage of ABC payroll data highlights the intricacies and inconsistencies of the Act
November 20, 2013
Today there will be no shortage of red faced ABC executives not to mention highly paid presenters of radio and television. The Australian has published a longish list of the highly paid staff of the ABC on its front and second pages. It is found here, behind the paywall.
It is a quirk, a deliberate one, that an employees’ salary package is not personal information protected by the Privacy Act. Employee records are Read the rest of this entry »
Surveillance article and need for greater privacy protection
November 19, 2013
The Economist has a general, but not obsessive, interest in the privacy debate. Particularly regarding technology and governments’ impact upon it. Usually in tandem. In Read the rest of this entry »
Privacy Commissioner releases draft guidelines on APP 12 and 13
Today the Privacy Commissioner released draft guidelines on APPs 12 and 13. Consultations will be open until 16 December 2013 (with a special note that no extensions will be granted after that date….. A bit of a disappointment for those wanting to type away on 24 December 2013. Bah Humbug!). The Draft Guidelines are found here.
The Commissioner included a note to the Guidelines for APP 12 and 13, being:
Note 2: In developing Chapter 12, the OAIC has made some textual changes to the discussion of ‘unlawful’ from that in draft Chapter C (Permitted general situations). Also, in developing Chapter 13, the OAIC has made some textual changes to the discussion of ‘accurate’, ‘up-to-date’, ‘complete’ and ‘relevant’ from that outlined in draft Chapter 10 (Quality of personal information). Neither of these changes reflect a consideration of the submissions received on draft Chapter C or draft Chapter 10, which will be considered in due course.
The guidelines to APP 12 provides, absent summary and footnotes:
What does APP 12 say?
12.1 An APP entity that holds personal information about an individual must Read the rest of this entry »
The Australian’s continued take on a statutory right of privacy.
November 15, 2013
The best job in journalism has to be editor of the Legal Affairs. It is made for lining up behind an issue and just letting loose with Read the rest of this entry »
The Atlantic on the effort to characterise privacy as anti american
November 13, 2013
The Atlantic is one of the best curent affairs in America. It has published some very thoughtful pieces on privacy over the years. In The Effort to Stigmatize Privacy as Anti-American the issue covered is the ridiculous knee jerk reaction to Read the rest of this entry »
ACMA report highlights Australians’ lack of confidence in on line privacy
Zdnet reports, in Aussies’ lack of confidence in online privacy leads them to lie, on a ACMA commissioned report which found that almost half Australian’s provide inaccurate details on line to protect their data from misuse.
It provides:
Almost half of all Australians admit to providing fake details online to protect their actual details from misuse, according to a study conducted on behalf of the Australian Communications and Media Authority.
The research report, Digital footprints and identities, was conducted by Taverner Research and in addition to research conducted across nine online forums at the end of last year, surveyed 2509 Australians in March this year.
It found that respondents were generally aware that their personal information could be gathered, but were not aware, specifically, of how it could be used in malicious ways. As expected, the younger the participant, the more likely they were to generally trust privacy controls put in place by websites, but conversely, they were also more likely to provide false information.
“Users, especially younger users, appeared willing to replace anonymity with what might be termed ‘pseudonymity’. They would do Read the rest of this entry »