Peter A Clarke

Horsham Council has suffered an analogish data breach with cameras found in the change rooms of the Horsham Town Hall. The cameras were found on 1 April 2026. The Council brought in the Victoria Police. The analysis of the cameras resulted in two search warrants being executed resulting in mobile phones, computuers and storage devices being seized. It appears possible, if not likely, that the cameras were in place for 4 years.

Last Thursday the Council announced that a second inspection revealed no hidden cameras were found. Doing a sweep of rooms, including change rooms, would hardly rate is news normally.  But this privacy breach has been hugely embarrassing for Horsham, particularly as the cameras were found in change rooms in the Town Hall which was used to stage community functions and performances.  

As the Guardian Reports in The terrifying rise of secret cameras, the use of secret cameras is a growing problem but one that has a disturbing long history.  Spy cameras have been used in espionage as far back as 1885 and developed into more sophisticated devices during each of the World Wars and the Cold War. Miniaturisation and reduced cost of cameras put cameras that could be used secretly into the hands of individuals (or companies). Digital technology, with the ability to use and record remotely made the use of video cameras more widespread. 

While a member of the Board of the Australian Privacy Foundation and in my professional life, complaints of secret camera use were a fairly regular occurrence. 

Victoria criminalised this behaviour where, under the Surveillance Devices Act 1999, there is a prohibition of recording “private activities” where participants reasonably expect privacy, such as in homes or bathrooms. The penalties include 240 penalty units or up to 2 years imprisonment. Until the passage of the Statutory Tort of Interference with Privacy the civil options were limited and complicated.  In this case it is unlikely that there is a claim against Horsham Council for a breach of privacy.  That said, it is very odd that Read the rest of this entry »

Latitude Finance has either been very incompetent or very obstreperous. In March 2023 Latitude suffered from a massive data breach in March 2023. In 2022 it was fined $1.55 million for breaching the Australian Spam Laws. It entered into an enforceable undertaking. That resulted in further spam breaches between March 2024 and April 2025 where more than 2.3 million messages were sent, of which 344,416 messages did not have an unsubscribe function. As a result ACMA has fined Latitude $3.96 million and a new court enforceable undertaking.

The media release provides:

Latitude Finance Australia (Latitude) has paid a $3.96 million penalty after the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) found the company breached Australia’s spam laws more than 2.7 million times.

The ACMA investigation found that between March 2024 and April 2025, Latitude sent more than 2.3 million marketing messages without accurate contact information, of which 344,416 messages also lacked a working unsubscribe function.

This is the second time the ACMA has taken enforcement action against Latitude for spam breaches. In 2022, the company paid a $1.55 million penalty for similar contraventions.  Read the rest of this entry »