April 29, 2015
The most recent edition of Foreign Affairs has an interesting essay on Drone technology, appropriately titled Drone On. It is something of a Jeremiad on the the US Federal Aviation Authority with the theme being that its regulations are too restrictive for the commercial use of drones. There is Read the rest of this entry »
Class actions relating to data breaches is straightforward in the United States. In light of the very significant data breaches, usually caused by a company’s poor data handling practices, they are becoming quite common. The Privacy Act provides for an individual taking action seeking compensation, in the Federal or Federal Circuit Court under the Privacy Act provided Read the rest of this entry »
April 28, 2015
Since the amendments to the Privacy Act took effect on 12 March 2014 there has been some Read the rest of this entry »
In US the courts are quite reluctant to award general damages Read the rest of this entry »
April 23, 2015
Yesterday the Attorney General gave the opening address at the Australia Cyber Security Centre Conference. This morning there was an interview with the co ordinator of the Australian Cyber Centre, Major General Stephen Day. As speeches go it was good, touching all the right bases on all the right issues; that cyberspace ties in with most everything done in everyday lives (encompassing the internet of things amongst other matters), effective cyber security ties in with confidence in financial and other transactions, cyber attacks and attackers now have varied motives. The Attorney General is wrong in claiming that the private sector has been investing heavily in cyber security. Some industries yes, other areas not at all. Part of the reason for that is Read the rest of this entry »
April 22, 2015
Target America’s woes over the last 2 years is a standing salient lesson in maintaining adequate data security and segmentation and encryption of a customer’s financial information, in particular Read the rest of this entry »
April 21, 2015
The Hong Kong Privacy Commissioner replaced its guidance on the use of CCTV surveillance with a guide relating to both CCTV and drones. It issued Guidance on CCTV Surveillance and Use of Drones on 31 March 2015. It is found here.
The announcement relevantly Read the rest of this entry »
April 15, 2015
The recent articles Amazon gets approval for new drone tests and Up highlight the rapid movement of drones from the realm of hobbyists and specialist commercial operators to a ubiquitous form of transport. The technology is Read the rest of this entry »
Baby cams, security cameras, sound systems, fridges and any number of other devices connected to the internet are prone to poor security. Often the users password protection is Read the rest of this entry »
The Age in Figure 1: ‘Instagram for doctors’ offers medical ‘porn’ for the public reports on a fairly common practice engaged in by some members of the medical profession, the use of photographic devices to record some of their handiwork or unusual cases. It is easy enough to do with a smart phone and any number of other portable Bring Your Own Devices such as Ipads. Hospitals generally have a poor BYOD policies and poor implementation of what policies are in place. Doctors taking their own devices into an operating theatre or emergency department is, anecdotally, quite a common practice. While Figure 1 appears to protect the privacy of patients by anonymising the image the problem from a privacy perspective is more fundamental. If the doctors are taking a photo of a patient in their care or who is within their camera range if they take a photo without consent there maybe a breach of the Privacy Act (Cth) or the Health Records Act (Vic). Using the photos for a secondary purpose is almost certainly a breach of those Acts. And sending the photos for amusement or even eduction of others is hardly a primary purpose for collection.