Peter A Clarke

There are no shortage of announcements about governments and businesses using cloud server providers. The New South Wales State Government has announced that 60 providers have been registered to be part of a private marketplace for IT services that will be housed in a data centre which also houses the NSW IT Government IT (see article here) while the Queensland Government is accelerating its use of cloud computing (see article here).  The Victorian Government has made announcements regarding its take up of cloud computing (see  here) including the use of cloud computing by the Victorian Supreme Court for case base managment.  In Victorian Supreme Court gets cloud for case management Zdnet reported on 28 August 2013

The Victorian government today announced Read the rest of this entry »

According to a recent Atlantic article Of Course Teens Think About Privacy, They Have Parents more than 50 per cent of teen app users have avoided downloading privacy concerns because of privacy concerns.  The article provides:

More than 50 percent of teen app users have avoided downloading apps because of privacy concerns, according to a new Pew Internet Project and Berkman Center poll of teenagers.

Another 26 percent Read the rest of this entry »

Today the ALRC released its first newletter on its inquiry for the Invasions of Privacy inquiry.  No firm timetable has been set down but the general timeline is research and consultation until mid September, an issues paper in late September followed by a call for submissions and the release of a Discussion Paper in late February 2014.  Then the call for more submissions.

The newsletter provides:

I am very honoured to have been asked to lead the Inquiry into how the law should redress serious invasions of privacy in the digital age.  It is an enormous challenge but we are fortunate at the ALRC that our task builds upon much work that has already been done by law reform commissions and others in Australia.  Many of the issues have been considered in previous reports, while the legal protection of privacy has been extensively debated in academic literature, in the legal profession, in the media, in the broader community and in larger inquiries about the role and future of the media.  There has been active and recent judicial development of privacy law by the courts of the United Kingdom and New Zealand which provides valuable guidance on the application of legal principles.

The inquiry is asked by its Terms of Reference to design a statutory cause of action for serious invasions of privacy but it is also asked to consider, more widely, other innovative ways in which the law could prevent or redress serious invasions of privacy.

In Australia, protection of privacy is Read the rest of this entry »

On 1 April 201 3 in Drones to be used by environmental group for surveillance on private properties I posted on the acquisition of a drone by animal liberationists to spy on farmers.  It was a story well covered by the Australian press at the time.  I had no doubt that they would use the drones for that purpose.  Hardly surprising given the use to which drones have been put overseas and the lack of controls in place against such behaviour.

The ABC Landline program in Sky Wars  and Animal Liberation activists launch spy drone to test free-range claims reports that the animal liberationists have done just what they said they would do.  The focus of the story Read the rest of this entry »

The Daily Beast in Palace Wins Kate Privacy Battle As Telegraph Pulls Kate Shopping Pics reports on the Daily Telegraph removing from its web site pictures of Kate Middleton shopping in Anglesey this week. The story does not make it clear whether this was done in the teeth of a threatened action for breach of confidence/ evolving tort of privacy or moral suasion pursuant to a supposed previous understanding.

That the photographs are taken in a public place or a private place where the public have a general licence does not preclude bringing a privacy related action in the UK.  It would not be possible Read the rest of this entry »

That the development of drone technology has been rapid is trite. The transformation in the use of drones from exclusively military applications, surveillance and as a weapons platform, to civilian use has been extraordinary.  I have posted on the developments here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here  and here. Their use has been touted in agriculture, in search and rescue, and more worryingly in border protection and policing.  Then there are the hobbyists who can easily buy a small drone which can be controlled by an iphone or ipad (see ad for Parrot A.R Drone Quadricopter at Dick Smith here ).  And of course in journalism.  Drones are ready made for journalists. Its use by everyday users and journalists presents the greatest challenge to privacy protections of members of the public.

The extent to which journalism has embraced drone technology is apparent in the Chronicle of Higher Education’s article 2 Drone-Journalism Programs Seek Federal Approval to Resume Flying.  The Lincoln College of Journalism in Nebraska and the Missouri School of Journalism have established programs to teach journalism students how to use drones in their reporting.  One would have thought Read the rest of this entry »

The Islington Council has been fined £70,000 after disclosing sensitive personal information of more than 2,000 in response to an FOI request.

The media release of the Information Commissioner’s Office (found here) provides:

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has served Islington Council with a monetary penalty of £70,000 after personal details of over 2,000 residents were released online.

The information was inadvertently released in response to a freedom of information request, and revealed sensitive personal information relating to residents’ housing needs, including details of whether they had a history of mental illness or Read the rest of this entry »

The Privacy Commissioner has released draft chapters of the guidelines as part of the consultation process.  Comments close on 20 September 2013. They can be found here.

The Guidelines (absent index)provides:

Chapter A — Introductory matters
Purpose
A.1    The Australian Information Commissioner issues these Australian Privacy Principles Guidelines (APP guidelines) under s 28(1) of the Privacy Act 1988.  These guidelines are not a legislative instrument (s 28(4)).
A.2    The APP guidelines outline how the Information Commissioner interprets and applies the APPs when exercising functions and powers under the Privacy Act relating to the APPs.
Australian Privacy Principles (APPs)
A.3    The APPs are the cornerstone of the privacy protection framework in the Privacy Act. The APPs set out standards, rights and obligations in relation to Read the rest of this entry »

I have posted on the Australian Privacy Commissioner’s findings of his review of privacy policies on the internet (found here).  It was part of a global internet sweep by privacy authorities.

The Canadian Privacy Commissioner’s office also released its findings which are as broadly similar to the Austrlian Privacy Commissioner’s findings but much more detailed.  The picture is not particularly good.  Too many policies are poorly drafted, incoherent and generally do not “get” what a privacy policy should do.

The Findings are set out below (and found here):

Privacy policies should be easy to understand and provide meaningful information, Privacy Commissioner says after the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and other global data protection authorities sweep more than 2,000 online privacy policies.

OTTAWA, August 13, 2013 — From tweet-sized privacy statements Read the rest of this entry »

The UK Information Commissioner has prosecuted a probation officer who revealed a domestic abuse victim’s new address to the alleged perpetrator.

The ICO’s media release is found here and provides:

A probation officer who revealed a domestic abuse victim’s new address to the alleged perpetrator Read the rest of this entry »