Peter A Clarke

Transparency is an important part of government administration.  That includes providing details of the costs of administration. To that end publishing the cost of the use of telecommunications devices by MPs is hardly controversial.  Unless of course it involves a significant breach of privacy, including a breach of the Privacy Act 1988.  The Department of Parliamentary Services did not Read the rest of this entry »

The ongoing scandal involving the display of intimate (generally nude) photographs of female Marines by their fellow, male, marines on a secret Facebook page highlights the dangers of social media for breaching the privacy of others but also in demeaning and degrading women.

A Facebook Group, Marines United, would post photos of female marines, taken by the women themselves or their partners, without their consent.  So far 1,200 screen names have been identified, of whom 725 are active marines while 150 are in the Marine reserve.  The photographs were Read the rest of this entry »

Health records are amongst the most sensitive of information.  Information about a person’s fertility treatment are an even more sensitive category of information again.  It is not surprising that when there is a failure to keep data secure the regulator would take a strong line.  At least in the United Kingdom. In Australia, the regulator has not taken a strong line yet on anything of substance.

The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (the “ICO”) fined HCA International Ltd (“HCA”) £200,000 for failing to keep records secure. The problem stemmed from Read the rest of this entry »

Dating apps are notorious for both collecting a huge amount of highly sensitive personal information and being the subject of data breaches.  Ashley Madison data breach being just the most dramatic instance.

The Privacy Commissioner has issued a dos and don’ts on 4 dating apps, Tinder, Grindr, Happn and Bumble.  As far as it goes it is Read the rest of this entry »

The Privacy Commissioner has issued a statement regarding the passage of the Mandatory Data breach notification Bill.  The Privacy Commissioner has Read the rest of this entry »

Australia now has a form of mandatory data breach notification law.

The Privacy Amendment (Notifiable Data Breaches) Bill 2016 passed in the Senate today. The Greens, per Senator Ludlum attempted to amend the bill slightly.  Without success.

Unless the Government fixes a date for commencement by Proclamation it will commence operation in 12 months from the date the Bill receives Royal Assent.

The Privacy (Notifiable Data Breaches) Bill 2016 was introduced into the Senate last Wednesday, 8 February 2017.  It was read a first time and will be placed on the Notice Paper for second reading debate at a time of the Government’s choosing.  Given Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday the second reading speeches of the Privacy Amendment (Notifable Data Breaches) Bill 2016 concluded and the Bill was read a third time.  It is now heading to the Senate. Given the Opposition and the Xenaphon team are supporting Read the rest of this entry »

Telstra had a good start to the year with a thumping victory over the Privacy Commissioner in the Federal Court in Privacy Commissioner v Telstra Corporation in January.  It was a big win for Telstra and a big loss for the Privacy Commissioner.  It is a disaster for the Privacy Act.  In the digital space it has gutted the Act. Given Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes a data breach is just the beginning of a company’s problems.  As reported in ESEA hacked, 1.5 million records leaked after alleged failed extortion attempt the theft of personal information can be used to make extortion demands.  As E Sports Entertainment Association discovered correctly Read the rest of this entry »