Peter A Clarke

Recently the World Today the report UK youth commissioner under fire over foul tweets highlights the permanence of the cybersphere and what one in the full bloom of fiery youth may regret as the rules of polite society beckon.  Woad warriors could transform themselves into paragons of virtue pre internet.  Memories fade and plausible deniability is an active option. Now the the Net sets all matters in in cyber concrete.  This has had an impact lately on Paris Brown.

The story provides:

ELEANOR HALL: Teenagers are often warned about what they say on social media sites: that they could come back to haunt them in later life.

A young woman in the UK didn’t have to wait long.

17-year-old Paris Brown’s position as the country’s first Youth Police and Crime Commissioner has been put in doubt Read the rest of this entry »

In Media law changes move closer the Australian reports that a package of reforms relating to a changes to Australia’s media laws could go to federal cabinet as early as Monday.  One of the proposed reforms mooted for discussion is a tort of privacy.  Read the rest of this entry »

The ABC, per Mark Corcoran, undertakes the latest detailed analysis of Drones,  This time, in Drones set for large-scale commercial take-off the issue is that the Civil Aviation Authority is about to provide rules to permit the use of drones.

It provides:

Hundreds of small commercially operated drones could soon take to Australian skies under a radical new set of rules proposed by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) in Melbourne this week.

Under a new weight class system, prospective drone entrepreneurs with craft weighing 2 kilograms or less could take off after completing nothing more than an online application form.

CASA officials say Read the rest of this entry »

Private litigation under the Privacy Act is quite uncommon.  Part of that is no doubt due to the limited scope for a person to bring such an action under the Act.  It is essentially limited to section 98.   The other reason may be a lack of knowledge of the operation of the Act.  Many think of the Privacy Act as being essentially a means to regulate the retention and use of personal information.  And to a large extent tht is its function.  But not exclusively.

In a very interesting speech titled Privacy Litigation: Substantive lessons and tactical trends – Smallbone v New South Wales Bar Association, delivered to the 2nd National Information Law Conference in Canberra on 15 November 2012 Justice Griffiths considered the use of the Privacy Act by a barrister, Smallbone, to obtain procedural fairness in his application for silk..

The speech highlights the impact of the Privacy Act on the activities of private organsiations and how how it can be used as a vehicle of proecdural rights, in particlar the requirement to afford an individual procedural fairness, that would not otherwise be available to a member of such an organisation as well as a right to access and correct personal information.  In an era of big data and its collection by private organisations this is an important right.

The speech warrants detailed consideration by those interested in privayc issues generally but those who practice in the area of privacy law.  It provides (less numbering and citations):

Introduction

Hollywood has its Oscars; the AFL has its Brownlow Medal night; the NRL has its Dally M awards; and the NSW Bar has a day in October when Read the rest of this entry »

Today the World Today, on ABC radio, had a long and quite in depth discussion involving David Vaile, Timothy Pilgrim and Ashley Hall on privacy issues.  It covered well trod ground but it is nevertheless a worthwhile analysis. It is found here.

It provides:

ASHLEY HALL: In the past few weeks, the notion of privacy has been at the forefront of several stories making news.

The publication of obscene text messages exchanged between the former speaker Peter Slipper and his staffer, James Ashby has many people wondering what would be the consequences, if their own messages were made public.

As well, privacy concerns have been raised Read the rest of this entry »