Peter A Clarke

This Friday ACMA is conducting a webcast as part of its Australian Internet Security Initiative (AISI) portal to fight against Malware.

It is trite to say that Malware is a very significant and ongoing challenge to maintaining proper data security.  Just a few days ago Symantec in a post on its website highlighted a serious problem associated with sophisticated malware programs in Regin: Top-tier espionage tool enables stealthy surveillance and accompanying white paper.  It is imprudent for an organisation which suffers a data breach because of a malware attack to claim, ipso facto, there was nothing that could be done.  Conversely a malware infection does not of itself constitute non compliance with regulatory obligations.  There is no strict liability under Read the rest of this entry »

The New South Wales Privacy Commissioner has launched an on line tool, titled Privacy Governance Framework,  to assist in the management of personal information.  It is found in PDF format here.

The announcement Read the rest of this entry »

The Privacy Commissioner has issued the Privacy Regulatory Action Policy. As far as it goes it is a useful explanation of the gamut of powers available to the Privacy Commissioner.  It tends to the Read the rest of this entry »

From time to time one comes across a piercing analysis which makes what seems shrouded in confusion suddenly clear, what is difficult appear easy and what is complicated, simple.  Unfortunately Read the rest of this entry »

The Australian in Warning on passwords after Russian site streams from private webcams reporrts on a very significant privacy breach with a Russian website accessing various home surveillance devices such as webcams, baby monitors etc.. The breach is attributable to Read the rest of this entry »

The Federal Court, per Perram J, recently considered an application by non parties to affidavit material filed with the court in Dallas Buyers Club, LLC v iiNet Limited (No 1).  It is a useful, and well written, exposition on the principles of open justice and, interestingly, the competing issues in non parties seeking access to affidavit material.   His Honour specifically foreshadowed that there will need to be consideration of the Australian Privacy Principles (the APPs) as privacy concerns have been raised by the Respondent.

FACTS

The Applicant (“Dallas”) is making application for preliminary discovery from the Respondent (“iiNet”) under Rule 7.22 of the Federal Court Rules.  Dallas obtained [4] and identified the IP addresses of persons it claims have been involved in file sharing of the film, The Dallas Buyers Club [3].  The IP address identifies Read the rest of this entry »

At this year’s annual conference of the iaapANZ, which I attended, the Privacy Commissioner gave a speech titled Privacy: the state of play.  Given the gatekeeper role the Privacy Commissioner has in taking action under the Privacy Act it is important to review his pronouncements, even in the broad.  On this occasion he announced the release of regulatory action guide.  That will give an indication of how the Privacy Commissioner intends to use his not so new found powers.  While, as he noted, the Privacy Commissioner has been quite active in issuing determinations (which compared against his predecessors work rate) those determinations were Read the rest of this entry »

The UK Information Commissioner’s office has prosecuted a pharmacist who worked for the South West Essex Primary Care Trust for accessing data, in the form of medical records, of family members, work colleagues and other health professionals.  In certain industries unauthorised access can be a chronic problem, such as Read the rest of this entry »

The UK Information Commissioner’s Office has taken some positive steps in highlighting and dealing with the potentially privacy intrusive activities of drones. The technology is becoming a valuable and necessary Read the rest of this entry »

The Guardian in Facebook updates privacy policy to clarify how it uses data from 1.3bn users  reports on the upteenth proposed change to Facebook’s change to its privacy and sharing policy. This change is for the better, simplifying Read the rest of this entry »