Today the Privacy Commissioner released the APP guidelines.  It is found here.

The accompanying press release provides:

‘March 12 will see the biggest change in privacy law in 25 years, and the APP guidelines are an essential tool for the implementation of this change,’ said Australian Information Commissioner, Professor John McMillan.

The APPs are a single set of principles that Read the rest of this entry »

Failure to scrub data from old computers or from devices at the end of a lease can easily result in a data breach as sensitive information becomes accessible to unauthorised people.  The ICO in the UK has issued guidelines on what should be done (I have posted on this subject here).  With the growth of BYOD and the internet of things this problem will only grow.  It is critical for organisations to have the right protocols and training in place to deal with this potential data time bomb.  In Read the rest of this entry »

The story of a data breach by the Department of Immigration by the Guardian has resulted in the Privacy Commissioner launching an investigation.  The Commissioner issued a statement providing:

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) is aware of this data breach. I have spoken to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection and have been assured that the information is no longer publically available. This is a serious incident and Read the rest of this entry »

In a classic case of function creep the Washington post reports, in Homeland Security wants national database using license-plate scanners, that the US Department of Homeland Security wants a national database based on data collected from licence plate readers.

The article provides:

The Department of Homeland Security wants a nationwide database Read the rest of this entry »

In Security 101: Top tech tips to stay safe the Age sets out in broad overview some security tips taken from the Tech Leader’s Forum.  As a starting point it is not a bad article. But it is only a start.  Organisations need to Read the rest of this entry »

The Guardian in Asylum seekers’ identities revealed in Immigration Department data lapse reports on the release of 10,000 adults and children by the Immigration and Border Protection and describes it as one of the most serious privacy breaches in Australia’s History.  That represents details of about a third of all asylum seekers.  By any measure it is an extraordinary lapse. It will be interesting to see how the Privacy Commissioner.  Read the rest of this entry »

In  NY court upholds conviction for video of neighbor the New York Times reports on a decision on that State’s Court of Appeals consideration of the operation of unlawful video surveillance law.

It provides:

The transition of drone technology from military to civilian usage occurred some time ago (in technology time measurement).  Its use is becoming more and more ubiquitous in its commercial use.  In Journalism gets into the act as drones capture floods, protests and wars the Guardian looks at the use of drones in journalism reportage.

The article, absent video footage, provides:

There have been a steady but not overwhelming number of stories in the broadsheet press (including the Australian Financial Review) regarding the impending changes to the Privacy Act.  In the Australian’s New principles offer a point of difference the impact of the changes are again highlighted.  The impact of this fairly muted publicity has been such that within the business community there is only a reported 50% compliance rate at this stage.  That is a concern.  The other concern Read the rest of this entry »

Anyone who has been part of a big organisation when it moves to new premises knows how complex and difficult it can be.  Not only does each worker’s files have to be secured and furniture and computer equipment marked but the organisations myriad other stores of documents, records not to mention the more prosaic items from the tea room and the bosses drinks cabinet have to be marked, packed, moved and unpacked in vaguely the right place in the new premises.  Things can go awry when the planning is defective and the execution is sloppy.  As the Compensation Agency Northern Ireland (“CANI”), an administrative unit of the Department of Justice, discovered when it lost control of a mass of sensitive files left in a filing cabinet which it had sold at auction.  Net effect was a £185,000 monetary penalty notice issued by the Information Commissioner’s Office on 14 January 2014 (found here).

FACTS

CANI moved offices from Royston House in February 2012.  It decided to sell  any marketable furniture surplus to requirements at auction [4]. A locked four drawer filing cabinet was then taken out of storage in Royston House, without  its contents being checked,  sent to a shared storage room used by CANI to temporarily store all kinds of office furniture prior to its disposal. It was provided to a local auctioneer for a valuation, again without checking its contents. Apparently the key to the filing cabinet had been mislaid [5]. On 12 March 2012 it was  transported to the local auction and sold to a buyer.  The buyer then forced the lock and discovered that it contained official looking papers dating from the mid 1970’s to 2005.  The Police were called who took possession of the papers and returned them to CANI [6].

The official papers contained

• a limited amount of confidential, ministerial advice; and

• highly sensitive personal data Read the rest of this entry »