November 25, 2013
This practice note deals with cross-border insolvency co-operation with foreign courts. It is found here.
The amendment is the inserttion of paragraph 6 Read the rest of this entry »
The Federal Court has issued a new Practice Note APP 2, dealing with the Court’s requirements for Appeal Books and preparation for hearing. It is found here.
The amendments include Read the rest of this entry »
November 24, 2013
The Court of Appeal in Wolfe v Permanent Custodians [2013] VSCA 331 considered issues of duty to co operate in the context of a contractual relationship and unconscionability by a creditor in recovery proceedings against a defaulting mortgagor.
Permanent Custodians Ltd (“Permanent”) holds a first mortgage over a property in Pascoe Vale which secured a loan to Mr Wolfe and his former partner [1]. In 2008 there was default on the loan. In August 2009 Permanent obtained default judgment against Wolfe, a default judgment for the loan and for possession of the Property against his former partner and issued a warrant of possession. Eviction by the Sheriff was scheduled for the week commencing 4 December 2009 [4]. Wolfe entered into an arrangement, on terms set out in a letter from Permanent’s solicitors on 1 December 2009 (the “1 December 2009 arrangement”)[5].
Those terms were, at [6],relevantly:
November 22, 2013
As false dichotomy goes erstwhile Prime Minister Read the rest of this entry »
The Information Commissioner of the UK has issued a media release (found here) about a conviction of two private investigators who tricked organisations to obtain personal information, usually in connection with debt recovery actions.
The Press Release provides:
Two men who ran a company that tricked organisations into revealing personal details about customers have today been found guilty of conspiring to breach the Data Protection Act.
Barry Spencer, 41, and Adrian Stanton, 40, ran ICU Investigations Ltd in Feltham, Middlesex. The pair were convicted at Isleworth Crown Court of conspiring to unlawfully obtain personal data. Five employees of the company had previously pleaded guilty to the same offence: Robert Sparling (38), Joel Jones (43), Michael Sparling (41), Neil Sturton (43) and Lee Humphreys (41). The company ICU Investigations Ltd was also found guilty as a separate defendant. A sentencing hearing has now been listed for the 24 January 2014.
ICU Investigations Ltd worked on behalf of clients Read the rest of this entry »
November 21, 2013
In Expense Reduction Analysts Group Pty Ltd v Armstrong Strategic Management and Marketing Pty Limited [2013] HCA 46 the High Court, in a unanimous decision, considered a dispute that arose in the discovery process, namely whether the inadvertent disclosure of documents for which privilege should have been claimed gave rise to a waiver. The court however went much further and set its stamp on how it regarded such disputes should be handled.
The appellants were represented by Norton Rose Australia (Norton Rose). The respondents were represented by Marque Lawyers (Marque). On 22 July 2011 parties to litigation Read the rest of this entry »
In Alberta (Information and Privacy Commissioner) v. United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 401 the Canadian Supreme Court had to consider the weighing of privacy considerations against rights of freedom of expression in the operation of an Alberta Statute, the Personal Information Protection Act (“PIPA”). The issue for the Supreme Court ws whether PIPA unjustifiably limited a union’s right to freedom of expression in the context of a lawful strike.
In 2006, during a 305 day strike the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 401 (the Union) recorded and photographed individuals crossing a picket line [4]. The Union posted signs stating that images of those persons might be placed on a web site called www.casinosabs.ca.
The Alberta Information Privacy Commissioner received complaints from:
No recordings of the complainants were placed on the website.
At first instance Read the rest of this entry »
November 20, 2013
Today there will be no shortage of red faced ABC executives not to mention highly paid presenters of radio and television. The Australian has published a longish list of the highly paid staff of the ABC on its front and second pages. It is found here, behind the paywall.
It is a quirk, a deliberate one, that an employees’ salary package is not personal information protected by the Privacy Act. Employee records are Read the rest of this entry »
November 19, 2013
The Economist has a general, but not obsessive, interest in the privacy debate. Particularly regarding technology and governments’ impact upon it. Usually in tandem. In Read the rest of this entry »
Today the Privacy Commissioner released draft guidelines on APPs 12 and 13. Consultations will be open until 16 December 2013 (with a special note that no extensions will be granted after that date….. A bit of a disappointment for those wanting to type away on 24 December 2013. Bah Humbug!). The Draft Guidelines are found here.
The Commissioner included a note to the Guidelines for APP 12 and 13, being:
Note 2: In developing Chapter 12, the OAIC has made some textual changes to the discussion of ‘unlawful’ from that in draft Chapter C (Permitted general situations). Also, in developing Chapter 13, the OAIC has made some textual changes to the discussion of ‘accurate’, ‘up-to-date’, ‘complete’ and ‘relevant’ from that outlined in draft Chapter 10 (Quality of personal information). Neither of these changes reflect a consideration of the submissions received on draft Chapter C or draft Chapter 10, which will be considered in due course.
The guidelines to APP 12 provides, absent summary and footnotes:
12.1 An APP entity that holds personal information about an individual must Read the rest of this entry »