The Daily Beast in Palace Wins Kate Privacy Battle As Telegraph Pulls Kate Shopping Pics reports on the Daily Telegraph removing from its web site pictures of Kate Middleton shopping in Anglesey this week. The story does not make it clear whether this was done in the teeth of a threatened action for breach of confidence/ evolving tort of privacy or moral suasion pursuant to a supposed previous understanding.

That the photographs are taken in a public place or a private place where the public have a general licence does not preclude bringing a privacy related action in the UK.  It would not be possible Read the rest of this entry »

Associate Justice Gardiner undertook a detailed examination of a liquidator’s powers under part 5.9 of the Corporations Act, in particular section 596D(2), in Banksia Securities Limited (Receivers and Managers Appointed) [2013] VSC 416 .

FACTS

On 25 June Gardiner AsJ ordered a summons for the examination of Michael Hall (“Hall”) under section 596B of the Corporations Act (The “Act”) by the plaintiff, the joint and several receivers of Banksia Securities Limited (“Banksia”) [1].  Hall applied for orders to set aside the summons in so far as it related to the production of documents [11].

Hall is a member of the the firm MB+M.  The plaintiffs are investigating an unqualified audit report for the 2008 financial year which he signed, on behalf of MB+M and whether the provisioning for some of the loans was materially inadequate.  At the time of the application no proceedings had been issued against MB+M or Hall [10].

Hall’s submissions

Hall objected on the following bases:

1. while he accepted that an examinable affair of a company includes the property and that the existence of insurance in respect of a chose in action against a third party is capable of being an examinable affair however stated that the Court can not be Read the rest of this entry »

The consequences of an examinee not claiming privilege against self incrimination during a public examination by a liquidator are dealt with in Ferguson J’s decision in Le Roi Homestyle Cookies Pty Ltd (in liquidation) v Gemmell [2013] VSC 452.

FACTS

The Liquidators of Le Roi Homestyle Pty Ltd allege that the Defendants have contravened the insolvent trading provisions of the Corporations Act 2001 (“The Act”).  Before issuing proceedings the Liquidators conducted public examinations of each of the Defendants pursuant to section 597. In large part, the insolvent trading claim against the Defendants is based on information elicited in the course of the public examinations.

Neither defendant claimed either privilege during his examination.The Associate Judge before whom the public examination read out the provisions of section 597(1) of the Act and explained its meaning and operation [20] – [21].

The Defendants applied Read the rest of this entry »

That the development of drone technology has been rapid is trite. The transformation in the use of drones from exclusively military applications, surveillance and as a weapons platform, to civilian use has been extraordinary.  I have posted on the developments here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here  and here. Their use has been touted in agriculture, in search and rescue, and more worryingly in border protection and policing.  Then there are the hobbyists who can easily buy a small drone which can be controlled by an iphone or ipad (see ad for Parrot A.R Drone Quadricopter at Dick Smith here ).  And of course in journalism.  Drones are ready made for journalists. Its use by everyday users and journalists presents the greatest challenge to privacy protections of members of the public.

The extent to which journalism has embraced drone technology is apparent in the Chronicle of Higher Education’s article 2 Drone-Journalism Programs Seek Federal Approval to Resume Flying.  The Lincoln College of Journalism in Nebraska and the Missouri School of Journalism have established programs to teach journalism students how to use drones in their reporting.  One would have thought Read the rest of this entry »

The Islington Council has been fined £70,000 after disclosing sensitive personal information of more than 2,000 in response to an FOI request.

The media release of the Information Commissioner’s Office (found here) provides:

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has served Islington Council with a monetary penalty of £70,000 after personal details of over 2,000 residents were released online.

The information was inadvertently released in response to a freedom of information request, and revealed sensitive personal information relating to residents’ housing needs, including details of whether they had a history of mental illness or Read the rest of this entry »

The Privacy Commissioner has released draft chapters of the guidelines as part of the consultation process.  Comments close on 20 September 2013. They can be found here.

The Guidelines (absent index)provides:

Chapter A — Introductory matters
Purpose
A.1    The Australian Information Commissioner issues these Australian Privacy Principles Guidelines (APP guidelines) under s 28(1) of the Privacy Act 1988.  These guidelines are not a legislative instrument (s 28(4)).
A.2    The APP guidelines outline how the Information Commissioner interprets and applies the APPs when exercising functions and powers under the Privacy Act relating to the APPs.
Australian Privacy Principles (APPs)
A.3    The APPs are the cornerstone of the privacy protection framework in the Privacy Act. The APPs set out standards, rights and obligations in relation to Read the rest of this entry »

I have posted on the Australian Privacy Commissioner’s findings of his review of privacy policies on the internet (found here).  It was part of a global internet sweep by privacy authorities.

The Canadian Privacy Commissioner’s office also released its findings which are as broadly similar to the Austrlian Privacy Commissioner’s findings but much more detailed.  The picture is not particularly good.  Too many policies are poorly drafted, incoherent and generally do not “get” what a privacy policy should do.

The Findings are set out below (and found here):

Privacy policies should be easy to understand and provide meaningful information, Privacy Commissioner says after the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and other global data protection authorities sweep more than 2,000 online privacy policies.

OTTAWA, August 13, 2013 — From tweet-sized privacy statements Read the rest of this entry »

The UK Information Commissioner has prosecuted a probation officer who revealed a domestic abuse victim’s new address to the alleged perpetrator.

The ICO’s media release is found here and provides:

A probation officer who revealed a domestic abuse victim’s new address to the alleged perpetrator Read the rest of this entry »

The Privacy Commissioner has issued a media release, Privacy Commissioner: Website privacy policies are too long and complex, announcing the release of what he calls as “privacy sweep” of websites used by most Australians.  He found nearly 50% of website policies were difficult to read.  In my professional experience it is usually more than that and sometimes difficult merges into completely incoherent.

The summary of the sweep is:

the OAIC examined Read the rest of this entry »

Internet filtering was a hottish topic in Australia pre election campaign, particularly with the Communications minister.  He was hardly the first enthusiast for some way of taming the internet of its more pernicious users. The BBC highlights in British Library’s wi-fi service blocks ‘violent’ Hamlet why it is such a flawed concept. The British Library’s wi fi network  filtered Hamlet because of its violent content.  One can only imagine what would have become of Macbeth Read the rest of this entry »