Tonight the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Bill 2012 passed the Senate with amendments.

Those amendments are:

The 40 Government amendments:

(1)     Clause 2, Read the rest of this entry »

In Facebook criticised over decision to stop public privacy votes the BBC reports on the likely change by Facebook to its policy of allowing users to vote on changes to its data privacy policy.

The basis of the story Read the rest of this entry »

In a recently released code of practice the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office states that data anonymisation does not have to provide a 100% guarantee to individuals’ privacy in order for it to be lawful for organisations to disclose the information. The ICO has released a code of conduct regarding anonymisation.

Organisations that anonymise personal data can disclose that information even if there is a “remote” chance that the data can be matched with other information and lead to individuals being identified. Organisations that take action Read the rest of this entry »

The Attorney General has released a consultation paper on the impending Royal Commission into Sexual abuse.

It is extracted below:

Consultation Paper onthe Establishment of theRoyal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse
The purpose of this document is to seek the input of interested individuals and organisations to the arrangements for the establishment of the Royal Commission, including the scope of the Terms of Reference, the form of the Royal Commission, the number and qualifications of Royal Commissioner/s and the reporting timetable for the Royal Commission. These factors will guide the Commissioner/s in their task of examining responses to instances or allegations of child sexual abuse in the context of public and private institutions or organisations in Australia. The explanatory material and questions below are provided as a guide to start discussions.
On 12 November 2012, the Prime Minister announced that she will be recommending to the Governor-General the establishment of a Royal Commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse in Australia.
Child sexual abuse is a horrific breach of a child’s right to a safe and happy childhood, with immediate and long term impacts on the victims and their families. Child sexual abuse is also a crime that requires the most serious and committed of responses by the whole community. It is important that claims of institutional and systemic failures Read the rest of this entry »

The BBC has another report on the rapid take up of drones for civilian purposes in  Unmanned aircraft project leads push to civilian drones.  The story provides:

The “Pandora’s box” of unmanned aircraft in the UK has been opened, according to the Astraea consortium.

Yet many technology and ethics issues Read the rest of this entry »

The ACTU has raised concerns regarding medical treatment of workers.  One issue is the interference with worker’s medical records.

The story, Employers interfering in medical treatment: ACTU provides:

The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) is holding a summit in Melbourne to tackle what it says is a growing trend for employers to interfere in their workers’ medical treatment.

It says it has had complaints from the postal, construction and manufacturing sectors.

Some employers are insisting workers visit company-approved doctors and hand over their entire medical history.

The ACTU says in some cases, employers accompany workers to medical appointments.

ACTU assistant secretary Michael Borowick says it is an invasion of privacy.

“We’re going to be, in the near future, engaging with the privacy commissioner,” he said.

“It runs across a whole number of areas of law, privacy, Read the rest of this entry »

Proper discovery is vital in most commercial litigation. It is also one of the most contentious areas in the interlocutory process.  The breadth of discovery is often a matter of significant dispute in big cases.  It can be used as a weapon on occasion, driving up costs and wasting time. A fascinating article in the Economist, Legal language, highlights the complexity generally but the complications that come when discovery has to deal with different cultural and legal norms not to mention translation issues.

It provides:

Milorad Trkulja succeeded in suing Google Inc for defamation and was awarded $200,000.  It has been widely reported (here, here and here) and has been the subject of commentary (here ).  Beach J’s decision in Trkulja v Google Inc LLC & Anor (No 5) [2012] VSC 533 is a valuable addition to the growing jurisprudence of defamation on the internet.

FACTS

During 2009 material identifying the plaintiff was located on the internet, and available for downloading and viewing in Australia.  The material was divided into two groups:

1. four pages of which the first page had pictures of the plaintiff, Tony Mokbel and Denis Tanner and underneath each of these pictures was the name “Michael Trkulja”. The third page included an article headed “Shooting probe urged November 20, 2007” with a larger photograph of the plaintiff with a heading above the article titled “Melbourne crime”. Under this heading there were nine photographs of various people either known to have committed serious criminal offences or against whom serious criminal allegations had been made [2].
2. three pages of which the first page consisted of the first ten results of 185,000 results for the search term “Michael Trkulja” with the third page consisting of the article under the same heading with the same nine photographs and the larger photograph of Mr Trkulja [3].

The plaintiff pleaded following imputations Read the rest of this entry »

David Solove is an academic and  prolific writer on privacy issues.  Amongst his writings are  Nothing to Hide, The false Tradeoff between Privacy and Security and the Future of Reputation. He is an influential commentator on privacy issues in the USA and a strong advocate for improved privacy protections there.  A difficult challenge at the best of times.

His paper Privacy Self-Management and the Consent Paradox will be published in the forthcoming edition of the Harvard Law Review (Volume 126 2013).  In short compass (not easy with a 19 Harvard Review article) it considers Read the rest of this entry »

The Privacy Commissioner wrote to the Attorney General in September regarding the impact of drone technology.

The letter provides:

The Hon Nicola Roxon MP
Attorney-General
Attorney-General’s Department
Central Office
3–5 National Circuit
BARTON ACT 2600

 Dear Attorney-General

There is growing interest in the community and media about the use and implications of aerial drone technology, particularly drones with video recording and streaming capabilities.

While drone technology Read the rest of this entry »