Yesterday in Zhou v Kousal & Ors [2012] VSC 187 Vickery J considered the equitable principles relating to people with disabilities arising out of the Amadio cases and the responsibilities of the Sheriff in conducting distress sales. It has received some media coverage (here).

FACTS

The facts are quite extraordinary. The Plaintiff, Zhou, the registered proprietor of a property in Braybrook [2],owed the fifth defendant, Mr Wu, a judgement debt of over $100,000. The property was subject to a mortgage in favour of Suncorp and a charge of Council rates. Pursuant to a warrant of seizure and sale the Sheriff undertook two auctions of the property.  Prior to the first auction (see generally [23] – [31])  the Valuer General valued the property at $630,000 following a kerbside valuation and provided a copy of the valuation to the Sheriff.  At the time of this auction Zhou had putative equity in the sum of $171,615.76.  This sum became the Sheriff’s reserve at auction [26]. No bids were received at the first auction and the property was passed in [27]. The Sheriff then applied to the the Supreme Court where, per Muckhtar AsJ , it permitted the Sheriff to sell the property without a reserve [28] , save for the the following orders [29]:

1. Subject to paragraph 3 there be leave to the Sheriff to conduct a sale of the property known as 2 Wirraway Avenue, Braybrook (in exercise of powers under a warrant of seizure and sale filed 9 November 2009) without a reserve price provided that such leave does not thereby derogate from, or relieve the Sheriff of a duty at law to the owner of the land when exercising a power of sale.

…………..

3.There be leave to the owner of the property to notify the Plaintiff of an intention to discharge the order in paragraph 1, and apply to this Court for a discharge of that order. Unless such an application is filed and served within 10 days after the date of the service of this order, the order will take effect upon the Plaintiff’s solicitor giving to the Sheriff evidence of service of this order and the absence of any application to discharge it.

(Emphasis added)

At the time of the second auction Read the rest of this entry »

The Privacy Commissioner gave a speech at Exploring the Changing Privacy Landscape and Impending Regulations iappANZ breakfast event, Sydney last Friday.

It relevantly provides:

It’s great to be here on the last day of Privacy Awareness Week (or PAW), a joint initiative of the Asia Pacific Privacy Authorities forum.

Before I say a few words about the week, I’ll cut to the chase and give you an update on the most recent privacy law reform announcement made by the Attorney-General this week.

Attorney’s announcement

As many here today would know, the Attorney has just Read the rest of this entry »

In Richard Ackland’s Grotesque cases show failure of regulation the theme is the failure of the press to regulate itself.  True.  The Press Council barely functions in giving those wronged a venue to make a complaint.  Whether the recommendations from Finkelstein review provide a cure or are an overreaction creating an intolerable intrusion on freedom of speech is a matter of conjecture. What Ackland does however highlight is the legal protections available to what Ackland described as grotesque intrusions into the privacy of others where there is no discernible public interest.  The first example was a media ambush by Read the rest of this entry »

The Attorney General today announced amendments to the Privacy Act.  The changes are long expected, effectively implementing the accepted recommendations of the Australian Law Reform Commission Report on Privacy.

The announcement provides:

Australia’s privacy laws will be reformed to better protect people’s personal information, simplify credit reporting arrangements and give new enforcement powers to the Privacy Commissioner.

“It is fitting to announce major legislative reforms to the Privacy Act during Privacy Awareness Week,” Attorney-General Nicola Roxon said.

“In an increasingly digital world, both consumers and governments have a role to play to protect privacy. In introducing these changes, the Gillard Government is doing its bit to protect the privacy of Australian families.”

The Attorney explained that key changes to benefit consumers are:

·         clearer and tighter regulation of the use of personal information for direct marketing

·         extending privacy Read the rest of this entry »

The Economist is an excellent current affairs journal.  Brilliant and thoughtful coverage.  Of late it has been covering privacy related issues, whether from a technology related perspective or that of politics or the law.  Or a bit of all three (as is often the case).

Its most recent offering, I spy, with my big eye, is typically thoughtful and insightful review of developments with surveillance technology.

It provides:

WELCOME to China, the land of video surveillance. Guangdong province boasts over 1m cameras. In 2010 the city of Chongqing, governed by the now-disgraced Bo Xilai, ordered 500,000. Other provinces have hundreds of thousands, according to Human Rights in China, an NGO. Video surveillance constitutes over half the country’s huge security industry, and is expected to reach 500 billion yuan ($79 billion) in 2015. China will soon overtake Britain, with around 3m cameras, as the capital of video surveillance.

Yet China is far from alone. In many democracies surveillance cameras are multiplying, too. And face-recognition technology is proving a wonder tool for both governments and marketers.

A jail in Alabama uses it to check those Read the rest of this entry »

In Man jailed over nude Facebook photos the Age reports on a case which factually has similarities with the seminal and leading privacy decision in Australia, Giller v Procopets.  In this case nude photographs of an ex girlfiriend were published on Mr Usmanov’s Facebook page.  Mr Usmanov placed the photos to hurt her.

The facts here are a higher tech version of the facts the subject of the complaint by Giller against Procopets.  In that case instead of photos Read the rest of this entry »

The UK government is planning on permitting greater use of sharing confidential information provided by the public according to the Guardian.  This is a typical problem in privacy regulation, function creep.  Data sharing between agencies of government is often touted as a tool of greater efficiency in providing services, cracking down on fraud and generally tidying up administration.  It is equally Read the rest of this entry »

Associate Justice Gardiner recently considered applications to set aside statutory demands in Business Structures Pty Ltd v D’Amico (t/a D’Amico Steel Works) [2012] VSC 146 and Alda Constructions Pty Ltd v Car Parking Solutions Pty Ltd [2012] VSC 145.

Business Structures Pty Ltd v D’Amico (t/a D’Amico Steel Works)

Facts

The sum in the demand comprised a judgment plus interest on the judgment.  The demand was not accompanied by an affidavit verifying it pursuant to section 459E(3) of the Corporations Act 2001.  A VCAT order, filed in the Magistrates’ Court pursuant to section 121 of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 1998, is enforceable as a monetary order.  There was  no genuine dispute that the sum the subject of the demand is due and payable [5].

The demand claimed interest from the day after VCAT made the order until the day that the statutory demand was issued.

Decision

Had the demand been Read the rest of this entry »

Start-ups want to help hospitals harness big data sets out clearly the benefits but also the danger of health providers using the vast amount of medical data for data mining.  The tenor of the article stresses that the data can be better organised and considered to assist in treatment.  The concern is that the start ups who would use and analyse the data could misuse the material in particular in sharing any material.  The United States privacy controls are quite weak.

It provides:

As the healthcare industry wakes up and smells the potential of big data, hospitals are experimenting with ways to harness it–and two new start-ups want to help them do so.

Charité University of Medicine Berlin, Europe’s largest university hospital, is using increasingly large stores of complex information not only to improve quality and aid clinicians and researchers but also Read the rest of this entry »

In Tomorrow’s Privacy Struggles, On Display Today in the New York Times.  It provides:

The thorny privacy issues of tomorrow were on display Thursday morning, when AT&T showed off a batch of technologies under development at AT&T Labs, the company’s research arm.

Researchers showed off Read the rest of this entry »