August 13, 2017
The Australian Financial Review in ANZ executive’s identity stolen and used for $30,000 Westpac loan highlights the chronically poor state of privacy protection by many businesses and the culture of non compliance. The likely scam was simple, an Read the rest of this entry »
As part of the rich vein of rulings and law that attend the Rebel Wilson case His Honour Dixon J considered an application by the Plaintiff to suppress publication of financial details she received from film contracts in Wilson v Bauer Media (Ruling No 5) [2017] VSC 355
The plaintiff applied pursuant Read the rest of this entry »
August 10, 2017
The United Kingdom Government has announced a major reform to its data security legislation. The package of measures to be legislated Read the rest of this entry »
August 8, 2017
The rebel Wilson case, known to nerdy lawyer types as Wilson v Bauer Media, is the gift that keeps on giving in providing rulings related to the running of defamation trials. It was a hard fought, taken many points type of case. That meant lots of arguments on points of law. In Wilson v Bauer Media (Ruling No 6) [2017] VSC 356 the court considered and ruled on the defence of triviality and partial justification.
The Plaintiff sought to have the defence of triviality not go to the jury. The defendants pleaded Read the rest of this entry »
August 1, 2017
It is no longer news that intellectual property is a lucrative and high status target for hackers. And entertainment ip, such as films, is particularly sought after . In 2014 Sony was hacked, probably by North Korea, and lost a huge trove of data, including personal information, highly embarrassing email communications and also some films which had been yet to be released. Earlier this year Netflix was hacked and 10 episodes of Orange is the New Black was stolen and leaked on line after Read the rest of this entry »
July 30, 2017
The Wired in Privacy Isn’t Dead. It’s More Popular Than Ever highlights what researchers and privacy practitioners have long known, that people do value their privacy and when given the opportunity will protect it. The Pew Research Center in the 2015 report titled Read the rest of this entry »
Confidence is critical for an economy to function properly. Traditionally that has meant that confidence that a legal system is impartial and efficient, confidence that contracts are enforceable and that confidence that property rights are secure from arbitrary confiscation. In the digital economy the other confidence is that data is secure, personal information is not misused and that electronic communication is free from intrusion and unrestrained surveillance.
In a recent Internet Society Survey on Policy issues in Asia Pacific 2017 the results show that there is a distinct lack of confidence in Read the rest of this entry »
For those with a long term interest and involvement in privacy and data security the danger of cyber attacks on utilities and vital infrastructure is well known. And to an extent it has come to pass, with Read the rest of this entry »
Parents seeking to protect the privacy of their children from the snapping shutters of papparazi have given rise to significant jurisprudence, notably the New Zealand decision of Hosking v Runting and Murray v Express Newspapers. The law has moved along in some common law jurisdictions, though not particularly well in Australia, where the jurisprudence is still mired in breach of confidence/misuse of private information claims in equity. Clunky and not as good as a proper tort of invasion of privacy.
In Europe, France in particular, the privacy laws are quite strict. It is therefore a little surprising that the BBC reports that a French Magazine, Voici, has published pictures of the Clooney’s infant twins taken by photographers who scaled a fence to enter private property and Read the rest of this entry »
July 27, 2017
The Fairfax press has run a legitimate, if breathless, report on fridges having the potential to turned into listening devices in Queensland police say fridges could be turned into listening devices. The context of the story is about parliamentary inquiry into surveillance powers. It touches on two neglected but potent developments; the new modes of surveillance, in this case using connected devices, and the expansion of the internet of things, with the attendant weakness with data security and privacy protections. It is a timely reminder of Read the rest of this entry »