[LINK] myki - a tracking device (was Re: more myki pain)

[Stephen Wilson]

Steven Clark wrote:
> > Stilgherrian wrote: Anyway, time will tell if and how Myki logs can
> > be used for the obvious things such as law enforcement and as court
> > evidence, and whether it can be used in real-time or only
> > retrospectively.

>  the short answer here is, yes, yes they are/will be. especially once
>  someone realises the logs can be sync'd up with cctv, and so on.

The longer answer is that under privacy law, the myki operator is not 
allowed to collect and retain indefinitely personally identifiable 
tracking information, even for "obvious" law enforcement.  Yes there are 
law enforcement exceptions under privacy law but even then, you're not 
allowed to collect personal information without constraint, just in case 
it's useful for investigating a crime one day.  Myki will have to 
document in their privacy policy specific needs to collect and retain 
any tracking information.  If they have law enforcement objectives, they 
will have to show with some analytical rigor that particular collections 
will bring realistic particular benefits. 

 > and let's not stop there. what about tax records, to establish that
 > certain expenses were actually incurred, and *probably* actually
 > associated with work (say, travel to/from on the tram) ...

Actually I think we should stop here, and instead of speculating about 
what information is being collected and matched (if at all), have a look 
at myki's privacy policy and compare it with what we know them to be 
doing.  Do you know that travel records are being matched to tax 
records?? If myki is collecting information without a real need, or 
disclosing it to others, then it's pretty straightforward to hold them 
to account.  This is what privacy law is for.

Cheers,

Steve Wilson
Lockstep Consulting
www.lockstep.com.au