[LINK] Short Summary of the Privacy Amendments
Roger Clarke
Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au
Wed May 1 10:21:47 AEST 2013
The Privacy Awareness Week addresses by the AG and PC'er earlier this
week could have misled people into thinking that the recent changes
to the Privacy Act are privacy-positive.
As an antidote to such suggestions, the following extracts from
Waters & Greenleaf (2013) show how the amendments to the Privacy Act
that come into force in March 2014 are seriously privacy-*hostile*.
1. Commissioner's Powers
The most positive aspect of the Amendment Act is the additional
enforcement powers given to the Privacy Commissioner. [However],
these improvements to enforcement powers do not deal directly with
the key problem of the existing Privacy Act. [Hence] the new right
of appeal may turn out to be of little use.
2. Australian Privacy Principles (APPs)
None of the thirteen APPs is an overall improvement on the previous
principles and 8 of the 13 APPs are worse for privacy protection.
3. Data Export 'Restrictions'
An Australian company or agency will be able to send personal
information anywhere in the world (subject to APP 6 concerning use
and disclosure). It may be completely exempt from any liability
(under nine separate exceptions) for what then happens to the
information. The purported 'accountability' may turn out to be
fictional.
4. Direct Marketing
A new Principle (APP7) defines a set of conditions under which
personal information can be used for direct marketing. It is in
effect authorisation for what would otherwise be privacy breaches,
with some boundaries set at the outer limits of those authorised
breaches, which might be seen as a very limited form of privacy
protection.
5. Credit Marketing
There are some minor enhancements to the credit reporting provisions
from a consumer perspective but overall the new regime is a major
loss of financial privacy.
6. Even More Exemptions
None of the exemptions from the Act have been removed as the ALRC
recommended, while others have been added.
Source:
Waters, Nigel and Greenleaf, Graham , Australia's 2012 Privacy Act
Revisions: Weaker Principles, More Powers (April 15, 2013). Privacy
Laws & Business International Report Issue 121, February 2013, 12-13;
UNSW Law Research Paper No. 2013-27. Available at SSRN:
http://ssrn.com/abstract=2252569
Greenleaf, G and Waters, N 'Australia's Privacy Bill 2012: Weaker
principles, stronger enforcement' Privacy Laws & Business
International Report, Issue 118: 16-18, July 2012, at
http://ssrn.com/abstract=2129626
Waters, N and Greenleaf, G 'A critique of Australia's proposed
Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Bill 2012',
Australian Privacy Foundation, 2012, at
http://ssrn.com/abstract=2134838 and
http://www.privacy.org.au/Papers/PAmmtBill-SPLA-120803.pdf
--
Roger Clarke http://www.rogerclarke.com/
Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd 78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
Tel: +61 2 6288 1472, and 6288 6916
mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au http://www.xamax.com.au/
Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law University of NSW
Visiting Professor in Computer Science Australian National University
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