Andrew Ham’s Post

The Government introduced the Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 (the Bill) into Parliament on 12 September 2024. The Bill would enact the first phase of reforms to the Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act) to implement several proposals agreed to by the Government in response to the review Privacy Act. The Bill covers some key measures including: - enhancing the privacy of individuals with respect to their personal information, including a broader range of enforcement options for the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner and new functions and capabilities, and requiring entities to increase transparency and certainty regarding the handling of personal information; - providing individuals with a cause of action in tort for serious invasions of privacy, giving individuals the ability to better protect themselves and seek compensation for a broad range of serious invasions of privacy; and - the introduction of a new offence regarding the release of personal data using a carriage service in a menacing or harassing manner, or commonly referred to as ‘doxxing’, being the intentional malicious release of an individual’s personal data online.

[Australia] The much awaited amendments to the Privacy Act has been tabled to the House of Representatives yesterday. Some of the substantial changes proposed are: 1. Strengthening the powers of the OAIC 2. Introducing a children's privacy code into one of the AU privacy principles, 3. Transparency requirements on automated-decision making 4. Statutory tort action for serious invasions of privacy The amendments introduced was a bit lackluster compared to what was 'agreed in principle' a few months ago such as amending definition of PI, concepts of controller/processor, removal of the exemption for small businesses.

Finally, a more substantive update on the promised Privacy Act reform 📚🔎 The Attorney-General has this morning introduced a bill to Parliament to amend the Australian Privacy Act (see a link to the full text of the bill below for those interested in some more light reading). As a quick snap-shot, the Bill includes amendments re: - Development of a children’s online privacy code to apply to social media and other internet services likely to be accessed by children (with the AG flagging that the OAIC will be provided with extra funding over a three year period to develop this). - Mechanisms to facilitate cross-border data transfers. - Clarification of technical and organisational measures required to keep personal information secure. - Emergency declarations under the Privacy Act. - Strengthening of the Information Commissioner’s investigative and enforcement powers. - Introduction of a statutory privacy tort for serious invasions of privacy. - Transparency requirements for the use of automated decision making. The proposed changes cover a handful of the agreed and agreed-in-principle proposals that the Government’s Response to the Privacy Act Review Report detailed and was not the complete overhaul of the Privacy Act that some were expecting. More extensive and comprehensive reform of the Privacy Act will continue to unfold post the next Federal election. We’ll provide some more detailed insights on the amendments over the next few weeks. Nicholas Boyle Alexandra Moore #privacymatters #internationaldataprivacy #privacylawreform #australianprivacy #dataprotection

This morning the first tranche of the long awaited privacy reforms were tabled! I'm sure there will be lots of insights shared over the coming weeks, but here are some of the key changes included in the bill: - Greater transparency for individuals by requiring disclosure of automated decision making and requiring organisations to have clear policies and procedures for retaining and destroying personal information - Easier international data transfers through whitelisting of countries with equivalent privacy protections - Greater clarity on the factors that make an interference with privacy 'serious' - Emergency declarations under the Act - Increased financial costs for non-compliance through the creation of a statutory tort for invasions of privacy and new civil penalty provisions for non-serious interferences - Criminal offences for doxxing and harassment - Better protections for children

Australian Privacy Law Amendments - still some work to do? Now released, a link below to the full text of the Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024, that is aimed at 23 of the 89 recommendations in the Privacy Act Review Report. There are a number of very significant reforms: ➡ Statutory Tort for Serious Invasions of Privacy: Introducing a new cause of action for individuals to seek remedies for serious invasions of privacy ➡ Criminal Offences for Doxxing: Establishing targeted criminal offences to combat the malicious release of personal data online ➡ Broader Enforcement Powers for OAIC ➡ Development of a specific Children's Online Privacy Code ➡ Transparency in Automated Decision-Making ➡ Emergency Data Handling Provisions ➡ Other enhanced privacy protections - including clarification of reasonable security as requiring both organisational and technical measures There's certainly a lot in here to digest, even if it's only a partial response. 💡 One aspect I'm hopeful will be targeted next is how the Archives Act retention obligations should apply in the context of 21st century privacy protections. Obligations to retain Commonwealth Records can be very extensive and one aspect not addressed in these changes is what would be an appropriate balance between record keeping and privacy? ⏭ More to come including briefings from myself and colleagues. Please reach out if you're interested in knowing more. https://lnkd.in/gT89-ZpA Andrew Hilton; Geoff McGrath Leon Franklin #Governance #DigitalLaw #PrivacyLaw #DataPrivacy #Accountability #TechInnovation #PrivacyReforms #doxxing #digital #privacy

The Statutes Amendment Bill has been introduced on September 23, 2024, as an omnibus Bill that proposes a number of small but relevant updates to the Privacy Act 2020 (among 41 other Acts). In this article we summarise some of the proposed amendments we consider relevant for businesses who regularly deal with personal information. Click the link to read more: https://zurl.co/LSiG Hayley Miller | Campbell Featherstone | Güneş Haksever | Ashleigh Ooi

Don’t wait for the Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 to pass – it’s time to get your house in order.   With limited lead time before the reforms come into effect, your organisation needs to start preparing now to be ready once the Bill passes.    In our latest article, Privacy Partner Anna Johnston rounds up the five steps every organisation should be taking now, and which steps should be taken before further reforms come into effect.   Read the full article at: https://lnkd.in/gU8ziyhU

New from me 👇🏽 We normally talk about the 7 steps to prepare for law reform, but with the Privacy Act reforms split in two, it looks more like seven-but-one-of-them-done-twice.

Curious about understanding Ontario's access and privacy laws? We’ve just released two new Interpretation Bulletins. One covers draft by-laws and closed meetings, and the other focuses on cabinet records. These guides help you understand your rights under MFIPPA and FIPPA. Explore them today. https://ow.ly/9XP350TZn0o

The Attorney-General, the Hon Mark Dreyfus, has just tabled a Bill to amend Australia's Privacy Act. This is a first step in strengthening Australia's privacy protections. But it's only that: one small step forward. Much more reform is needed to make Australia’s privacy protections adequate for the 21st century. We're pleased that the Albanese Government is introducing a statutory tort for serious invasions of privacy. This means that, for some of the worst privacy breaches, people will be able to seek justice in a court of law. The Bill also recognises that children can be particularly vulnerable to having their privacy violated online. We support the Australian Privacy Commissioner developing a new Children’s Online Privacy Code to protect kids from a range of harms that kids experience simply by sharing their personal information online. As the Attorney-General has recognised, this can only be a first step - and the Government needs to set out its timeline for introducing the remaining privacy law reforms. This is crucial, because this Bill does not address some of the most urgent and serious problems with our Privacy Act. For example, the Bill doesn’t address the problem of ‘sham consent’ – where an individual’s privacy rights are waived simply because they had to click ‘I consent’ to access an important service online. Nor does it deal with some of the most pressing issues raised by the rise of artificial intelligence - like harmful uses of facial recognition. Not only are there ways for the law to address these problems - the Government already committed to a number of specific reforms more than 18 months ago. The Government must honour its commitments. The Attorney-General committed to implementing over 100 reforms to the Privacy Act - this Bill includes just 20 percent of the Government’s committed reforms. We need to see a clear timeline for those remaining reforms. You can now view the Bill. We anticipate people will have a chance to give their views on the Bill through a parliamentary review process. https://lnkd.in/ggUHgdCF