Cowardice by Attorney General Dreyfus
QCCL President Michael Cope, today said that the Council condemns the failure of the Federal Government to implement the key recommendations of the review of the Privacy Act.
“The Privacy Act was passed in 1988 and has not been substantially amended since then. In privacy terms 1988 is the stone age” said Mr Cope.
The Bill introduced by Attorney General Dreyfus on 12 September contains a number of welcome amendments of which the most important is the creation of a statutory tort for serious invasion of privacy. This will enable those who suffer a serious invasion of their privacy to sue for damages.
However, the Bill says nothing about some of the most significant changes recommended by the review:
1. Reform the Small business exemption, in particular immediately:
(a) prescribe the collection of biometric information for use in facial recognition technology as an exception to the small business exemption, and
(b) remove the exemption from the Act for small businesses that obtain consent to trade in personal information.
2. Amend the Act to require that the collection, use and disclosure of personal information must be fair and reasonable in the circumstances. The requirement that collection, use and disclosure of personal information must be fair and reasonable in the circumstances should apply irrespective of whether consent has been obtained
3. Provide individuals with an unqualified right to opt-out of their personal information being used or disclosed for direct marketing purposes.
4. Provide individuals with an unqualified right to opt-out of receiving targeted advertising.
5. Introduce a requirement that an individual's consent must be obtained to trade their personal information.
6. Prohibit targeting to a child, with an exception for targeting that is in the child's best interests.
7. Prohibit trading in the personal information of children.
The government agreed to all the above proposals in principle. They now seem to be mired in the consultation process as businesses seek to preserve their capacity to monetize people by using their personal information.
"Small business is defined to mean a business with a turnover of less than $3 million annually. In 1988, when the collection and storage of information was incredibly costly, perhaps you could understand this exemption. But these days many businesses collect and store personal information. Real estate agents are the classic example. This exemption must go."
"Underlying the Privacy Act is the concept that people should be able to control the use of their personal information. To that end, the Act provides that people can consent to the collection and use of their information. However, through the use of lengthy terms of conditions of contract and consent forms which even lawyers find difficult to understand, many businesses are granting themselves permission to use information in a way which the person providing the information could not possibly have foreseen. This is why it is necessary to have an overarching requirement that even if a person consents to the collection, disclosure and use of information, the collection, disclosure and use must be fair and reasonable in the circumstances."
“QCCL calls on Mr Dreyfus to immediately implement the changes to the Privacy Act set out above. Further delay is not justified.”