This Month
Keystroke-tracking tech leaves privacy rules out of date: new watchdog
Rapid changes in artificial intelligence and biometrics are making current laws out of date says Australia’s next privacy commissioner, Carly Kind.
- Tom Burton
November
Sexual health and fertility details leaked in ACL data breach
ASX-listed pathology provider Australian Clinical Labs faces potentially millions of dollars in fines for failing to protect sensitive financial and health data.
- Paul Smith
The woman at the heart of your data protection
Amid rapid technology change, federal privacy and information commissioner Angelene Falk has had to learn how to anticipate the harmful effects on consumers.
- Tom Burton
This app lets parents track teens - and 1.7m Aussies have signed up
ASX-listed Life360 expects a big revenue boost in Australia when it rolls out its full membership offering in locally next year.
- Tess Bennett
October
How Clearview AI unleashed a global dystopia
A young Australian tech entrepreneur is among the shadowy figures in a new book on the creeping privacy threat of facial recognition by artificial intelligence.
- Sophie McBain
September
Government adds new privacy rules for 2.3m small businesses
The government says the exemption under the Privacy Act for small businesses should be removed
- Michael Pelly
Baby monitors are the front line for new digital safety rules
Major software vendors are to be made responsible for cyber and privacy security of their products as part of major shift in strategy to stop consumers having to bear the brunt of poorly written code.
- Tom Burton
August
Big tech urges government to go slow on AI rules
Australian businesses already have laws governing AI. What they need is guidance on how to apply those laws, companies such as Apple, Google and Meta say.
- John Davidson
- Opinion
- Opinion
Understanding unsexy law reform could turn you into a business superstar
With privacy law reform imminent, executives who seize the opportunity to take proactive measures today will set themselves up to be hailed as heroes.
- Adam Barty
- Exclusive
- AI
Atlassian says you should be told when you’re talking to an AI bot
Australia’s biggest enterprise software company also says the country should adopt a three-tiered approach to regulating AI, with harms ranked as red, amber or green.
- John Davidson
Companies ripping off our personal data: survey
A major survey has revealed Australians feel helpless to stop breaches of their privacy and back legislative reform to get businesses and government to do more.
- Tom Burton
June
- Exclusive
- Tech crackdown
Big tech backs privacy reform but warns against too much consent
Tech giants have warned that changes to the Privacy Act could create shifts in the viability of digital advertising and ad-supported free digital services.
- John Davidson
Prince Harry wraps up gruelling court battle over phone hacking claims
Harry is suing a number of newspapers, alleging that the tabloids used unlawful means to target him since he was a child.
- Stephen Castle and Megan Specia
How Australian workers could be left behind by AI
A pair of papers from the Albanese government questions whether Australia has the skills and the computing power to compete in the new world of ChatGPT and Bard.
- John Davidson
May
Meta slapped with record $1.9b fine in Europe
The penalty was imposed by an Irish government body over Facebook’s practice of transferring millions of users’ data to the US, in breach of EU regulations.
- Stephanie Bodoni
Privacy overhaul ‘goes beyond any other any country’
Facebook-owner Meta has warned that key proposed reforms of Australia’s privacy laws risk destroying targeted advertising and blocking businesses’ push into “personalise” their services for customers.
- Sam Buckingham-Jones
Banks say ‘consent fatigue’ among risks in privacy reform
The Australian Banking Association says changes to the privacy act under consideration by the Attorney-General will lead to unintended consequences.
- James Eyers
Latitude hack investigated by privacy watchdogs
Privacy commissioners in Australia and New Zealand have teamed up to investigate whether Latitude had adequate security in place when cybercriminals raided its databases.
- John Davidson
Feds get serious about scams and investment fraud
The surging levels of digital scams and investor fraud have prompted a major increase in digital safety measures, including a new digital identity system.
- Tom Burton
‘I may have to move house’: Fresh Medibank class action launches
Medibank is facing a fresh class action case led by Slater & Gordon, with customers explaining the dramas caused when their private data was published online.
- Paul Smith
