$2200 per customer: Big business faces hefty privacy reform bill

Sam Buckingham-Jones, Ayesha de Kretser, Paul Smith and Tom Burton

Feb 16, 2023 – 5.23pm

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A major rewrite of Australia’s 40-year-old privacy laws could cost big businesses thousands of dollars per customer and would likely mean big, expensive overhauls of how they structure and store data to comply.

The Attorney General’s Department released a two-year review of the Privacy Act on Thursday morning, making 116 recommendations for reform including redefining “personal information” to include IP addresses and device identifiers, adding a “fair and reasonable” requirement for using information, a new personal right to sue for breaches of privacy, and a right to be erased from a company’s records.

Sam Buckingham-Jones is the media and marketing reporter at The Australian Financial Review.

Ayesha de Kretser is a senior reporter with The Australian Financial Review covering the aviation and tourism sectors. She has previously reported on banking, mining and commodity markets.

Paul Smith edits the technology coverage and has been a leading writer on the sector for 20 years. He covers big tech, business use of tech, the fast-growing Australian tech industry and start-ups, telecommunications and national innovation policy.

Tom Burton has held senior editorial and publishing roles with The Mandarin, The Sydney Morning Herald and as Canberra bureau chief for The Australian Financial Review. He has won three Walkley awards.