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Privacy

Yesterday

Andy Byron, Kristin Cabot

‘Coldplaygate’ shows morality police are taking over the internet

With cameras always rolling, regular people increasingly find themselves the focus of public shame campaigns.

This Month

Andy Byron, Kristin Cabot

‘Coldplaygate’ is a stark reminder that cameras are everywhere

It took only a few seconds of video for the “kiss cam” incident to thoroughly dominate internet discourse and become an instant meme.

Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Meta. He and the company he founded face a serious challenge in a Delaware court.

Meta trial on privacy scandal begins with tech, politics A-list

The Facebook owner was willing to pay billions of dollars to settle allegations but would not accept a settlement that held founder Mark Zuckerberg responsible.

Taliban special forces fighters.

UK secretly resettled thousands of Afghans after huge data breach

A “super” court injunction was lifted two years after 100,000 people were placed at risk of Taliban reprisals in a major bungle.

Bunnings boss wants new laws to allow facial recognition in stores

The hardware chain is no longer using facial recognition in its stores, but its managing director says the technology is essential to protect his staff.

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When companies generate verification code messages, they usually outsource the job, passing the codes through a thicket of intermediaries.

Just how safe is that two-factor login code?

An investigation into the complexity of the global telecom system has revealed weaknesses in the transmission of secret codes sent via SMS.

June

Kurt Gruber, the founder of WV Tech, says many organisations treat their IT equipment like office furniture, rather than a potential liability.

The recycling firm keeping Australia’s secrets safe

Destroying devices that hold Australia’s secrets is big business for WV Technologies, which wins the Sustainability Leaders’ retail, media, tourism and technology category.

May

‘Black Mirror’ showed us a future. Some of it is here now.

The long-running tech drama always felt as if it took place in a dystopian near future. How much of that future has come to pass?

January

Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind admits she’s less idealistic about the role of regulation in protecting online privacy and worries one day big tech will decide not to obey the law.

What happened when I stalked the Australian Privacy Commissioner

Carly Kind has a tellingly thin social media presence, yet she disagrees with the policy of the Albanese government – her employer – to ban kids from the platforms.

The family safety and location-sharing Life360 app is often used by parents to monitor their child’s whereabouts.

Should you track your kids through their phones?

The combination of new technology and the age-old devotion to keep your children safe is taking “helicopter parenting” to a whole new level.

Zoe Hawkins, Johanna Weaver and Sunita Kumar are leaving ANU to launch their own tech policy think tank, the Tech Policy Design Centre.

New think tank urges Albanese to stand up to Trump’s big tech buddies

The prime minister must go head-to-head with American social media giants over plans to regulate them more heavily, the Tech Policy Design Institute says.

December 2024

Mark Zuckerberg

Meta settles Aussie Cambridge Analytica case for $50m

Facebook-owner Meta will appoint an independent administrator to distribute $50 million to thousands of Australians who were indirectly caught up in the 2018 data harvesting scandal.

November 2024

X owner Elon Musk has criticised the government’s social media plan.

‘Punitive regime’: X warns social media ban won’t work

Elon Musk’s social media platform says the government’s moves to stop under-16s using social media is likely unlawful and technological ineffective.

CCTV footage of Bunnings staff being attacked.

Bunnings defends facial recognition after privacy breach

The privacy commissioner rules Bunnings breached its customers’ privacy, but retailer says the technology was to protect staff and stop theft.

Phil Thomson, co-founder and CEO of Auror a retail crime platform that watches over retailers like Woolworths and Bunnings.

Woolworths, Westpac funds back controversial $500m anti-crime start-up

Auror’s use of AI technology to help retailers track criminals led to an Information Commissioner investigation, but investors aren’t worried.

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October 2024

Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind says giving ChatGPT personal information to generate tailored marketing or financial recommendations may be a breach of privacy laws.

Why you could be fined for using ChatGPT at work

Giving ChatGPT personal information to generate tailored marketing or financial recommendations may be a breach of privacy laws, the Privacy Commissioner says.

Small business want protection from Labor’s proposed overhaul of privacy laws.

Small business wants out of privacy laws as data breaches rise 215pc

The small business lobby is pushing to limit the reach of Labor’s overhaul of the Privacy Act to firms with annual turnover above $10 million, up from the current threshold of $3 million.

September 2024

Nick Humphrey has ambitious plans for Hamilton Locke’s growth.

Legal privilege an ‘attraction’ in law firm’s consulting play

HPX Group chief executive Nick Humphrey says rolling consulting services into a legal practice means clients have a better chance of taking advantage of legal privilege.

Anna Johnston, Principal, Salinger Privacy

Hamilton Locke owner bets on privacy sector growth, inks acquisition

Legal outfit HPX Group has added Anna Johnston’s Salinger Privacy to its ever-expanding group.

LinkedIn quietly uploaded a new privacy policy to use user data in AI training.

LinkedIn has (quietly) announced it scrapes your posts for AI

LinkedIn has quietly launched new policies outlining how it scrapes posts and personal data to train AI models. What you need to know (and how to turn it off).

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/privacy-60r