This Month
Small firms fight push to force data-breach reporting
Before critical cabinet considerations of major privacy reforms, small business groups say now is not the right time to add further compliance costs.
- Tom Burton
June
Medibank faces maximum $21.5 trillion fine in new cyber hack case
The privacy watchdog alleges the private health insurer failed to protect the details of 9.7 million customers, under a law that provides for a penalty of $2.2 million for each breach.
- Paul Smith
Tough jail terms for deepfake porn peddlers under new laws
The creators and sharers of non-consensual sexually explicit material will face up to seven years’ jail under the new rules, which also put pressure on tech firms.
- Paul Smith
Aussie experts can stop your smart-device cameras spying on you
When photos snapped by a robot vacuum cleaner of a woman on the toilet went viral, the smart home sector knew it had a problem; Aussie academics claim to have solved it.
- Alana Piper
May
Four listed fintechs say they’ll be smashed by credit report rules
Plenti, MoneyMe, Harmoney and Wisr allege major banks are conspiring against them by restricting access to crucial credit file data they use to price loans.
- James Eyers
Nearly 46 hours a month to read all privacy policies: study
Australians would spend nearly 46 hours a month reading all the privacy policies they encounter, according to a new report into data firms.
- Tom Burton
- Exclusive
- Fintech
CBA beats government to start-up opportunity from data breach scandals
Commonwealth Bank has a new app launching on Tuesday to warn citizens when their identity documents are in the wrong hands.
- Paul Smith
How your electric car is watching your every move
Electric vehicle makers are among the worst offenders when it comes to protecting the personal data of their customers, and Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind is worried about it.
- Tom Burton
Ransomware group claims attack on valuer HTW
In a post on the dark web, Black Suit says it has obtained 20 gigabytes of the valuation firm’s customer and transaction data.
- Michael Bleby
April
Don’t want your kid to end up as a deepfake? Keep their face offline
The rise of AI has created new anxieties about how an innocent photo could be manipulated, so “sharenting” is out and privacy is in.
- Fortesa Latifi
March
- Exclusive
- Gadgets
Smart home gadget sales rise despite privacy, cost-of-living worries
New data shows almost three-quarters of Australian households now have at least one connected device. But that doesn’t mean we trust them.
- John Davidson
January
- Opinion
- Cameras
Meta’s new face camera heralds a new age of surveillance
No one – not even my editor, who was aware I was writing this column – could tell it apart from ordinary glasses.
- Brian X. Chen
December 2023
Privacy watchdog launches inquiry into TikTok’s data collection
The Australian Information Commissioner is scrutinising the company amid claims it has been scraping data without consent from people who don’t even have its app.
- Dominic Giannini
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 2023
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 2023
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 2023
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