Privacy watchdog’s concerns over mandatory ABC iview log-ins

Australia’s privacy commissioner has raised concerns with the ABC’s new compulsory log-ins for iview access, forcing the delay to its rollout.

The ABC was due to implement forced log-in requirements for all iview users streaming content in July and August but earlier this month it was revealed that it was now being pushed out to December. Picture: AAP

The ABC’s sudden delay to introducing mandatory iview log-ins is to allow for more extensive work to be done to minimise the impacts on individuals’ personal information, the privacy watchdog says.

The public broadcaster was due to implement forced log-in requirements for all iview users streaming content in July and August but earlier this month it was revealed that it was now being pushed out to December.

The nation’s privacy watchdog, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), says the delay was to ensure the ABC put more rigorous work into ensuring that users’ personal information was not put at risk.

“The additional time will allow the ABC to engage with Australians on how personal information would be handled under the proposed changes to the iview streaming service and to ensure privacy issues are appropriately addressed,” an OAIC spokesman said.

“The OAIC will continue to engage with the ABC during the extended period announced.”

Under the changes, iview users must provide an email, postcode, their year of birth and their gender in order to gain access.

In the gender section users have four options – male, female, prefer not to say, or non-binary.

An ABC spokesman said the delay would allow the public broadcaster to “ensure our audiences understand the benefits they will receive from creating an ABC account and the ways we manage and protect their personal information”.

The changes mean viewers will be able to access their viewing history, continue watching from where they left off and save favourite programs.

Third-party services including tech giants Facebook and Google might be able to determine an iview account holder’s viewing preferences but users do have the option to stop this from happening.

Australian National University adjunct associate professor Vanessa Teague has lodged a freedom of information request with the ABC asking that all data-sharing arrangements with tech giants be made public.

“Just because the ABC have deferred requiring a log-in, doesn’t necessarily mean they have deferred sharing viewers’ data with Google and Facebook and anybody else,” she said.

“It has the potential for a person’s iview habits to be quite damaging if they are exposed, the ABC has a lot of very good quality programs on a variety of quite controversial personal and political issues that you don’t necessarily want any Facebook or Google advertiser to target people.”

The introduction of compulsory log-ins attracted widespread criticism including from Regional Communications Minister Bridget McKenzie, who said there should be an ‘opt-in’ sign-in model, not an ‘opt-out’ model.

The ABC has said it would never sell a user’s data and would give users the opportunity to “opt-out of any marketing communications or data sharing with third parties …”