Your noon Briefing:

Your 2-minute digest of the day’s top stories and a long read for lunchtime.

Hello readers. Former ATO deputy commissioner Michael Cranston found not guilty of passing information to his son, and Malcolm Turnbull’s big gift to the nation.

Michael Cranston outside the Downing centre after being found not guilty today .picture John Grainger

Cranston cleared

A jury has found former Australian Tax Office deputy commissioner Michael Cranston not guilty of passing information on to his son.

-

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull delivers an address at the NSW Smart Energy Summit in Sydney, Tuesday, December 4, 2018. (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts) NO ARCHIVING

Mal’s big gift

Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s memoir could be an unexpected present under the tree for the Coalition, writes Caroline Overington.

-

Margaret McMurdo AC poses at Riverside in Brisbane CBD on Tuesday, April 24, 2018. Mrs McMurdo AC is the former president of the Queensland Court of Appeal. (AAP Image/Claudia Baxter)

Lawyer X, live

There has been speculation Lawyer X could refuse to appear, but the Royal Commission into Management of Police Informants in Melbourne is having none of it. Follow the proceedings live with Chip le Grand and Mark Schliebs.

-

Former Port Macquarie High School student Debra Hood and (insets) during her school days.

‘Groomed and seduced’

Ex-students of Port Macquarie High say they were “targeted, groomed and seduced’’ into sexual relationships with teachers.

-

(FILES) In this file photo taken on April 26, 2018 in Paris shows the logo of social network Facebook displayed on a screen and reflected on a tablet. - Facebook announced it identified stealth misinformation campaigns from Russia and Iran and shut down hundreds of accounts as part of its battle against manipulation of its platform, prompting a fresh denial from Moscow on August 22, 2018. The social network said late Tuesday that it removed more than 650 pages, groups and accounts identified as "networks of accounts misleading people about what they were doing," according to chief executive Mark Zuckerberg. (Photo by Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP)

The long read: Privacy gone public

Not even new laws can put the genie back in the bottle, Supratim Adhikari and David Swan report.