Sam is a dedicated digital rights activist, privacy advocate and writer who regularly contributes to public debate on technology, power and human rights. She is currently undertaking a PhD at Monash University, researching the impact of emerging technologies on housing justice in Australia.
In response to the Inquiry into the Criminal Code Amendment (Sharing of Abhorrent Material) Act 2019 (AVM Act), we teamed up with local and global technology companies, industry, academics and other civil society organisations to express our shared concerns around implementation challenges and unintended consequences of the AVM Act.
In October 2021, the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) completed Phase Three of the consultation process for Australia’s proposed Trusted Digital Identity Bill and the accompanying Trusted Digital Identity Framework (TDIF) Accreditation Scheme, and the Trusted Digital Identity (TDI) rules.
The Human Rights Law Centre and Digital Rights Watch have written to federal, state and territory health ministers calling for stronger privacy protections in the technology being used to support home quarantine trials.
On 7 October 2021 Digital Rights Watch teamed up with Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA) to host a live online workshop on how to write your own policy submission.
Identity and Disrupt petition hits 125+k
Last month we shared with you the petition to repeal the Identify and Disrupt Act, and we’re happy to say it’s now hit 125k and counting! While the likelihood of the legislation getting repealed is extremely small, we believe these signatures will help us in overturning the legislation when it’s set to sunset (in 5 years). It also sends a strong signal to the MPs that surveillance is a serious issue that Australians care about—which is something they seem to ignore across the board.
The Online Safety Act 2021 was passed in June 2021. Contained within it is an Online Content Scheme which includes the ability for the eSafety Commissioner to issue ‘remedial notices’. Upon receiving such a notice, a service must either remove the content or ensure that it is subject to a Restricted Access System (RAS).