Articles

The Privacy Act review could shake up Australia's value-based approach to privacy

When you look around the world, Australia stands out as somewhat unique when it comes to privacy. Why? Unlike most “western” democracies, it lacks a federal recognition of the right to privacy.

Read More

Parliament metadata report is a step in the right direction

The introduction of the metadata retention regime way back in 2016 was one of the catalysts for creating Digital Rights Watch. Mandatory metadata retention, for access by a list of agencies that could grow at the whim of the Attorney General, seemed like a bad idea to a lot of people. Turns out now a bipartisan Parliamentary Committee has accepted that this needs to change.

Read More

QR codes, privacy and security

As lockdown restrictions continue to ease, we are seeing increased use of technology with the goal of keeping track of who is coming and going from venues and small businesses.

Read More

The Five Eyes are still trying to undermine encryption

Another year, another Ministerial meeting of the Five Eyes —one of the most powerful known espionage alliances in history. Every year, Ministers from the five member countries (Australia, Canada, United States, New Zealand, United Kingdom) gather to tackle the big challenges they think they face. In their own words, the annual Ministerial meeting has “matured to become the pre-eminent forum for collaboration among the five countries on domestic security issues.”

Read More

The News Media Bargaining Code is not fit for any purpose

There’s no doubt in our minds that we want digital platforms to change–to treat our privacy as a priority, to ensure our data is protected and not used against our interests, to give us transparency and be accountable for invisible algorithms that we are subject to.

Read More

Police drones and coronavirus surveillance

People should be able to use public spaces without being subjected to oppressive surveillance wherever they go.

Yet, according to various media reports, police in Victoria are beginning to roll out the use of drones to monitor and enforce coronavirus restrictions. The use of drones for enforcement and surveillance brings up huge privacy and justice concerns. Many of the things that drones are capable of doing might ordinarily require a warrant, such as tracking someone’s movements, or looking into private spaces. It’s simply not acceptable to use this technology without appropriate safeguards in place—if at all.

Read More