The Digital Rights Feed - Digital Rights Watch

Our ever-updating news feed of Digital Rights news, articles, info, tools and more.
Check back regularly or follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

Talkback: the data 'privacy paradox'

Privacy has been in the spotlight quite a bit this week, especially with concerns about the My Health Record national database. We all care about the privacy of our data online, but we're not all that active when it comes to actually protecting it.

How to tame the tech titans

NOT long ago, being the boss of a big Western tech firm was a dream job. As the billions rolled in, so did the plaudits: Google, Facebook, Amazon and others were making the world a better place.

Concerns My Health Record could expose sex workers, people living with HIV to prosecution

Ninety per cent of sex workers are planning on opting out of the My Health record scheme due to fears it could increase stigmatisation, and in some cases lead to criminal prosecution.

One in five people think their smartphone is eavesdropping on them

An hour later, you’re scanning Facebook or Instagram, and up pops an ad for the product or service you were talking about. “It can’t be coincidence,” you think to yourself. Then you steal a look at the likely suspect. Was your smartphone listening to you?

Former digital transformation boss says My Health Record system is 'problematic'

The man appointed by Malcolm Turnbull to transform the Commonwealth's digital public services has said if he was Australian he would probably opt out of the Government's controversial online health database.

Digital Constitutionalism: Using the Rule of Law to Evaluate the Legitimacy of Governance by Platforms

How well do social media platforms do, when measured against the standards of legitimacy that we apply to governments? Very poorly.

Tech companies join call for govt to back away from encryption crackdown

A group of digital rights organisations, privacy activists and tech companies has called for the government to refrain from legislation that could potentially weaken access to encrypted communications services.

Government left red-faced by health privacy commissioner's website bungle

The National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner’s website was unavailable for several hours on Tuesday evening, leading to concerns of a serious data breach and embarrassment for the government as it attempts to quell privacy concerns over its new digital health record system.

Internet Censorship, Part One: Netsweeper's Content Filtering Controversy

This is the first part of a two-part series focusing on internet freedom and internet censorship on a global scale. Net neutrality is an important issue, but internet freedom is also directly jeopardized by deliberate censoring technologies.

Why I'm opting out of the government's digital health record and you should too

My decision to opt-out comes after consulting several healthcare professionals, privacy and computer security experts, the government, and patients who stand to benefit from having a record.

'Over a barrel': We are clueless about how much data we're giving up

Australian attitudes about what kind of personal data should be collected and used differ strongly from the realities of the big data marketplace, a report indicates, but many consumers feel powerless to do anything about it.

We’re for Sydney

To use this website, cookies must be enabled in your browser. To enable cookies, follow the instructions for your browser below. There is a specific issue with the Facebook in-app browser intermittently making requests to websites without cookies that had previously been set.

Privacy fear as health data opt-out begins

People's medical records will be stored on a national database under the federal government scheme, to be viewed by patients, doctors and other medical staff at any time.

My Health Record opt-out period begins, but privacy concerns remain

The Federal Government's digital health agency has moved to reassure Australians that their online My Health Record data will be safe, as the opt-out period begins.

Cambridge Analytica spawns creepy new spinoff: meet 'Auspex International.'

Another shady data company emerges from the ashes of Cambridge Analytica. It's fronted by a man who, in an undercover documentary, once boasted of Cambridge Analytica's links to government intelligence agencies.

Facebook Fined in U.K. Over Cambridge Analytica Leak

LONDON — Facebook was hit with the maximum possible fine in Britain for allowing the political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica to harvest the information of millions of people without their consent, in what amounts to the social network’s first financial penalty since the data leak was revea

Marketing Firm Leaked Database With 340 Million Records

You've probably never heard of the marketing and data aggregation firm Exactis. But it may well have heard of you.

Indigenous Water Rights; The Legal Ramifications of Treaty; Dissecting white, cis, ableist Feminism; Fed Square and the Dodgy Mayor.

On this Monday July 9th 7:05am - Alternative News – Reviewing the digraceful, unrepentant behaviour of Senator David Leyonhjelm.

“I Was Devastated”: Tim Berners-Lee, the Man Who Created the World Wide Web, Has Some Regrets

“For people who want to make sure the Web serves humanity, we have to concern ourselves with what people are building on top of it,” Tim Berners-Lee told me one morning in downtown Washington, D.C., about a half-mile from the White House.

Witness K and foreign interference hypocrisy

DID YOU ENJOY THIS ARTICLE? Unlike many media organisations, Eureka Street doesn't use paywalls. We believe in making the work of our writers as free and accessible as possible. But there are costs. In particular - and in contrast to many other online publications - we pay our contributors.

Privacy; teetering on the brink of extinction.

Sorry, Pocket didn't save an excerpt for this link.

Thermostats, Locks and Lights: Digital Tools of Domestic Abuse

SAN FRANCISCO — The people who called into the help hotlines and domestic violence shelters said they felt as if they were going crazy. One woman had turned on her air-conditioner, but said it then switched off without her touching it.

Commentary: How to ‘fix’ social media without censorship

The Cambridge Analytica/Facebook scandal may have changed the way millions of people perceive the risks to privacy when they go online.

Censorship disaster looms in Europe

WELCOME to Connected Rights, your licence to link to digital rights news and analysis. Sorry there was no Connected Rights last week – I’ve been taking a little time off. But important stuff is afoot!

David Kalisch : Big data is here, let's handle it responsibly

A balance is possible between the safe and effective use of nationalised data to inform government decisions — without compromising sensitive information. Australian Statistician David Kalisch on how and why that matters.

Apple shuts down iPhone hack used by police

An Apple software update aims to close a loophole exploited by smartphone "cracking" technology used by some Australian government agencies and police.

In two days, an EU committee will vote to crown Google and Facebook permanent lords of internet censorship

On June 20, the EU's legislative committee will vote on the new Copyright directive, and decide whether it will include the controversial "Article 13" (automated censorship of anything an algorithm identifies as a copyright violation) and "Article 11" (no linking to news stories without paid perm

Calls for kids' data protection in Aust

Dylan Collins, the chairman of the kids' digital media company TotallyAwesome, believes the internet was designed for adults and many services are struggling to adapt to the extraordinary number of youngsters logging on every day.

Is China listening?

The Chinese telco Huawei is massive, and the Australian Government is doing its best to keep the company at arm's length. Huawei is on a charm offensive locally, in the hopes it can build our new 5G network.

Centrelink's 'deeply flawed' robo-debt to face new investigation

The welfare agency has been under fire over its automated debt recovery scheme for more than 18 months, after scores of people were incorrectly targeted in a data-matching blitz on supposed over-payments.

Can airport authorities search your phone or computer?

At no other time in history has airport security been so rigorous: travellers have come to expect pat downs, bag screenings and random drug detection tests. But you might be caught by surprise if you're asked to surrender your phone or laptop for Australian Border Force (ABF) authorities to search.

XYZ is a space for practical tools to navigate digital security and privacy from a gender perspective, learn from each other's activism, inspire one another and co-create.

Online harassment is used by both states and non-state actors to deliberately shrink the space in which politically-active women use digital technologies to express themselves, politically organise or carry out their work.

How Safe is Your Digital Life?

Phishing. Government and corporate snooping. Weak passwords. And that time Instagram showed you an ad for something you and your roommate were discussing voice-to-voice the night before. These are just some of the concerns that come up in the realm of personal digital security.

An incomplete list of evidence that Australia is becoming a police state

I always figured it couldn’t happen here. There was something about Australians and our collective personality that made it impossible. As it turns out, there isn’t anything special about Australians. We were kidding ourselves.

Security bill will muzzle human rights activists

However, a functioning civil society also relies on freedom for charities to advocate for all groups in society, and to expose human rights violations of governments around the world.

Could the Govt's new surveillance laws compromise security?

The Federal Government wants the power to read the private messages of suspected criminals. But some in the tech game think that opens up a "back door" to encrypted systems that will compromise everyone's privacy and security.

Spy laws: 60 changes revealed but Coalition and Labor expected to pass legislation

After almost six months of investigation and consultation, the bipartisan parliamentary committee charged with reviewing the government’s proposed foreign interference and espionage laws have come to terms – but only by making sweeping changes.

Apple joins the war on Facebook over privacy

The eyes of the tech world were on Apple this week - until Facebook's latest privacy crisis subsumed everything. Thousands of software developers flocked to San Jose, California for Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference.

Government urged to pass espionage laws before by-elections

The federal government’s proposed laws to crack down on foreign interference should shield journalists as well as halving prison sentences for breaching the proposed secrecy offences, a key report has recommended.

An encryption bill with holes in it

The Federal government’s assertions that its new encryption-cracking legislation won’t create a backdoor in encrypted communications is “ludicrous” according to digital rights experts.

Greens ask govt to come clean on encryption law details

The Australian Greens have asked Cyber Security Minister Angus Taylor to outline how the government plans to draft laws to bypass end-to-end encryption without compromising the security of the encrypted data.

‘Surveillance society’ fears as govt targets Facebook, Google

The federal government’s plan to compel tech giants such as Facebook and Google to provide access to private mobile phone use has raised concerns about the risk of Australia becoming a “surveillance society”.

User Agreements Are Betraying You

There’s a better way for us to interact with tech companiesWoodrow HartzogJun 5

Bank details, TFNs, personal details of job applicants compromised in major Australian data breach

A human resources company that counts the Reserve Bank of Australia, Coles, Australia Post, Aldi and Linfox as clients has revealed a massive data breach that has potentially compromised the personal details of thousands of Australians.

Attempts to break encryption will have lasting effects for online freedom of speech

Digital Rights Watch has warned of wider impacts on freedom of speech and the right of Australian citizens to hold private conversations, after the Government announced plans to introduce legislation that would give law enforcement the power to break encryption protocols.