A standalone privateness commissioner will probably be appointed to take care of the rising threats to knowledge safety to guard the private info of hundreds of thousands of Australians.
Federal Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus says the privateness regulator could have the assets and powers to fulfill the continuing challenges of the digital age.
“The large-scale data breaches of 2022 were distressing for millions of Australians, with sensitive personal information being exposed to the risk of identity fraud and scams,” he stated.
Mr Dreyfus stated the previous coalition authorities had didn’t replace privateness legal guidelines and had scrapped the place of a standalone Privacy Commissioner.
He stated the Albanese authorities has already acted to considerably enhance penalties for firms that fail to take satisfactory care of buyer knowledge and has given the Australian Information Commissioner improved and new powers.
Mr Dreyfus ordered an entire evaluate of the Privacy Act final 12 months after declaring it was not “fit for purpose”.
The Privacy Act evaluate put 116 proposals to the federal government, together with permitting victims of future knowledge breaches to sue for compensation.
That’s along with the snap laws launched final 12 months, within the wake of the Optus and Medibank hacks, which ramped up penalties for firms that failed to guard knowledge from being stolen – rising fines from $2m to $50m.
The determination to nominate the standalone Privacy Commissioner restores the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner to the three-Commissioner mannequin initially meant.
The Australian Information Commissioner Angelene Falk holds a twin appointment because the Privacy Commissioner.
She will stay Information Commissioner and head of the OAIC, and a merit-based choice course of to fill the function of Privacy Commissioner will begin instantly.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
