The blueprint for major changes to Australian privacy law was released last Monday. It may take as long as 18 months for new laws to arrive, but it’s a sure thing.
In a new series of posts, Peter Moon will highlight some key recommendations that the Australian Law Reform Commission has made to Canberra.
First, we’ll look at three big ones that headline the report.
Small companies no longer to be exempt
Most companies turning over less than $3m are exempt from the current privacy laws. The report recommends that the law be extended to apply to companies of any size.
Our take on it
This one is sure to reach the statute books. The army of small companies that have so far escaped mandatory compliance will be brought into the system.
No separate State privacy laws
Today, the States have their own privacy laws, sometimes significantly different from the Federal law. The report wants to replace them all with a single national scheme.
Our take on it
This won’t happen easily or quickly. Some States are very attached to their own privacy standards, particularly about health information and records. Uniformity would be nice, but there are some tough nuts to crack.
A mandatory data breach notification scheme
If your data server is compromised today, you have the option of keeping quiet and hoping nothing takes it public. The report proposes mandatory reporting of serious breaches. The Privacy Commissioner and affected people would need to be advised.
Our take on it
Another sure thing. Only a handful of US States lack such a requirement already, and with the exponential growth in online data storage the Government will see the case for an equivalent Australian law as compelling.
Conclusions, so far
These recommendations alone show how privacy is moving from an almost ‘experimental’, soft area of law to the mainstream.
We’ll look at other report recommendations in future posts.
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