Magic and rocket science: de-identification is the new black
De-identification … it’s the latest buzzword. With all the press it’s been getting recently, you could be forgiven for thinking that de-identification is the magic solution to all the privacy problems...
View ArticleWhat’s in the bag: data analytics or social surveillance?
If de-identification is the new black, then data analytics is the new ‘it’ black handbag: trendy, sexy despite its increasing ubiquity, and capable of holding – and hiding – anything. It’s the opacity...
View ArticleWhy I’m taking leave of my Census: a privacy expert’s reluctant boycott
Dear Magistrate, In case the ABS is prosecuting me for non-completion of this year’s Census, I thought I should explain to you my reasons why I have decided that a boycott is the only moral position I...
View ArticleIndividuation – Re-thinking the scope of privacy laws
In Australia, our information privacy rights turn on the definition of ‘personal information’. If data meets the definition of ‘personal information’, there will be privacy obligations attached to it;...
View ArticleDear Diary: Should you be public or private, personal or Ministerial?
I had a dream last night – well, more of a nightmare really. I dreamt that my home had been burgled. As I walked through my home, seeing possessions flung about but nothing obviously missing, I was...
View ArticleSocial licence and pragmatic tools: how to unlock public data
So November has been quite the month for discussing big ideas about Big Data. Between the iappANZ ‘Trust in Privacy’ Summit, the Privacy Commissioner’s De-identification Workshop, and the Productivity...
View ArticleHappy New Year! The Privacy Officer’s guide to 2017
Season’s Greetings, dear readers! It is almost time to start winding down, take a break … and then before the champagne has entirely worn off no doubt you will be taking stock, and planning ahead....
View ArticleMobiles, metadata and the meaning of ‘personal information’
The Federal Court has today determined not to resolve the great privacy question leftover like a bad hangover from 2013: When is information ‘about’ Ben, and when is it ‘about’ a device or a network?...
View ArticleHashing, Beyonce & rainbows: a lay person’s guide to de-identification
Are you embarrassed to admit that you don’t know your statistical linkage keys from your house keys? Think ‘hashing’ is something you do to potatoes, and ‘adding salt’ is something you do to hot...
View ArticleJust because you can disclose, doesn’t mean you should
Let’s talk about discretion and trust. And perhaps also the public interest. These are not the usual words I would use when introducing a discussion of the Disclosure principles in privacy law, but...
View ArticleGDPR & PbD: what Aussies need to know about new privacy laws
Unless you’ve been living under a rock recently, you have probably at least heard about this new big thing in the privacy world called ‘GDPR’ … and maybe you have even wondered whether it matters to...
View ArticleThe privacy paradox: We want to have our data and eat it too
Much of the work we do here at Salinger Privacy involves Privacy Impact Assessment of new projects. One of the things I love about PIAs is that they’re not just about ticking off legal compliance –...
View ArticleBalancing the ledger: accounting for the year in privacy
This Friday it will be the end-of-financial-year here in Australia, which means it’s time for a stock-take: see where we are at, count the positives and negatives, and determine our net position. Are...
View ArticleWhat technology designers need to know to understand privacy
Privacy is contentious today. Some say the information age has brought real changes to privacy norms. With so much private data leaking through breaches, accidents and digital business practices,...
View ArticleWhy the marriage equality poll is a privacy issue
What is it about August 9th? Last year it was that evening of national beating-your-head-against-your-laptop as the Census website went down, and stayed down. This year, the government decided the...
View ArticleLooking forward, looking back: privacy challenges past and future
I tend to focus on privacy disasters in this blog (link here to: oh, pretty much every other blog I’ve ever written), but sometimes it is nice to pause and reflect on the privacy successes too. I’ve...
View ArticlePreventing and responding to data breaches: are you ready for 2018?
“We take your privacy seriously.” Not since the advent of electronic banking finally rendered obsolete the laughable phrase “your cheque is in the mail” has there been a phrase which is more likely to...
View ArticleBetter than Santa, your IoT device will know who’s naughty and nice
Best to peek carefully into your Christmas stocking this year, for Santa may have brought you more surveillance and security risks than you bargained for. With the booming market for voice-controlled...
View ArticleYet another broken anonymity promise
In 2016, the Australian government released, for research purposes, an extract of public health insurance data, comprising the 30-year billing history of ten percent of the population, with medical...
View ArticleToo much cyber, not enough privacy 101
Just as we are preparing for mandatory data breach notification to commence here in Australia, some interesting pieces of news have revealed that perhaps both corporations and government agencies have...
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