The association that campaigns for privacy protections

Policy Statements (c. 40)

Submissions (c. 700)
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Indexed by Policy-Topic
Indexed by Jurisdiction

Recent Policy Papers  –  More here ...

• eHealth Bill – Senate Committee on Community Affairs Report, Letter to Senators (10 Nov 2015)
• National Facial Recognition Database, Letter to ACT Attorney-General (6 Nov 2015)
• PCEHR (Information Commissioner Enforcement Powers) Guidelines, Submission to OAIC (2 Nov 2015)
• Opt-Out and the PCEHR, Letter to Senators (30 Oct 2015)
• Health Legislation Amendment (eHealth) Bill 2015, Submission to Senate Standing Committee On Community Affairs (28 Oct 2015)
• Authority for Release of Photographs, Letter to NSW Privacy Commissioner (22 Oct 2015)
• Health Privacy Resources for Providers and Consumers, Submission to OAIC (20 Oct 2015)
• French Mass Surveillance Bill, Endorsement of Letter to the French Assembly, and another, mirror here (30 Sep 2015)
• Remedies for Invasion of Privacy, Submission to NSW Legislative Council (23 Sep 2015)
• Traditional Rights and Freedoms – Encroachments by Commonwealth Laws, Submission to ALRC (21 Sep 2015)
• Sperm Donor Anonymity, Submission to Victorian Dept of Health (11 Sep 2015)
• NSW Transport Opal Cards, Submission to NSW Transport Minister (24 Aug 2015), the PC'er's reply (25 Sep 2015) and the completely beside-the-point 'response' from the Minister (7 Oct 2015)
• Data Retention in Peru, Signup to Access Now Statement, mirrored here (17 Aug 2015)
• NSW Government Digital Profile Service, Submission to Service NSW (30 Jul 2015)
• Security Clearance Data, Submission to Minister for Defence (15 Jul 2015), and the vacuous reply (14 Aug 2015

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Data Retention

"The tables are turned if the state takes on the Stasi-like function of mass surveillance with the regime having the capacity to spy on us, constantly and permanently" –   Richard Ackland, The Guardian, 7 December 2014

"The government is currently attempting to pass laws to retain information they have not defined, by organisations they cannot confirm, at a price they won't reveal, in the pursuit of a result that the international experience has demonstrated it cannot achieve.
Sounds fine! Assuming, of course, that our future cyber terrorists are even less computer literate than the Attorney-General"
–   Andrew Street, SMH, 15 February 2015

The eHealth Record

"[PJCHR] questions whether the objective of the [Health Legislation Amendment (e-Health) Bill 2015], in automatically uploading personal sensitive health information onto the database..., is a legitimate objective for the purposes of international human rights law.

"To be capable of justifying a proposed limitation of human rights, a legitimate objective must address a pressing or substantial concern and not simply seek an outcome regarded as desirable or convenient.

"Thus the committee is concerned to know whether the limitation on the right to privacy is proportionate; in particular, whether there are adequate safeguards in place ... and whether the opt-out model is the least rights-restrictive way to achieve the objective the government seeks"
–   The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights, 13 October 2015

The 'Nothing to Hide, Nothing to Fear' Argument "... is ridiculous. Privacy is not about something to hide. Privacy's about human dignity, privacy's about individuality. Privacy is about being able to decide when we show ourselves to other people. "The harm is being under constant scrutiny. We know that people who are under constant surveillance are more conformist, they're less individual, less free"

Security guru Bruce Schneier, ABC Lateline, 10 March 2015