Privacy: ‘Back to Basics’ – Joint statement by Privacy Authorities Australia
Privacy: ‘Back to Basics’ – Joint Statement by Privacy Authorities Australia
Privacy regulators from across Australia have issued a joint statement to mark the start of Privacy Awareness Week 2023 (1 to 7 May).
For Privacy Awareness Week, privacy authorities from around Australia are joining together to call for people, organisations and agencies to get ‘back to basics’ and ensure they have covered the privacy fundamentals.
Things have changed a great deal in the last few decades. Since the first Australian Privacy Commissioner was appointed in 1989, the information and technology landscape has become significantly more complicated, and new technologies require us to move with the times – in business, as government agencies, in regulation and legislation, and as individuals.
Organisations and agencies now collect, use and disclose huge amounts of personal information. The practices to keep it safe, and to use it responsibly, need to keep pace.
Our engagement in the online environment presents extraordinary opportunities as well as challenges. But in all this growth and change we can’t lose sight of the basics.
Privacy Awareness Week is about the simple steps we can all put in place to protect personal information.
Organisations and agencies should only collect personal information that is necessary for carrying out their functions and activities and take reasonable steps to secure it. Once the information is no longer needed for any enduring legitimate purpose, it should be securely destroyed or permanently deidentified. Carrying information that is not needed creates additional risk, especially in the event of a data breach.
For individuals, we can all take simple steps to make sure we don’t share personal information without good reason when accessing services or products, protect our accounts using multi-factor authentication and strong passphrases, and wipe data from old accounts and devices.
Australia’s privacy authorities will continue to work together to uphold privacy protections and promote awareness of the responsibilities of organisations and government agencies and the rights of individuals.
Signed
- Angelene Falk
Australian Information Commissioner and Privacy Commissioner - Samantha Gavel
Privacy Commissioner, New South Wales - Sven Bluemmel
Information Commissioner, Victoria - Paxton Booth
Privacy Commissioner, Queensland - Stephanie Coleman
Director, State Records of South Australia - Samantha Gavel
Privacy Commissioner, New South Wales - Rachael Rangihaeata
Information Commissioner, Queensland - Richard Connock
Ombudsman, Tasmania - Peter Shoyer
Information Commissioner, Northern Territory
Background
Privacy Awareness Week is an annual event that highlights the importance of protecting personal information and helps organisations, government agencies and the public understand privacy rights and responsibilities.
Privacy Authorities Australia members are marking Privacy Awareness Week 2023 from Monday 1 May to Sunday 7 May.
The event is a joint initiative of Asia Pacific Privacy Authorities (APPA) members, who have adopted the campaign theme ‘Back to Basics – Privacy Foundations’ for 2023.
More information
- Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
- Information and Privacy Commission, NSW
- Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner
- Office of the Information Commissioner, Queensland
- Privacy Committee of South Australia
- Ombudsman Tasmania
- Information Commissioner Northern Territory