Keep ahead of data breaches

It seems like every other day we see another media release about an organisation affected by a data breach, compromising the personal information of Australians. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s (OAIC) Notifiable Data Breaches Report: July to December 2022 shows that during this period, data breaches resulting from malicious or criminal attacks accounted …
Read more

Do you know your data breach responsibilities under the Privacy Act? Notifications are down by 16%!

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) regularly publishes reports on data breaches that have been reported to the commission under the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme. This scheme was established in 2018 to improve protection of identifiable consumer information and improve the security standards for protecting personal information.  Under the scheme, any organisation covered …
Read more

Notifiable Data Breaches – 6 months of lessons from the OAIC

Notifiable Data Breaches Report (July-December 2020) The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) has released its twice-yearly report on notifiable data breaches reported in the second half of 2020 539 data breaches were notified to the OAIC under the Notifiable Data Breach Scheme (NDB Scheme) in the second half of last year, with 38% …
Read more

Australians beware: ACCC reports rise in COVID-19 related scams

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) has recorded an alarming rise in scams and phishing activity since the outbreak of COVID-19. It seems scammers are taking advantage of the situation by trying to trick individuals into handing over money or personal information in support of crisis efforts. How do I know it’s a scam? …
Read more

modern data breach

Unpacking modern Data Breaches: Is your data safe?

In November 2018, the Australian National University (ANU) suffered a massive data breach where up to 19 years of sensitive and personal data were obtained by an unknown hacker. The ANU has said that the hack not only affected students and professionals in Canberra but that it had the potential to affect a number of …
Read more

12 Months of Enforcement – The Trials and Tribulations of the GDPR

The European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force on 25 May 2018. We have now seen 12 months since the commencement of the GDRP. Though a revolutionary regional instrument, it imposes obligations on businesses across the globe. In its one year of application, the GDPR has drastically changed the data protection and privacy …
Read more

Through to the keeper: Do you know your sporting organisation’s privacy obligations?

Despite being 30 years old, organisations can still be confused about their obligations under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act). Whether the Privacy Act even applies can be a minefield for sporting organisations such as sporting clubs, gyms, and governing bodies. Unfortunately, ignorance of the law excuses no one, and fines for a breach of the …
Read more