CooperMills

Posts Tagged ‘Privacy Law’

Cooper Mills was recently quoted in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, IT Pro section 11 October 2011, some quotes from the article entitled ‘Is it legal to send your data overseas’:

Despite their determination to keep hold of their data, however, many companies are still being less than careful with their cloud diligence, says lawyer Erhan Karabardak, director of IT specialist firm Cooper Mills Lawyers.

“It’s amazing how little due diligence people do with cloud services,” he explains.

“People say ‘our data is in the cloud’ but if you ask them where, and in which country, and whether it’s encrypted, they just don’t know. Companies really just need to ask some of the basic questions.”

Such questions become more complicated, Karabardak adds, when a particular cloud service distributes data between servers in different countries to boost the redundancy of data storage;

The full text of the article is viewable here.

Tags: cloud computing, Erhan Karabardak, IT Law, Privacy Law, Sydney Morning Herald, technology lawyer, The Age
Posted in General, IT Law | Comments Off

National Cyber Security Awareness Week starts today and runs to 3 June. It is an initiative of the Australian Government, with a number of government agencies and business becoming involved in partnership.

This year it has added significance with internet security breaches increasing, including high profile security breaches involving Sony and Vodafone customers.

The aim of  National Cyber Security Awareness Week is to protect online security and online privacy. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner has published a summary of some simple things that everyone can do to improve online security:

• Install and renew your security software and set it to scan regularly .

• Turn on automatic updates on all your software, including your operating system and other applications.

• Think carefully before you click on links and attachments, particularly in emails and on social networking sites.

• Regularly adjust your privacy settings on social networking sites.

• Report or talk to someone about anything online that makes you uncomfortable or threatened – download the government’s Cybersafety Help Button.

• Stop and think before you post any photos or financial or personal information about yourself, your friends or family.

• Use strong passwords and change them at least twice a year.

• Talk within your family about good online safety.

Tags: Internet Security, IT Law, National Cyber Security Awareness Week, Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, Privacy Law, Privacy Lawyer, technology lawyer
Posted in General, ISP and Telco Law, IT Law, Privacy | Comments Off

Social networking sites pose privacy concerns for their users – in recent times websites such as Facebook have had to revamp privacy settings to help people protect their privacy.

Do you know what you can do to protect your privacy on social networking sites ?

As part of Privacy Awareness Week 2011, the Asia Pacific Privacy Authorities have set out a simple list of tips to help:

1. Know the privacy policy and settings of the social networking sites you use
2. Think about the information you share and how it’s being used, eg, what might a future employer or partner think if they read it?
3. Remember, the internet lets your information be collected and shared easily. The harmless information you post could be added to the mix, creating a full profile about you. Who might see it?
4. Sharing information with just a few people doesn’t stop it reaching a wider audience; be aware who might pass things on
5. Before you post and tag pictures of someone else, ask for their consent – and request that they do the same to you
6. Set up ‘friend’ groups to control the access different people in your life have to your personal details
7. Don’t accept friend requests from people you don’t know
8. Location based check-ins can be risky. Do you really want everyone to know that no-one’s home?

Tags: lawyers, Privacy Law, Privacy Lawyers, Social Networking Law
Posted in General, Privacy | Comments Off

As part of Privacy Week, the Asia Pacific Privacy Authorities have released an animation and e-survey to learn more about privacy and social networking.

The emergence of social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter and others raise new challenges to privacy. Provide your feedback today, and complete the survey.

Tags: IT Law, Privacy Law, Privacy Lawyers, Privacy Survey
Posted in General, IT Law, Privacy | Comments Off

Sony executives have apologised for a security breach, which occurred in April 2011, in which approximately 1.5 million Australian Playstation user accounts were compromised by hackers.

It has been claimed that hackers reportedly stole close to 280,000 credit card numbers from Playstation users, who have  accounts to enabling online game play.

Following the security compromise Sony shutdown the system on 20 April 2011, but has only now admitted to the security compromise which has shaken the confidence of Playstation users, and has prompted concern by the Government and privacy authorities.

In recent days, claims have arisen that, the stolen credit card information has been offered for sale in underground hacker forums.

Tags: Hack, IT Law, IT Lawyers, Playstation, Privacy Law, Privacy Lawyers, Sony
Posted in General, IT Law, Privacy | Comments Off

Cooper Mills Lawyers is once again proud to partner with the The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner to promote Privacy Awareness Week 2011.

Privacy Awareness Week was launched today, with the aim of encouraging people to exercise their privacy rights and to take steps to make sure their personal information is handled in accordance with the law.

As part of Privacy Awareness Week, The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner has timetabled a week of events as follows:

 

Monday 2 May

• Launch of Privacy Awareness Week, including launch of Asia Pacific Privacy Authorities social networking and privacy survey and animation
• Australian Privacy Commissioner Timothy Pilgrim speaks with Deborah Cameron 702ABC Sydney
• Australian Privacy Commissioner Timothy Pilgrim will join Victorian Privacy Commissioner Helen Versey at an event to discuss the use and disclosure of personal and health information, e-health and service delivery reform at the Victorian Department of Human Services. This presentation will be filmed and screened at regional offices in Geelong and Wangaratta during Privacy Awareness Week.

Tuesday 3 May

• Australian Information Commissioner Professor John McMillan will launch Information Awareness Month 2011, a collaborative event between various bodies within the records, archives, library, knowledge, information and data management communities and now in its sixth year. The theme for IAM 2011 is Information overload: Finding the tree in the digital forest. Professor McMillan will also discuss Privacy Awareness Week.
• Launch of 2011 privacy case notes

Wednesday 4 May

• Australian Privacy Commissioner Timothy Pilgrim will speak about privacy issues relating to marketers in new online channels including collection of personal information from public sources and online behavioural advertising at a Privacy Awareness Week cocktail event hosted by the Australian Direct Marketing Association (ADMA)
• Launch of online behavioural advertising FAQs

Thursday 5 May

• Australian Information Commissioner Professor McMillan will address staff from the Department of Human Services about protecting privacy rights, handling personal information and Australian privacy law reform

Friday 5 May

• Privacy Awareness Week 2011 wrap up

Tags: IT Law, lawyers, Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, Privacy Law, Privacy Lawyers, Telecommunications Lawyers
Posted in General, IT Law, Privacy, Uncategorized | Comments Off

In what is believed to be an Australian first, the Federal Court of Australia has allowed service of legal proceedings by Twitter.

Justice Marshall of the Federal Court, sitting in Melbourne, directed that a 17 year old girl, who has been the centre of attention in the ‘nude photo’ proceedings brought by football player Sam Gilbert, be served with a copy of an injunction by email and by twitter. In his Order, His Honour Justice Marshall said:

Notwithstanding the provisions the rules of O37 r2, the Applicant have leave to serve this order on the First Respondent by sending a copy of the order to the First Respondent by email at the address [email address suppressed in this blog post] and posting a copy of the order on Twitter addressed to the First Respondent at the Twitter account its [account name suppressed in this blog post] together with notice that an email containing the order has been sent to the First Respondent.

In an interlocutory hearing scheduled for 2:15pm 24 December 2010, the Applicant, Mr Gilbert, is seeking the following relief from the Court:

(a)        The First Respondent forthwith delete permanently and destroy all copies of the Photographs or any other photograph, image or video sourced from the computer of the Applicant which is in her custody, possession or power, whether in printed or electronic format and including without limitation copies stored on an internet account or website, computer hard drive, memory stick, mp3 device, camera, phone or in any other electronic repository or format.

(b)        Within 14 days after service of this order, the First Respondent make, file and serve an affidavit deposing to the steps taken to comply with the foregoing herein.

Earlier this year an Australian Court allowed service of proceedings via social networking site Facebook.

Typically these unusual methods of service are referred to as  ‘substituted service’, where a person cannot be served through traditional means such as by post or personal, as they cannot be located or are avoiding service. All Australian Courts have broad powers allowing substituted service.

Tags: Federal Court, IT Law, Media Law, Privacy, Privacy Law, Twitter
Posted in Domain law and domaining, General, IT Law, Privacy | Comments Off

Google has given undertakings to the Australian Privacy Commissioner Karen Curtis, after the completion of her investigations into Google’s inadvertent collection of unsecured Wi-Fi data from private residencies around Australia, whilst collecting images for Google Street View.

Google has given the following undertakings:

-          That it will publish an apology to Australians for its collection of unsecured WiFi data in its official Australian Blog

-          That it will provide a privacy impact assessment (PIA) on any new Street View data collection activities its undertakes in Australia

-          This is will provide a copy of these PIAs to the Commoners Office

-          That it will regularly consult with the Privacy Commissioner about personal data collection activities arising from significant product launches in Australia.

The undertakings come after the Commissioner was satisfied that the information collected by Google breached the Privacy Act 1988.

The Commissioner was unable to impose a sanction on Google due to having already initiated an investigation. This has prompted the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) to make an inquiry into Australian privacy laws. This may prompt the government into taking action to strengthen the enforcement regime.

Tags: IT Law, Privacy, Privacy Law, Privacy Lawyer, technology law, technology lawyer
Posted in General, Privacy | Comments Off

Google has announced the beta launch of  ‘interest based’ advertising on their partner sites and YouTube. Will this lead to better advertising ?

Interest based advertising is where advertising content is targeted at internet users based on current and past web surfing history. Typically this is achieved by using ‘cookies’, which are small files stored on the user’s computer, which contain browsing history data. This method of serving advertisements differs to Google’s traditional ‘keyword’ or ‘content’ based advertising, which relies on the keywords or website content to target advertising.

Google believes that:

“…..there is real value to seeing ads about the things that interest you. If, for example, you love adventure travel and therefore visit adventure travel sites, Google could show you more ads for activities like hiking trips to Patagonia or African safaris.“

Criticisms of online advertising sometimes arise from poor quality leads due to the deficiencies in reaching an advertisers target audience. Google’s new interest based advertising may lead to higher quality leads for advertisers and more relevant advertisements for web surfers.

No sooner than Google’s announcement, many people have come out criticising interest based advertising as a threat to privacy, as it relies on tracking the websites an end user visits.

Google claims that it has taken 3 important measures to ensure user choice and privacy, these are:

• Transparency – Users will able to click on advertisement labels to obtain more information about how advertisements are service and what information is used. Google also proposes to expand this in the coming year;
• Choice – Users will have access to the  Ads Preferences Manager tool which lets them “view, delete, or add interest categories associated with your browser so that you can receive ads that are more interesting to you.“
• Control – Users will be able to opt out of interest based advertising. Google have take some significant steps to ensure this by designing a plug in for web browsers to maintain the users choice.

We think Google’s interest based advertising may prove to give advertisers more qualified and better quality leads, while users will now see advertisements which are more relevant to their interests – resulting in a better user experience. Only time will tell, but at least Google has thought through the choice and privacy issues, and it appears to us as IT Lawyers, that they have implemented a sensible and effective process to ensure this.

Tags: Google Advertising, interest based advertising, IT Law, IT Lawyers, online advertising, Privacy, Privacy Law, Privacy Lawyers, technology law
Posted in Domain law and domaining, IT Law, Privacy | Comments Off