Australia's new privacy chief primes tougher enforcement stance amid 'cyber arms race'
With new legislation to overhaul Australia's Privacy Act now due in August, Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind outlines the regulator's plans to become a tougher enforcer and the 'multiple ways to skin the cat of AI governance.'
Carly Kind is less than three months into her role as Australia's Privacy Commissioner in the restructured Office of the Australian Information Commissioner and there's a lot that lies ahead.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus last week announced government plans to put forward legislation in August to overhaul national privacy laws, closing a more than four-year review period. Kind told Capital Brief this could see Australia "leapfrog" legislation in other jurisdictions — including the EU's GDPR — in the modernisation of privacy protections for individuals.
"I point to the fair and reasonable test as one example in which the Australian legislation can avoid some of the pitfalls of the GDPR," Kind said.
Introducing such a test to Australian privacy law would mean any business measures linked to personal information would need to be considered a fair and reasonable use of that information. Capital Brief has reported previously on how a fair and reasonable test could impact the use of technologies including facial recognition.
