PRIVACY Britt, Beattie and Amy

What are the issues regarding privacy on the internet? Privacy issues arise everyday. Examples of when privacy becomes in issue on the internet is when you’re using Facebook, shopping or banking online or receiving unwanted calls from telemarketers. Individuals have little control over what search engines do with their information It is difficult to balance the right of privacy and control over personal information as usually it is put online voluntarily and nearly impossible to erase Personal information is easily accessible particularly In Australia, the two biggest concerns with the internet nominated by the public is identity theft and loss of financial data

Individual’s rights Sharing information such as your name or birthday can allow people to steal your identity. The right to be aware they being recorded by CCTV. There are guidelines to balance the use of camera recording for crime solving purposes and the individuals right to privacy.

Examples Ravshan “Ronnie” Usmanov put nude photos of his girlfriend up on Facebook after she ended their relationship – “I put the photos up because she hurt me and it was the only thing [I had] to hurt her.” The girlfriend asked him to take down the photos and when he didn’t, she called the police.

Teacher fired over a Facebook comment – She said that her 5 th graders “are the devil’s spawn” and that she “hated their guts” – The school had found the post and fired her – She challenged them through court, who agreed that getting fired was too harsh and that the teacher should reconsider that posting things on Facebook. Google breached the Privacy Act by collecting personal information from unsecured WiFi connections while photographing houses for its Street View service – Under the current Privacy Act, the Privacy Commissioner was unable to impose a sanction but Google still had to publish an apology

Court says you don’t need permission to tag a Facebook photo – There was a picture produced of a mother who wanted custody of her daughter, of her drinking which would have reversed her medication for bi- polar. – The mother argued that it was put up against her will and without agreement, so that it was a illegitimate piece of evidence. Also that she had not accepted the ‘tag’ pg herself on facebook. – The court said you did not need to accept the picture of yourself for it not to be you.

Current status and laws There is no statutory tort for breach of privacy – In the case, Australian Broadcasting Corporation v Lenah Game Meats Pty Ltd [2001] HCA 63, the High Court ruled that there was nothing standing in the way of developing one The Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) – Relates to how personal information is handled NSW Crimes Act 1900 – The law on the use of cyberspace

Personal information collected in the online environment is subject to the same laws as any other personal information A report by a Australian Law Reform commission published For Your Information: Australian Privacy Law and Practice in which they recommended extensive changes to privacy laws and practices to take account of new technology.

Future decisions The Privacy Act is only 20 years old, but it was introduced before computers, the Internet, mobile phones, digital cameras, surveillance technology and social networking websites became common use. – Regulates the way that agencies and organisations collect, store, use and disclose personal information

Now the Privacy Act has had amendments made to it, and civil penalties would be imposed by the Federal or Magistrates Court for “serious breaches when other enforcements measures are not sufficient” Senator Joe Ludwig said that the Privacy Act must be modernized because it didn’t deal with privacy issues brought around by the internet, including e-commerce, social networking sites and search engines.