Essay: Protecting Personal Information - Guidelines For Tech Users.

You are to write an "OP-Ed" (editorial opinion) for a major on-line news-site ( e.g BBC, SMH, Huffington Post your choice .You may choose any topical current information law issue covered in the forum topics or another topic of interest with the lecturer’s email approval. You should create at this as for a digital publication so you may use graphics to enhance the presentation if you wish. Have a look at some op-des online before you start e.g see my op-ed on Cyberbullying in the Age and SMH in the resources on Moodle under Cyber-crime.

You should seek to emulate a real “Op-Ed  and  your work  should be of a high professional standard in all respects.

Background: Technologies that Impact Privacy

There is much type of technologies that may create an impact on the privacy of the individual persons. These technologies causes lot of potential damage on the privacy of the persons, which may include cloud computing, Bluetooth technology, devices that help in tracking along with biometric technology. It is also inclusive of other technologies such as the use of smart cards, electronic tolls and the radio frequency that can be tracked after goods are purchased. It is also seen that technologies help in enhancing the privacy of the individuals as well when used in a proper manner. The use of the technologies has to be done in a proper manner so that the personal information of the individual is not shared along with the activity.

The Department of Communications provides the individuals with fact sheets so that they can get to know about the various security and privacy issues that are related to different issues with respect to technologies. The Australian Communications and Media Authority has provided various safety guidelines with respect to the internet security so that individuals can protect themselves through the use of these technologies.

While protecting the tablets or the smart phones for storing the personal information of the individual, the persons need to put a lock on their phone so that no one else can access the gadget. The Bluetooth device of the gadget needs to be switched off so that it cannot be discovered by anyone, which may result in the leak of the information. The applications that allow the individual in sharing their locations should be switched on only when it is necessary so that it cannot be misused. The Wi-Fi networks that are encrypted with the phone needs to have a password so that the user can only access it whenever he/she needs it. The history of the internet browser needs to be erased on a regular basis so that it does not fall in to any unwanted hands, which can lead to misuse of the information. The individuals need to download the applications that are necessary only through the official trusted sources so that it can be verified later on, if any problem arises.

The individuals also need to follow some protocols that will help them in protecting themselves online. The privacy records that are uploaded on the online portals needs to maintain certain privacies so that the personal information that is provided can be accessed by limited personnel only, which will help in protecting the information. The safety tips that may be followed by the individual is that the security software that is present in the computer or the laptops needs to have anti-spyware, firewall softwares and anti-virus scanners so that the internet lines can be secured. The privacy policies and the notices that are present on the websites need to be studied in a careful manner so that the individuals can get all the information that they want.

The softwares need to be downloaded through trusted sources by paying the official sites so that it can help in protecting the individual persons from being caught in some kind of fraudulent activities. The individuals need to avoid providing the username or the password in the unsecured websites so that it does not fall into wrong hands.

Guidelines for Protecting Personal Information

The Privacy Act 1988 ensures that the personal details and the information of the individuals can be complied in a better manner through the use of these applications, which is inclusive of the information that is available on the cloud. The diversity that is present on the cloud devices are a set of rules that is being provided by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), which helps the individuals from staying away than breaching the privacy.

The Privacy Act has to be complied by many entities, which are agencies under the federal government or are holders of the office. The organizations that are in partnership or association along with the individual organizations all have to comply with the Privacy Act. The Privacy Act does not include the entities that are small business operators along with the political parties and the territory or state authorities.

However, it is to be noted that the small operators of business, which has a turnover that is more than $3 million can be complied under this act. It also includes the services of health and the credit bodies that are responsible for reporting.

The features that are included in the act are the principles, which help in governing the personal information that can be collected and stored. The provision of the act, which is related to the credit reporting provisions, is related to the personal information of the credible sources that can be collected and stored.

The privacy principles that is present in Australia helps in the transparent management of the personal information of the individuals, which helps in ensuring them in dealing with the complaints and inquiries. It also helps the individuals in developing the policies so that the personal information can be managed in a proper manner. The anonymity and the pseudonymity of the individuals will be excluded if not otherwise mentioned.

The collection of the personal information that is solicited in nature can be collected through the legitimate activities and functions. The personal information that needs to be collected can be done in a direct manner so that the impracticable and other exceptions can be excluded. The consent of the individual persons needs to be taken before collecting their personal information so that it can be done in a transparent manner.

The personal information that is collected from the overseas recipients has to be done following some basic steps so that the privacy of the individuals does not get breached. The contractual obligations that are present on the recipients help the individuals in following the guidelines so that they can be protected. The adoption or the disclosure of the identifiers that are related to the government has to be authorized by the law so that it can help in verifying the identity of the individual.

The quality of the personal information has to be to up-to-date so that it can be accurate and complete that is being provided by the individual person. The information of the individual that is personal in nature can be disclosed up to the extent that is required by the other party. This will help in limiting the pass out of the personal information, as it helps in putting forward that information that is only necessary for completing the particular activity.

There are penalties that are imposed on the individuals for breaching the Privacy Act where the corporate bodies have to pay a penalty of $1.8 million and $360,000 for the bodies that are not corporate in nature. The entity known as the APP will be interfering with the entities if the provisions that are present for reporting on credit is found to breach the act along with the breach of the CR code as well. The services that are being provided under the Commonwealth contract has to be done if they breach the contract as well.  

Greenleaf, G., 2015. Global data privacy laws 2015: 109 countries, with European laws now a minority.

Tene, O., 2013. Privacy Law's Midlife Crisis: A Critical Assessment of the Second Wave of Global Privacy Laws. Ohio St. LJ, 74, p.1217.

Hemsley, B., McCarthy, S., Adams, N., Georgiou, A., Hill, S. and Balandin, S., 2017. Legal, ethical, and rights issues in the adoption and use of the “My Health Record” by people with communication disability in Australia. Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability, pp.1-9.

Gelber, K. and McNamara, L., 2015. The effects of civil hate speech laws: Lessons from Australia. Law & Society Review, 49(3), pp.631-664.

Swieca, J., Hamilton, G.S. and Meaklim, H., 2017. The management, privacy and medico-legal issues of electronic CPAP data in Australia and New Zealand: Electronic CPAP data management in Australia and New Zealand. Sleep Medicine, 36, pp.S48-S55.

Vance, A., 2016. Data Privacy Laws Follow Lead of Oklahoma and California. State Education Standard, 16(2), p.25.

Banisar, D., 2016. National comprehensive data protection/privacy laws and bills 2016 Map. Browser Download This Paper.

Binns, R.D., Millard, D. and Harris, L., 2014, June. Data havens, or privacy sans frontières?: a study of international personal data transfers. In Proceedings of the 2014 ACM conference on Web science (pp. 273-274). ACM.