Handing over personal data is a prerequisite to participating in the digital economy, and that means there’s always a risk of it being stolen.
We have to hand over documents that identify us all the time, whether we’re scanning our ID to get into a club, attaching our birth certificates to an application to rent a house, or linking our passports with an airline account to get rewards points. But as the recent Optus data breach shows, mishandling of this information can cause chaos.It can be hard to tell what happens to your data once you hand it over, even if you take the time to read privacy policies.
Whether they need it or not, organisations do hang on to consumer data, and any reform on that front needs to set the boundaries on when this is actually necessary and when it should be discouraged or outlawed.In Optus’ case, it was required to collect this information by Australian law, to make sure the people accessing telecommunications services are who they say they are. It was also required by law to keep the data for a certain time.
“Australia at the moment is pretty behind the times when it comes to effectively regulating organisations to make sure that they do the right thing.” “We will be having a look at whether or not companies should be permitted to go on keeping data when the purpose of collecting it in the first place might have been no more than establishing someone’s identity ... We need to have them appreciate that Australians’ personal information belongs to Australians. It’s not to be misused, it absolutely has to be protected, and if the Privacy Act is not getting us those outcomes, then we need to look at reforms to the Privacy Act.
While this could mitigate the damage wreaked by a breach, the changes don’t address the core issue of companies needing to collect the data in the first place. And it doesn’t help ease the discomfort when one is compelled to prove their identity by allowing someone to photocopy their driver’s license.Over time, the 100-point check will be phased out and replaced by a digital system. In fact, such a system already exists.
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