Privacy Issues

Privacy Awareness Checklist (PAC) & Privacy Awareness Campaign
May 2010: The Biometrics Institute today released it PAC.
Biometrics Institute Media Release 3 May 2010: Biometrics Institute today releases new Privacy Awareness Checklist to help guide its Members.
April 2010: The Biometrics Institute is planing to review its Privacy Code once the Australian Privacy Act review has been finalised. As the review is still ongoing and may even get delayed in the pre-election environment in Australia, the Biometrics Institute needs to show that its member are serious about biometrics and privacy independently from the Australian Privacy Act. 
The Biometrics Institue Privacy Committee and the Board are therefore working on a Privacy Awareness Checklist (PAC) for members of the Biometrics Institute and continue with their campaign to improve the Act.
Biometrics Institute Media Release 20 April 2010: Biometrics Institute moves forward on Privacy. Launches new Privacy Awareness Checklist to help it Members.

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Privacy Awareness Week 2-8 May 2010
The Privacy Awareness Week is scheduled for the 2-8 May 2010 and the Australian Privacy Commissioner Karen Curtis will give a keynote address at the upcoming 11th Biometrics Institute Australia Conference & Exhibition on the 27 May 2010 in Sydney.
The Biometrics Institute is planning to launch the PAC during May 2010 and ask members to become signatories of the PAC which may be publicly listed on the Biometrics Institute website. The PAC is a series of questions providing guidance on what privacy issues are to be considered when implementing biometrics.

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Australian Privacy Awards 2009
The Biometrics Institute is pleased to announce that it has again been shortlisted as Finalist for the Australian Privacy Awards in the Community and NGO category for its Privacy Code in October 2009. See Biometrics Institute Press Release.

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Australian Privacy Awareness Week - 3-9 May 2009
The theme of this year’s Privacy Awareness Week is 'Privacy: where do you draw the line?'. Access more details at the website.

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RISE Project  - Rising pan?European and International Awareness of Biometrics and Security Ethics
The RISE Project (Rising pan?European and International Awareness of Biometrics and Security Ethics) is a 36 month CSA (coordinating) project, which aims to promote pan?European and International Awareness on Ethical Aspects of Biometrics and Security Technologies. In particular the project aims to, deepen, enlarge, and ensure continuity to transnational (European) and international dialogue already instigated by the international conferences on ethics and biometrics organised by the EC DG Research and the US DHS Privacy Office respectively in Brussels and Washington DC in 2005 and 2006. RISE’s framing point is the new political landscape created by the Treaty of Lisbon of the European Union. The EU is now on the verge of a multifaceted reform of its decision?making rules for security, which may have deep ethical and political implications. RISE will address these issues. 
Website will be available in May 2009.
The Biometrics Institute is in contact with the Consortium to receive updates for its members.

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Privacy: Review of the Privacy Act 1988 - Hear more at the Biometrics Institute Australia Conference 2009
On the 11 August 2008, the Special Minister of State and the Attorney-General launched the Australian Law Reform Commission’s report into the Privacy Act 1988 (the Privacy Act) entitled For Your Information: Privacy Law and Practice. A copy of the report is available at: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/other/alrc/publications/reports/108/. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet is coordinating the Australian Government’s response to this report.
Given the large number of recommendations, the report will be considered in two stages. The first stage will consider recommendations on priority issues that are central to any restructure of the Act. This will involve consideration of those recommendations concerning the unified privacy principles, reforming health information and credit reporting provisions and ensuring that the Act effectively regulates new and emerging technologies. I anticipate that the response to the first stage will be finalised and legislative amendments introduced within 12 to 18 months of the report being released.
The Department has organised a consultative meeting from 2pm to 3.30pm on Monday, 16 February at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (1 National Circuit, Barton ACT) to consider proposals relating to “Privacy and New Technologies” with representatives from government, industry organisations, and consumer bodies. If you are interested to attend, please advise PMC by cob Monday 2 February if you are able to attend this meeting.Even if you are unable attend the meeting, we would still appreciate any comments you may have on the ALRC report, so please feel free to send them to me at alrcprivacyresponse@pmc.gov.au.
For details refer to the ALRC website. 

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Australian Privacy Awards 2008
The Biometrics Institute has been extremely pleased that it was shortlisted as Finalist for the Australian Privacy Awards in the Community and NGO category for its Privacy Code in August 2008.
See Biometrics Institute Press Release
Go to the Privacy Office website for the list of nominees and winners.
We would like to congratulate the following Biometrics Institute members, who have won in their relevant categories:
Grand Award winner: Medicare Australia
Large Business Award: Telstra Corporation
Symantec Government Award: Child Support Agency
The following Biometrics Institute members had been shortlisted:
Large Business category: Hitachi Data Systems, National Australia Bank
Symantec Government category: Centrelink 

Photos: Biometrics Institute Privacy Code Project Team and The Hon John Faulkner presenting the Certificate, August 2008

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International Privacy Code - October 2007
During the most recent European Biometric Forum Research Seminar in Brussels there has been a public call by the European Data Protection Supervisor, Mr. Peter Hustinx, to establish an international privacy code for the use of biometrics.
He called the Australian Privacy Code, established by the Biometrics Institute,  a good start for achieving that goal.

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HIDE – Homeland Security, Biometric Identification & Personal Detection Ethics
HIDE is a project promoted by the European Commission (EC) and coordinated by the Centre for Science, Society and Citizenship, an independent research centre based in Rome.
The Biometrics Institute has started discussions to be involved in a problem solving workshop in Singapore in July 2009.
 
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Biometrics in Schools
Several cases of the introduction of biometrics in Australian schools had been reported in the press during 2008 including Peter Moyes Anglican Community School and Ku-ring-gai Creative Arts High School. The Biometrics Institute contacted the NSW Department of Education as well as relevant Schools and Parents Councils and Schools to brief them on biometrics and the responsible use in schools. It also issued a media release to the press on this issue advising that any organisation looking at implementing biometrics, should contact the Biometrics Institute first to address potential issues.
The Biometrics Institute is now looking at developing some guidelines for schools re the responsible implementation of biometrics.

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, Hong Kong considered a case where a school collected fingerprints of its staff and pupils for the purposes of recording attendance and provision of lunch and library services. The query was whether the collection of the fingerprints for the purposes of recording attendance and provision of lunch and library services was excessive and hence contrary to DPP1(1).
The Office was not satisfied that the consent given by the pupils and the staff was free from undue influence given the special relationship between the school and its pupils and between the school and its staff. The purposes of recording attendance and provision of lunch and library services could be achieved by other less privacy intrusive alternatives. It decided that collection of fingerprints for those purposes was not necessary and was excessive and the school had to cease the collection and destroy all fingerprint data collected.

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