Law Reform Institute to conduct review of Tasmania’s Privacy Laws

The issue of privacy was raised as a matter by Meg Web MLC and was referred to the institute.

As part of the review, the institute has released an issues paper and is seeking public consultation on the privacy issues facing Tasmanians.

Professor Jeremy Prichard, Director of the Institute said that the paper had identified “potential gaps in our laws where sufficient protection might not be provided”.

His team is looking to receive the community’s input on what those gaps might mean in practice.

The review is prompted by changes in technology, changing community perceptions of privacy and recent incidents of data breaches.

In relation to data breaches, Professor Prichard said that the initial issues paper raises questions about whether the law “provides clear obligations to agencies with regards to how they manage personal data about people and also their obligations relating to when they should destroy data”.

He said the team was also interested in whether the law provides adequate solutions when data breaches do occur, especially if they result in harm to people.

The team will also look at whether reporting systems might be useful for data breaches and what those could be.

Other issues include technology such as drones and how they impact people’s privacy as well abuse based on threats to share intimate images.

Research Fellow Rebecca Bradfield said that a lot of legislation in this are had existed for several decades and that it was timely to look at whether the laws in place were up to date and sufficient to provide effect protections for Tasmanians.

Dr Bradford said this was in light of changing technology, changing perceptions in the community around privacy and the importance of protecting people’s information and space.

The team is hoping to understand the community’s ideas “of what information they feel is appropriate to be in the public domain and which information they think should be private,” Dr Bradfield said.

“There’s also just a need to understand how things to do with facial recognition technology or surveillance or just the greater use of mobile phones can impact upon people’s privacy,” she said.

As part of their public consultation, the team is hoping to hear from any Tasmanian who’s interested in having their say in relation to the protections of privacy that exist in Tasmania.

There are several ways in which people be part of the consultation.

The public can read the institute’s issues paper and then respond to questions in a template. They can also contact the institute and submit their views through a telephone conversation.

The consultation finishes in mid-July and will inform the drafting of a report with a set of recommendations for the government.

The project is funded by the Solicitors Guarantee Fund

Professor Prichard said that the issue was was important and relevant to many Tasmanians.

“It’s absolutely essential to hear from them so that their views and opinions and experiences are incorporated into the final report, ” he said.

See more of Meg in the media.