In light of all the data breaches, I’m surprised we haven’t seen more protests/appeals like this one in Australia. Kim Stephens reports:
When Steven Willmott applied for a job as a console operator at a Woolworths service station in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland town of Beerwah in December, 2013, he objected to the online application portal’s demands that his birth certificate, passport and driver’s licence be included as part of the application.
Without the addition of the documents, as well as requisite fields demanding his date-of-birth, gender and right to work in Australia status, he could not continue the application.
So he abandoned it.
“My main concern was identity theft. They wanted all this information just to apply and you could not apply unless you handed it over,” he said.
“If people get your personal information they can open up phone contracts, buy cars, get loans, they have the perfect storm of everything, your signature, your date of birth, your parents’ names, absolutely everything anyone would ever need to steal your identity.”
Barring the application without the documents being provided was, he believed, a highly discriminatory practice on Woolworths’ part.
Last month, after a year-long legal tussle, the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal agreed.
Read more on Brisbane Times.