Allie Coyne reports: The Coalition Government has refused to back a reinvigorated bill that would force companies to notify customers of a data breach, saying while it agrees with the concept in principle, the proposed legislation needs more work. In March this year Labor Senator Lisa Singh re-introduced the lapsed Privacy Alerts Bill, which failed to…
Category: Non-U.S.
Northern Ireland: Prison service signs undertaking after Maze records sold at auction
From the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), with emphasis added by me: The prison service in Northern Ireland has been warned by the UK data protection regulator after a filing cabinet containing Maze Prison records was unwittingly sold at auction. The incident occurred in 2004 when a cabinet that officials thought was empty was sold at…
Ca: Henry v Bell Mobility: Another Federal Court case shows PIPEDA damages are hardly worth pursuing absent evidence of actual harm
Canadian privacy lawyer David T.S. Fraser writes: The Federal Court, in the recently issued decision in Henry v Bell Mobility 2014 FC 555 (not yet on CanLII or the Court’s site) has awarded a very modest sum of damages to a customer of Bell Mobility whose phone account was accessed by an impostor. At the hearing…
Canada: Stolen Customer Data Results In Ontario’s First Certified Privacy Class Action
Michael J. Paris of Bennett Jones LLP writes: Businesses that collect personal information have an added incentive to monitor employees handling customer data – Ontario’s first class action arising from the new tort of “intrusion upon seclusion” was certified last week.1 In Evans v Bank of Nova Scotia, the plaintiffs sought to certify a class action…
KR: FSS toughening punishment on data theft
Chung Ah-young reports that the South Korean financial regulator is cracking down by enhancing the penalties for employees and executives: Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) Governor Choi Soo-hyun directed the reinforcement of the punitive measures for any irregularities which can disrupt the market order and breach the rights of financial consumers. To prevent a recurrence of…
AU: Optus exposes customers’ silent listings
Ben Grubb reports: Optus says it mistakenly released an undisclosed number of customers’ names, mobile numbers and addresses to Sensis, which led to them being published in the White Pages. The details exposed were of those who requested their number be kept silent, or private. The telco, which began notifying customers about the issue last…