The Data Availability and Use Report of the Productivity
Commission, released yesterday, recommends the introduction of a
"Comprehensive Right" right for consumers to access their
"consumer data" or direct that it be provided to third
parties.
The Comprehensive Right could be utilised by bank customers to
require their bank to send transaction and other account data to a
competitor (such as a FinTech provider), who could use it to price
alternative financial services.
The Commission recommends that this be done through a new Data
Sharing and Release Act which would:
- give participants in individual industries the capacity to
determine what data constitutes "consumer data" relevant
to their industry, via a data-specification agreement. The
Productivity Commission expects that these agreements would also
articulate transfer mechanisms, security of data measures and the
requirements necessary to authenticate a consumer request prior to
any data transfer; and
