Privacy Commissioner Issues New Guides

The Privacy Commissioner recently issued three new Privacy Guides on:

• interaction between the Privacy Act and the Spam Act,
• internal investigations of privacy complaints
• handling personal information security breaches.

Interaction between the Privacy Act and the Spam Act

During Privacy Awareness Week (24 – 30 August 2008), the Privacy Commissioner released Privacy Sector Information Sheet 26 – Interaction between the Privacy Act and the Spam Act. The Guide is designed to assist organisations who engage in electronic marketing to understand their obligations under the Privacy Act and the Spam Act. Since the penalty for breaching the Spam Act 2003 (Cth) is up to $1.1 million per day and there can be serious consequences for breaching the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), organisations should ensure that their electronic marketing is compliant with the law.