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ARTICLE · 26 JULY 2007

Privacy Review - Have Your Say

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The Commonwealth Attorney-General has asked the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) to review Australian privacy laws and to make recommendations about ways in which they could be improved.

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The Commonwealth Attorney-General has asked the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) to review Australian privacy laws and to make recommendations about ways in which they could be improved.

The main law that the ALRC is reviewing is the Australian Privacy Act. This was introduced in 1988 and extended to some parts of the private sector in 2001. However, the advent of new technologies (including data matching, facial recognition technologies and improvements in genetic mapping), and how information is gathered, stored and communicated, together with changes in community views and the complex interaction with other privacy laws introduced by state and territory governments, has meant that these laws may not respond appropriately. The review is to consider those issues, and to make recommendations for improvements or changes to the Attorney-General.

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