Privacy alert – Reminders of Our Obligations

Case 1: Damages awarded for breach of privacy rules

The Privacy Commissioner recently imposed the first monetary penalty on an organisation for breaching the requirements of the Federal privacy legislation.

Although the privacy legislation has been in force since 2004, up until now complaints have been conciliated, and either dismissed or settled. The privacy enforcement regime encourages conciliation and most substantiated complaints have been resolved by provision of an apology, improvements to processes to avoid future problems, and by negotiated compensation arrangements in a relatively small number of cases.

The recent case, in which compensation of $7,500 was ordered, involved a couple who were in the process of family law litigation. The complaint arose from the following actions: