Six weeks after the commencement of the Notifiable Data Breaches
(NDB) scheme, the Office of the Australian
Information Commissioner (OAIC) published its
first quarterly report on mandatory data breach
notifications.Whilst the report must be viewed with some caution
given the brevity of the reporting period, it does support previous
findings that suggest that human error remains a major issue for
businesses accountable for the protection and integrity of the
personal information they hold.
The OAIC received 63 data breach notifications during the
reporting period, which ran from the commencement of the NDB scheme
on 22 February 2018 until the end of March. Not surprisingly,
health service providers were the leading industry sector that
reported data breaches to the OAIC, accounting for just under a
quarter (24%) of all notifications. Next came legal, accounting and
management services (16%), demonstrating that professional services
businesses need to be aware of and
