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ARTICLE · 03 MARCH 2017

Grubbs case and the meaning of personal information

Holding Redlich
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Whether information or an opinion is 'about' an individual requires an evaluative conclusion on a case by case basis.

AustraliaPrivacy
Angela Flannery
Angela Flannery
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If you believe that Grubb's case resolved the question of what information collected by telecommunications service providers is 'personal information' for the purposes of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act), you should think again.

Mr Grubb, a Telstra customer, asked Telstra to provide him with 'all the metadata information Telstra has stored about my mobile phone service'. Mr Grubb filed a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner when Telstra did not provide all of this information. The Privacy Commissioner found that Telstra had breached the National Privacy Principles. Telstra successfully applied to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and the Commissioner then appealed to the Federal Court.

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