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ARTICLE · 16 JUNE 2023

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Preventing data breaches and establishing response plans - privacy laws

Matthews Folbigg Lawyers
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Existing policies and procedures relating to personal information and privacy should be reviewed, to ensure compliance.

AustraliaPrivacy
Geeti Chawla
Geeti Chawla
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In recent years, the Privacy Laws in Australia have undergone various amendments in an effort to make them more stringent and responsive to ensure that businesses are taking all necessary steps to protect personal information and to respond adequately in the event of a data breach. The more recent high-profile data breaches have proved to be a turning point for the latest reform to the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Act) in the form of the Privacy Legislation Amendment (Enforcement and Other Measures) Act 2022 (Amended Act), which came into effect on 13 December 2022.

The Amended Act introduced key changes in the form of:

  1. increased penalties for companies and individuals found to be in serious and/or repeated privacy breaches;

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