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ARTICLE · 25 NOVEMBER 2020

Telecommunications, Media And Technology (TMT) Law Update – Volume 35

Davies Collison Cave
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The interlocutory proceedings related to an action commenced by the Commissioner in March 2020 in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica controversy.

AustraliaPrivacy
Andrew Sutherland
Andrew Sutherland
Gordon Hughes
Gordon Hughes
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Preliminary skirmish between Australian Information Commissioner and Facebook in Cambridge Analytica case.

On 14 September 2020, the Federal Court of Australia rejected an application by Facebook Inc to set aside an earlier ruling granting the Information Commissioner leave to serve documents on Facebook Inc in the United States: Australian Information Commissioner v Facebook Inc [2020] FCA 1307. The interlocutory proceedings related to an action commenced by the Commissioner in March 2020 in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica controversy. Facebook services in Australia are principally provided by Facebook Ireland, and the interlocutory issue was whether Facebook Inc satisfied the extra-territorial requirements in section 5B(3) of the Privacy Act 1988, specifically whether it "carries on business in Australia" and whether it collects or holds personal information in Australia. Thawley J considered that by virtue of the fact that Facebook Inc provided services,

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