The 2018-2019 Annual Report to Parliament of the Office of the
Privacy Commissioner is interesting reading, and it shows that the
OPC has been doing some deep thinking about the nature of privacy
and has been looking around the world at the philosophies of
privacy in other jurisdictions.
The report focuses on two main themes:
1. Enhancing the power of the federal Privacy Commissioner to
include:
- the right to prescribe "binding
rules" and "binding guidance" for the purpose of
enforcing privacy rights and principles
- the right to initiate proactive
investigations/audits so that "demonstrable
accountability" can be shown to exist. This seems to imply
spot checks of businesses – something like the privacy
equivalent of a R.I.D.E. program or a suitcase check at the airport
– to ensure compliance even in the absence of a
complaint
