This Week In Digital Trust

This week, Arj and Jordan dive into the issue of privacy and security of data in the rental market.  After a spate of data breaches affecting Australian businesses, commentators had been warning of the disaster-in-waiting in the real estate sector. And sure enough we got one. Arj and Jordan explore the underlying factors involved, including practices and attitudes at individual real estate agencies, power imbalances in the housing market and legislative gaps. Links: Samantha Floreani article on real estate data practices (Guardian) https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/oct/04/telcos-arent-alone-in-collecting-too-much-of-our-personal-information Harcourts real estate agent data breach (Guardian) https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/nov/03/melbourne-real-estate-agency-data-breach-leaves-details-of-renters-and-landlords-exposed ABC investigation into real estate websites pressuring rental applicants to pay for background checks (ABC) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-04/regulators-examining-renters-pressured-into-paying-background/101611846 UNSW analysis of rental data collection practices https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/social-affairs/cybersecurity-breaches-call-rental-data-collection-overhaul Business lobby pushes back on removal of small business exemption (AFR) https://www.afr.com/technology/you-can-t-just-flick-a-switch-small-business-fears-new-data-laws-20221004-p5bn2o First Dog on the Moon on housing https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/oct/28/you-would-not-believe-what-questions-real-estate-agents-are-asking-tenants-now Credits: Music by Bensound.com

We're back after a break. This week, Arj is joined by elevenM privacy practice lead Melanie Marks to discuss the Australian Government's move to significantly lift penalties on businesses that violate privacy, as the nation experiences a spate of serious data breaches. They discuss the likely impact and effectiveness of the fines, clear up some misconceptions about what the fines are actually for, and explore some of the less-discussed additional powers introduced alongside the fines. Links: Privacy Legislation Amendment (Enforcement and Other Measures) Bill 2022 https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/legislation/bills/r6940_first-reps/toc_word/22113b01.docx;fileType=application%2Fvnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document Attorney-General press release https://ministers.ag.gov.au/media-centre/tougher-penalties-serious-data-breaches-22-10-2022 Explanatory Memorandum https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/legislation/ems/r6940_ems_715c9651-94ce-4b91-9912-a4023d8c7f61/upload_word/22113%20EM.DOCX;fileType=application%2Fvnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document  Link to make submissions on the Bill https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Legal_and_Constitutional_Affairs/PrivacyEnforcement2022 OAIC's Federal Court proceedings against Facebook https://www.oaic.gov.au/updates/news-and-media/commissioner-launches-federal-court-action-against-facebook Credits: Music by Bensound.com

This week, Arj and Jordan get wonky, exploring why public policy approaches to scaling back market power are increasingly dovetailing with reforms to better safeguard individual privacy. The conversation takes them to unexpected places, covering two new momentous EU regulations, Amazon's acquisition of Roomba maker iRobot, and the so-called "hipster antitrust" movement. Links: Article about Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act (InnovationAus) https://www.innovationaus.com/eu-double-act-puts-regulatory-squeeze-on-platform-tech/ FTC probing Amazon's iRobot aquisition (Reuters) https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/ftc-seeks-more-data-amazons-17-bln-deal-vacuum-maker-irobot-2022-09-20/ ACCC Digital platforms inquiry https://www.accc.gov.au/focus-areas/inquiries-finalised/digital-platforms-inquiry-0 ACCC on Google's proposed FitBit acquisiton (Guardian) https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/dec/22/google-faces-400m-fine-over-fitbit-takeover-if-it-doesnt-wait-for-competition-watchdogs-approval Article about "hipster antitrust" (Reuters) https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-antitrust-breakingviews-idUSKBN2B3016 Lina Khan paper in Yale Law Journal https://www.yalelawjournal.org/pdf/e.710.Khan.805_zuvfyyeh.pdf Credits: Music by Bensound.com

This week, Arj and Jordan give their views on the strategic and policy takeaways from the now infamous Optus breach. They explore a philosophical shift in business attitudes to data, proposed legislative reforms, and the broader cultural shift needed in how we collectively approach the building of technology. Links: Jeremy Kirk reporting https://www.bankinfosecurity.com/optus-under-1-million-extortion-threat-in-data-breach-a-20142 Jeremy Kirk on Twitter https://twitter.com/jeremy_kirk/status/1573652986437726208?s=21&t=5kqrqoy-kIEnnvUh0YavOQ Data is the new asbestos (InnovationAus)  https://www.innovationaus.com/data-is-the-new-asbestos-optus-hack-renews-calls-for-privacy-reform/ Clare O’Neil on 7.30 report https://www.abc.net.au/7.30/home-affairs-minister,-clare-o%E2%80%99neil,-speaks-on-the/14066184 Credits: Music by Bensound.com

In this special episode of This Week in Digital Trust we feature an interview by our friend Jonathan Gadir with Chris Dolman, executive manager for Data and Algorithmic Ethics at IAG. Jonathan and Chris discuss the place of data ethics within organisations, how to break down the AI and data ethics risks, and how to think about the governance of these risks. They also use real-world example to illustrate and explore some of the common factors that lead to data ethics risks, such as "poor proxies" and "false causality". Links: Chris Dolman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cdolman/ Gradient Institute: https://www.gradientinstitute.org/ Gradient Institute report 'De-Risking Automated Decisions' https://www.gradientinstitute.org/assets/gradient_minderoo_report.pdf Jonathan Gadir on Twitter https://twitter.com/jonoloosecannon Credits: Music by Bensound.com

This week, Arj and Jordan explore why privacy and data protection laws sometimes fall short of delivering the outcomes we need and desire - especially those crafted using a principle-based approach. The discussion follows another insightful paper by UNSW law academic Katherine Kemp on the continued practice of ‘data enrichment’, which Prof. Kemp argues is illegal. They also discuss the failed compliance of law enforcement agencies with laws that allow them to access private data. Links: Katherine Kemp paper "Australia’s Forgotten Privacy Principle" https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4224653 Katherine Kemp oped https://www.choice.com.au/consumers-and-data/protecting-your-data/data-laws-and-regulation/articles/why-we-need-to-enforce-laws-against-data-enrichment Australian Law Reform Commission report https://www.alrc.gov.au/publication/for-your-information-australian-privacy-law-and-practice-alrc-report-108/ Report on Commonwealth ombudsman review (Saturday Paper) https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2022/09/17/pretty-creepy-agencies-illegally-obtained-emails-voicemails-and-texts#hrd Credits: Music by Bensound.com

It's been labelled “the most important election you’ve never heard of”.  This week, Arj and Jordan dive into an upcoming debate over the election of the next secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union, a 150-year-old body that has been pivotal in the setting of internet standards and policy. The backdrop is a fascinating discussion about whether the long-held Western vision of an open, global, free and secure internet is now over, as more anti-democratic regimes clamp down on networks and platforms in their jursidictions, while Western governments themselves seek new ways to fix the ills of an unregulated internet. Links: White House Listening Session on Tech Platform Accountability https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/09/08/readout-of-white-house-listening-session-on-tech-platform-accountability/ Council on Foreign Relations report - Confronting Reality in Cyberspace: Foreign Policy for a Fragmented Internet https://www.cfr.org/report/confronting-reality-in-cyberspace Report on ITU election (SMH) https://www.smh.com.au/technology/future-of-cyberspace-on-the-line-as-us-russia-square-off-20220910-p5bh27.html Credits: Music by Bensound.com

Should companies be forced to host all data about Australian citizens onshore? With debates about data localisation kicking off all over the globe, Arj and Jordan this week unpack the issues surrounding this policy. They also discuss the normalising of surveillance technologies among young people, after a Sydney school introduced fingerprint scanners for access to bathrooms. Links: Home Affairs discussion paper https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/reports-and-pubs/files/data-security/nds-action-plan.pdf Tech companies on data localisation (InnovationAus): https://www.innovationaus.com/tech-giants-rally-against-data-localisation-in-australia/ ABC News story on fingerprint scanners at schools https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-06/moorebank-high-school-fingerprints-students-going-to-toilet/101410544 Drones with tasers https://7news.com.au/news/crime/taser-armed-drones-a-crackpot-idea-c-7048891 Salinger blog post on fingerprint scanning https://www.salingerprivacy.com.au/2022/09/07/finger-scanning/ Credits: Music by Bensound.com

What actually *is* AI? Is the term meaningful? Is it always the best answer? This week, Arj and Jordan explore how technologies like AI and machine learning are being approached, and the growing tendency towards "AI solutionism". They also discuss a couple of provocative proposals to entirely abandon the use of the term "AI", and how this might aid our approach to problem solving and policymaking. Links: ABC News story on botched aged care AI trial https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-31/aged-care-cctv-trial-artificial-intelligence-false-reports/101390952 Ellen Broad article on use of "artificial intelligence" as a term https://www.innovationaus.com/we-need-to-let-go-of-regulating-artificial-intelligence/ Center on Privacy & Technology announcement to stop using terms “artificial intelligence,” “AI,” and “machine learning” https://medium.com/center-on-privacy-technology/artifice-and-intelligence%C2%B9-f00da128d3cd XKCD "Here to Help" https://xkcd.com/1831/ Credits: Music by Bensound.com

This week, Arj and Jordan discuss the merits of the Albanese Government's decision to overhaul the previous government's national cyber security strategy, which included the eye-catching $10 billion funding allocation for Project REDSPICE. They also discuss why organisations continue to consider facial recognition, in spite of the intense uproar over its use in recent weeks and months. This comes as ClubsACT considers trialling the technology in pubs and clubs to enforce self-exclusion requests from problem gamblers. Links: IT News story on cyber strategy overhaul https://www.itnews.com.au/news/government-re-launches-cyber-security-strategy-584180 ABC story about facial recognition trial in ACT https://www.abc.net.au/canberra/programs/drive/facial-recognition-clubs-act/101350722 Credits: Music by Bensound.com