Digital Rights Watch

Australians are sitting with anticipation awaiting August 2024, when the Commonwealth Government promised to deliver a draft bill to update the Privacy Act. But there’s another bill that’s poised to outshine the Commonwealth’s and champion state privacy rights… Western Australia tabled a bill earlier this month, checkout this blog I wrote for Digital Rights Watch where we unpack what we love, are less keen on, and what we think the WA government needs to do more thinking on. #privacy #westernaustralia

It is critically important that technology policy is not made on the fly, and the proposal to ban under-16s from social media risks becoming one such example. As Samantha Floreani from Digital Rights Watch observes: 'our current debate is too focused on adult fears rather than children’s lived experience.' https://lnkd.in/gJFwmUkD

We are thrilled to announce that the incredible Kathryn Gledhill-Tucker has joined the Digital Rights Watch team. Kat is a Nyungar technologist, writer, and digital rights activist with a broad experience in the tech industry, including working with teams to build privacy-preserving development practices. They write poetry, science fiction, and occasionally essays that explore surveillance, digital colonialism, and our relationship with machines. Welcome, Kat! https://lnkd.in/gGfQU-rt

It’s NZ Privacy Week 2024! Our theme is “Busting Privacy Myths”. Does Aussie have a stronger privacy advocacy culture than NZ? Join me and three amazing Aussie privacy advocates Kate Bower, Samantha Floreani, & Kiki Fong Lim. We talk about their journeys, the important role of privacy advocates and what it takes to be one. Register below for this free webinar & check out the treasure trove of other privacy week offerings!! #Kate Bower #Samantha Floreani #Kiki F.

Four of Australia’s privacy and data protection commissioners joined together on Wednesday for a special online event convened by the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner for Privacy Awareness Week 2024. The commissioners discussed a range of very topical issues around this year’s theme of privacy and technology and the key principles of transparency, accountability and security. Commissioners from the Commonwealth, Victorian, Queensland and NSW jurisdictions, Carly Kind, Rachel Dixon, Paxton Booth and Sonia Minutillo were joined by moderator Samantha Floreani from Digital Rights Watch in a discussion covering AI and large language models, data breaches and the future. Commissioner Kind reflected on how positive it is to see so many people getting into the detail of questions around privacy and technology, noting the ‘huge amount of interest in the space’. ‘I think we are seeing more and more that organisations are not only considering compliance as necessary but understanding that privacy can be good for businesses and good for operations,’ she said. #PAW2024 #PrivacyAwarenessWeek #PowerUpYourPrivacy Office of the Information Commissioner (Queensland) Information and Privacy Commission NSW

"Amplification, engagement and recommendation algorithms are the fuel on the fire of misinformation." Our Chair Lizzie O'Shea and Head of Policy Samantha Floreani in The Guardian today on why challenging the business models of digital platforms is central to combatting misinformation online: https://lnkd.in/ggcmChtj

We are thrilled to welcome Dr Caitlin McGrane as our newest Board Member! Caitlin is a feminist activist, researcher and academic. You might have seen news about her latest research recently, looking into online harm in Australian Women’s Sport: https://lnkd.in/eEMQFhCD 9 in 10 Australian sportswomen experience gendered online harm affecting their wellbeing, athletic performance and economic opportunities. Most shockingly, 80% of respondents who had reported online harm didn't feel any safer afterwards, meaning sportswomen are being let down by ineffective systems. Full report here: https://lnkd.in/gG-PMJSW

Did you catch the latest episode of Burning Platforms? Tune into this discussion on 'AI-generated mind reading' with Peter Lewis, Dan Stinton, Lizzie O'Shea and special guest, Michael Blumenstein Deputy Dean at UTS Faculty of Engineering & IT: https://lnkd.in/gsirGHfC

Today we delivered an open letter to the Attorney General from 800+ individuals and 22 organisations across privacy, public health and children's rights. It calls for robust privacy reform to better protect children (and everyone!) from harmful data practices. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/g_-CaGSU