Australie: réforme de la Privacy Act 1988

Le 12 mars 2014, les amendements à la loi australienne sur le protection de la vie privée (Privacy Act 1988) sont entrés en vigueur. 

Selon le commissaire à la vie privée d'Australie, Timithy Pilgrim,

"These are the most significant changes to privacy laws in over 25 years and affect a large section of the community. The world has changed remarkably since the late 1980s when the Privacy Act was first introduced, and so the changes were required to bring our laws up to date with contemporary information handling practices, including global data flows". 

(Source: OAIC, Press Release, 11 March 2014)

Les changements portent notamment sur l'harmonisation des principes de protection des renseignements personnels des secteurs public et privé et sur les pouvoirs de l'Office of the Australian Information Commissioner: 

"The changes include a new set of Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) that will regulate the handling of personal information by Australian Government agencies, businesses with a turnover of more than $3 million or those trading in personal information and all private health service providers.

There are also changes to the credit reporting provisions of the Privacy Act and new regulatory powers for the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), including the power to conduct a privacy performance assessment, accept an enforceable undertaking and, in the case of serious or repeated breaches, seek civil penalties. [...]

The new laws require businesses and Australian Government agencies to be more transparent about how they handle personal information. Entities need to have a clearly expressed and up to date privacy policy about the way they handle personal information. [...]"

(Source: OAIC, Press Release, 11 March 2014)

Pour plus de détails sur la législation australienne et sa réforme, voir notamment:

• OFFICE OF THE AUTRALIAN INFORMATION COMMISSIONER: 
• The Privacy Act
• Privacy law reforme