THE HON MARK DREYFUS QC MP
SHADOW ATTORNEY-GENERAL
SHADOW MINISTER FOR THE ARTS
MEMBER FOR ISAACS
SENATOR THE HON LISA SINGH
SHADOW PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY TO THE
SHADOW ATTORNEY-GENERAL
SENATOR FOR TASMANIA
MEDIA RELEASE
BRANDIS SHOULD BACK PRIVACY ALERTS
Labor has called on the Government to support Senator Lisa Singh's Private Senator's Bill if they are serious about preventing identity crime.
Today the Attorney-General released an Australian Institute of Criminology report into identity crime, showing that one in ten people surveyed had experienced misuse of their personal information in the past 12 months.
In his speech to the CeBIT Conference in Sydney Senator Brandis said:
"These findings should be a call to action for us all - and not just to redouble our efforts to combat identity crime."
"If Senator Brandis was genuine in his efforts to prevent identity crime he would support Labor's Private Senator's Bill Privacy Amendment (Privacy Alerts) Bill 2014," Mr Dreyfus said.
"Our bill would make it compulsory for corporations and government to notify Australians if their privacy is breached and their personal details are released without authorisation.
"Alerting Australians when their privacy is breached means consumers have the opportunity to change their passwords, improve security setting, or cancel credit cards."
"In opposition, the Coalition supported the Privacy Amendment (Alerts Bill) 2013 which required businesses and government agencies to tell people when their privacy has been breached," Senator Singh said.
"Unfortunately when given the opportunity the Government failed to support its passage through the Senate:
"If the Government were serious about protecting Australians from online fraud they would come out in support of our Privacy Alerts Bill and prioritise its passage through Parliament."
MONDAY, 5 MAY 2014
