THE HON MARK DREYFUS QC MP
SHADOW ATTORNEY-GENERAL
MEMBER FOR ISAACS
CLARE O'NEIL MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR INNOVATION, TECHNOLOGY AND THE FUTURE OF WORK
MEMBER FOR HOTHAM
TIM WATTS MP
SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR CYBERSECURITY
SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS
MEMBER FOR GELLIBRAND
FACEBOOK PRIVACY ACTION
The delay in acting over the Facebook Cambridge Analytica scandal raises serious questions over the Morrison Governments commitment to protecting the privacy of Australians.
Labor takes the protection of privacy seriously and, when companies are doing the wrong thing, they should face the full force of the law.
We are concerned that the Information Commissioner is only acting now, two years after we first became aware of allegations Cambridge Analytica had breached the privacy of 300,000 Australians.
This is a full year after the US, and 18 months since the UK regulator took similar action against Facebook, raising serious questions about whether the OAIC has been adequately resourced by the Morrison Government.
It is long past time for the Morrison Government to take seriously the issue of privacy.
It has now been one year since the Morrison Government promised to introduce tougher penalties and greater powers for the Privacy Commissioner to protect Australians online privacy. Like so much else with Scott Morrison and his Government, that promise has so far amounted to nothing more than empty words.
And, at a time when the protection of online privacy is more important than ever, the Morrison Government has refused to appoint a standalone Privacy Commissioner against the will of the Parliament. Instead, a single person has been tasked with fulfilling the functions of the Privacy Commissioner, the Information Commissioner and the Freedom of Information Commissioner. That is not good enough.
TUESDAY, 10 MARCH 2020
