The Privacy Protection for Off-shoring Bill 2007, a private member's Bill, was introduced into the House of Representatives on 18 June 2007. The Bill proposes to amend the Trade Practices Act 1974 by regulating the transmission of 'personally identifiable information' for processing outside Australia.
Specifically, the Bill would insert new provisions into the Trade Practices Act to:
- make it a strict liability offence for a corporation, which discloses a consumer's personally identifiable information to any branch, affiliate, subcontractor, or unaffiliated third party outside of Australia, except in some circumstances;
- outline new notice requirements for a corporation intending to send personally identifiable information to an overseas body; and
- require corporations not to discriminate against consumers, who object to some transmissions of their personally identifiable information.
The Bill also proposes to amend the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997, by requiring agencies, entering into Commonwealth contracts for the provision of services in Australia, to take certain measures to protect personally identifiable information.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
