The Australian Federal Government is accelerating privacy legislation reform, originally slated for year's end, to August. In announcing the earlier timing, Federal Attorney General, Mark Dreyfus specifically mentioned the 'marketing, research, product development and advertising' industries.

The new Federal Privacy Commissioner, Carly Kind, said the legislation would prevent companies from 'consenting out' of the new fair and reasonable requirement to justify collecting and using personal information and she hoped this new policy feature "will distinguish Australia from other jurisdictions worldwide".

Both Dreyfus and Kind addressed the Privacy By Design Awards last week, and highlighted the increasing threats to personal privacy from data breaches and broader industry use of personal information.

"As everyone in this room is well aware, the personal privacy of citizens is under attack – both here in Australia and overseas," Dreyfus said. "Just about all of us are online, nearly all of the time, but in return for this Australians are increasingly being asked to share their personal information in online transactions. And they expect that when they do, their information will be protected and that they will maintain control over it. It is clear that personal information has immense value – not just to individuals, but to those engaged in marketing, research, product development and advertising. It's past time we stopped treating the most personal and private information of Australians as an asset that entities hold."

Dreyfus cited the OAIC's Australian Community Attitudes to Privacy survey which found that 89% of Australians want stronger legislation to protect their personal information. The survey also revealed that 87% of parents want more legislation that protects children's privacy, 86% of respondents want new rules and regulations around data storage and processing, and 90% of people want greater efforts made to safeguard data and ensure privacy."

Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind also warned that companies can’t ‘consent out’ of ‘fair and reasonable use’ of personal data and micro-targeting under the new legislation. She expected the new privacy legislation would put the onus on organisations to consider whether consumers would reasonably expect their personal information to be used in particular ways.

“I’m hopeful that this new feature of the Australian framework will set us aside from other jurisdictions worldwide and position us as Australia’s privacy regulator to take on some of the more concerning industry practices we’re seeing, whether those be related to emerging technologies such as biometric recognition, or to persistent problematic practices such as micro-targeting or dark patterns,” Kind said in a speech to the Privacy Design Awards last week.

“The concept of privacy by design speaks to a deeper and more universal truth – that technology should be deployed in the pursuit of societal objectives, and not the other way around. That even as we, as individuals and communities, are shaped by technology, we also have the power to shape technology.

“The key word there is power. Notions of power cut in every direction in the digital ecosystem – the power wielded by tech monopolies and duopolies; the power concealed in political micro-targeting and misinformation campaigns; the lack of power and agency consumers feel when they’re using digital technologies."