Privacy Commissioner Releases Results of a Privacy Sweep

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner ("OAIC") last week released the results of a privacy sweep on websites most used by Australians.

The sweep involved the OAIC reviewing the content of almost 50 of the most popular websites in Australia. Results were measured against the new reforms to the Privacy Act that comes into effect on 12 March 2014.'  The privacy policies were evaluated on readability, relevance and accessibility.

On announcing the results, the Privacy Commissioner Mr Timothy Pilgrim expressed concern that 83% of the sites had one or more issues in the following areas: 'easy to find', 'easy to read', 'contacts for further information', 'relevance and length'. ' The Commissioner also noted that overall policies were too long, complex and difficult for people to understand.

Further details about the results of the Privacy Commissioner's sweep can be found on' OAIC's website.

Is your privacy policy compliant?

Under the new Australian Privacy Principle 1, organisations must have a current and readable privacy policy. '  There are only eight months until the new privacy law reforms commence so now is the time to check that your policy is compliant.