“When Australians give personal information to a bank for the purposes of obtaining a credit card, they do not expect that this information will end up on a massive US database”, Senator Kate Lundy, Shadow Minister Assisting on Information Technology, said today.
“However, Mr Andrew Robb, Acxiom Australia’s Chief Executive, yesterday named credit companies as a key source of data for the PBL-Axciom data venture.
“Information provided to a bank for the purposes of obtaining a credit card and subsequently provided by them to credit reporting bureaus is supposed to be protected by the Privacy Act.
“Based on the recent comments of Mr Robb concerning the information sources being accessed by PBL-Acxiom, it appears that the Corporation are exploiting serious loopholes in the operability of the Privacy Act.
“The Government must immediately introduce private sector privacy legislation, or move amendments to the Privacy Act which would protect an individuals details from distribution for purposes other than what consumers have expressly authorised.
“If the US experience with Acxiom Corporation is anything to go by, their web site makes it very clear that they do not allow people to check all information held about them.
“This is in direct contrast to other legitimate users of consumer data, such as the Credit Reference Association of Australia, who are bound under the rules and regulations of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner to release individuals files on a application basis,” Senator Lundy said.
103/99.
