The Prime Minister’s comments yesterday on Brisbane radio station 4BC that “on the information in front of me at the moment, it would appear that what is being stored is information in relation to individuals that can be obtained now,” demonstrates his lack of empathy with the growing public disquiet on this issue, Senator Kate Lundy, Shadow Minister Assisting on IT, said today.
“The collation of public register information such as that which is contained on the electoral roll or in local council records is legitimate information that citizens are compelled by law to hand over to government. It is another matter entirely to suggest that the same information should be available to businesses for marketing purposes, Senator Lundy said.
In fact during questioning of the AEC in Senate Estimates yesterday, Electoral Commissioner Bill Gray said that the “use of that roll by some who clearly are making, or using it for commercial purpose, is an issue that I think needs to be addressed.”
According to comments by Mr Andrew Robb, chief executive of Acxiom Australia, the corporation’s next strategy is to collect information from existing PBL databases, including information on Ticketek, Star City Casino and ninemsn customers.
“The ethics of this are highly questionable. ninemsn customers, for example, were promised that their information would never be sold to other businesses for marketing purposes. That privacy promise is still available on their web site (http://www.ninemsn.com.au). Any breach of this promise by ninemsn could have serious implications under section 52 of the Trade Practices Act 1974.
Acxiom’s final strategy, according to Mr Robb as reported in The Australian on 30 November 1999, is to add information from general customer records currently held by retail companies, mail order companies, and in his words, banks and credit companies.
“In addition to the ethics of their conduct, the implications of these companies’ actions must be considered in light of the Banking Code of Conduct, the common law duty of confidentiality for banks, and part 3A of the Privacy Act 1988.
The Prime Ministers position as reported by ninemsn is that ‘media magnate Kerry Packer’s plans for a giant database with personal details on as many as 15 million Australians was not a cause for concern’.
“If this is the case then the Prime Minister is failing the leadership test on an issue that affects all Australians, or as we now know, at least 15 million of us”, Senator Lundy said.
106/99 Media contact Simon Tatz 6277 3334 0418 488 295
