Clare Sullivan, The Proposed Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights –The Australian Experience of its Effectiveness

Comment by: Scott Mulligan

PLSC 2013

Workshop draft abstract:

This paper examines the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights proposed by the Obama Administration 2012 as a “blueprint for privacy in the information age,” having regard to Australia’s experience in applying the seven proposed privacy principles.

The same basic privacy principles have applied to most businesses in Australia for over a decade. The Australian experience in implementation and in the operation of the privacy principles, and the ability of the principles to really deal with privacy issues, provides a useful model for assessing the effectiveness of the proposal for the United States.

There are many similarities between the United States and Australia which makes Australia an ideal comparative model. Like the United States, Australia is a federation of States, with the Australian Constitution being based on the United States Constitution. Like the United States, Australia has a federal system of government and a common law legal system. Both countries face the same issues in protecting consumer privacy while also fostering free enterprise.

The paper discusses Australia’s experience in implementing the privacy principles, how Australia has encouraged compliance, and the overall effectiveness of the principles from the perspective of consumers and business. The paper concludes with a discussion of the ability of the principles to deal with present and future privacy issues faced by both Australia and the United States.