Ending a well-established venture is never easy. Leaving an indelible mark can soften that blow, and that’s exactly what the International Association of Privacy Professionals Australia/New Zealand has set itself up to do.

While in the process of transitioning to become a part of the IAPP, iappANZ announced a $200,000 donation that will fund eight privacy research projects. The donation stems from surplus funds iappANZ accumulated from its 10 years of service to the privacy community in its region. Former iappANZ President Melanie Marks, CIPP/E, said putting the excess funds toward the “continued development and education of the local privacy profession and the broader community” was an easy decision.

“This is consistent with iappANZ’s objectives,” Marks said. “On this basis, the iappANZ Legacy Project was developed by the iappANZ Board as an open invitation to give privacy professionals the opportunity to have their privacy projects and related research funded.”

While the donation from the Legacy Project is a one-time deal, Marks explained that some of the money will be long-lasting. For example, the funds being used for grants at Monash University and Macquarie University will be allocated over five and 10 years, respectively.

“Once iappANZ ceases operations, a Legacy Services Provider will take over the role of iappANZ in overseeing the projects,” Marks said. “Its role will be to ensure that each project meets its deliverables and key milestones and that research reports and findings are disseminated broadly.”

As far as the selected projects go, Marks said there were a number of “high-quality proposals” that went through an “objective and careful assessment process” before the eight selections were made. In the end, six grants were handed out for projects in Australia, while two went to New Zealand.

“The eight funded projects cover a broad spectrum of important privacy issues,” Marks said. “Each project holds specific value, on its own meaningful to the future of privacy.”

Among the Australian projects is research by the Australian Human Rights Institute at the University of New South Wales on how privacy intersects with domestic and family violence. Sacha Molitoriscz will explore smartphone privacy and informed consent in a two-year project. Rob Nicholls will also look at informed consent related to consumer privacy expectations in his yearlong project. Normann Witzleb will use a portion of his funding to create a children’s privacy workshop hosted by Monash while the rest will go toward the creation of two academic publications.

The New Zealand projects are highlighted by New Zealand Government Chief Privacy Officer Russell Cooke’s efforts to develop a toolkit to support the identification and assessment of privacy, human rights and ethical issues in public sector decision making. New Zealand’s Office of the Privacy Commissioner will also receive funds to create a grants scheme that will support researchers exploring emerging privacy concerns.

Photo by Kat Yukawa on Unsplash