Hello privacy pros.

Australia’s Full Federal Court last week ruled against Facebook, which had challenged the jurisdictional reach of Australia’s Privacy Act, claiming that it was neither doing business in Australia nor collecting personal information from individuals in Australia. Scott Farrell’s article, amusingly subtitled "... How a single kangaroo skin sealed Facebook’s fate," walks through the ruling and shares some tips for companies who may be doing business in Australia simply by setting and collecting cookie information for Australia users.

Elsewhere in Australia, the state of New South Wales revealed details of a data breach disclosing the location details of sensitive sites such as domestic violence shelters, prisons and power stations. The case sheds light on how mismanagement of data that does not rise to the level of personal information may still create privacy risks for individuals. The government has since taken down the information and contacted the affected organizations.

For a view inside the conversations and priorities of privacy and data protection regulators around the world, have a look at this year’s first issue of the Global Privacy Assembly Newsletter. It includes highlights from the 43rd Closed Session of the GPA hosted by Mexico’s National Institute for Transparency, Access to Information, and Personal Data Protection. You’ll also find an update from Chair of the Strategic Direction Sub-Committee and Australian Information Commissioner and Privacy Commissioner Angelene Falk, detailing the strategic priorities for the GPA through 2023.

The IAPP ANZ Advisory Board has already started planning for the IAPP ANZ Summit 2022. Although we do not yet have a confirmed date, we expect the event to be held in Sydney this November. We have every reason to expect this to be an in-person event and look forward to welcoming privacy pros from across the region and beyond. The call for speakers is now open and I encourage you to submit your proposals on the pressing, practical and provocative privacy topics that will keep us enthralled, engaged and up-to-date. The call for proposals closes 20 March.

Until next time!