Hello Privacy Pros,

Over the last week, photo-aging app FaceApp has surged in popularity, garnering passionate criticism along the way from many privacy advocates. This article in The Atlantic by Tiffany Li elevates the conversation by looking at the broader context of modern data collection and argues that privacy laws have simply not kept up.

Australia's federal government is set to introduce legislation to finalize the Consumer Data Right, giving individuals open access to their transactional data, starting first with the banking sector in February 2020, expanding next to the energy sector and later to telecommunications providers. The lead regulator for the CDR will be the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission, with support from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner and the Data Standards Body.

The Law Council of Australia has called for a number of changes regarding how Australian telcos store, protect and share with law enforcement the two years of customer metadata they are required to retain. In particular, the council seeks greater transparency into which law enforcement agencies may access metadata and to require agencies to obtain warrants before gaining access, except in emergency circumstances. The council has also advocated for greater protection of the metadata through minimum encryption standards and transparency from telcos into how the data is stored, encrypted and disposed of.

India is in the privacy news this week with reports that some of the country's airports set to begin facial recognition pilot projects for "hassle-free and paperless" flights. The initiatives raise concerns over the extent to which the government and private industry will have access to the facial recognition data for other purposes.

Outside of the Asia-Pacific region, Equifax's 2017 breach has resulted in an approximate combined $2 billion USD price tag to settle claims from class- action litigants, as well as U.S. federal and state regulators.

The IAPP has recently published two new studies that will be of interest to many privacy professionals. First, the IAPP and TrustArc have released How Privacy Is Bought and Deployed (2019), the results of a survey of 345 privacy processionals around the globe. Second, the 2019 IAPP Privacy Professionals Salary Survey report will help you determine if it might be time to ask for that raise.

There are just three weeks left to take advantage of early bird registration rates to attend the IAPP ANZ Summit in Sydney 29-30 Oct. This year's event will feature regional and international speakers across an array of engaging topics. I look forward to seeing you here in Sydney!