The Footie finals, and madness, are upon us. Clubs that missed out on the finals, like the Brisbane Lions, are behaving oddly. The Lions Board even suggested parading a live lion around the Gabba to raise the morale and numbers of fans. Fortunately, those wishing to protect the dignity and privacy of the beast stepped in. Bet the board is wishing it had kept that idea private.

Apple surprised us this week with Tim Cook’s statements about not being interested in personal information. Steve Wilson took to our LinkedIn page claiming Apple’s “privacy silence was deafening.” An interesting one to follow, or watch, the Italian Data protection Authority reported this week that it has found over half the ehealth wellness and fitness applications it assessed were not compliant with relevant privacy laws. The problems included poor privacy notices that could not be read on screens and excessive collection. It is expected the rules will get more stringent, but in the meantime, take care with what you upload. Even if Apple says it is not interested in your personal information.

Google has released a transparency report, and New Zealand, which rates high on the Transparency International corruption perception index, has had its own “Kiwileaks.” Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who won a Pulitzer Prize in April of this year for his Edward Snowden coverage, has claimed the New Zealand government approved mass surveillance of its residents by the Government Communications Security Bureau. Meanwhile, Prime Minister John Key has dismissed Greenwald as “(Kim) Dotcom’s little henchman.”

Big Data hits centre stage again with IBM's Watson at the forefront. There is also consideration of the dark side of Big Data, streaming Cukier and Von Schoenberger’s analogy of the data collectors as the “oil barons” of the 21^st Century.

The Wharton conference provides a good roundup, including the issue of practicality, which is often overlooked in privacy. As usual, we need the balance of Phillippe Petit to get this right, and the proposed changes to our National Security Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2014 in respect of ASIO’s latest operation illustrate just how vital this is. Especially following three terrorist investigations reported in Australia over the last 24 hours. This can lead to even more zealous protection measures, and fortunately, iappANZ Board Member and Editor of the sensational Privacy Unbound Carolyn Lidgerwood has provided these in the Bird & Bird “Ten Recommendations for the data reforms of the decade.”

Finally, the determinations from Australia’s Office of the Privacy Commissioner just keep on coming: Two more this week will draw the attention of privacy professionals as well as the release of two business resources for health identifiers.

May your team win—be it Port, the ‘Roos, the Swans or Hawks. And let’s hope their boards don’t have any crazy parades in mind.