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Privacy reform kicks off with new tort for ‘serious’ invasions
A promised overhaul of the Privacy Act has begun with reforms that make doxxing a crime and could see businesses face new claims, including class actions, for serious invasions of privacy.
OAIC won’t investigate facial recognition software company Clearview AI again
The OAIC will not investigate Clearview AI further after finding in 2021 that the US-based facial recognition software company breached privacy rules by scraping facial images from the web, but the regulator promised to weigh in soon on when the use of personal information to train AI could run afoul of privacy laws.
HWL Ebsworth hit with representative OAIC complaint over data breach
Law firm HWL Ebsworth is facing a representative complaint filed with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner over a 2023 cyber attack, which allegedly compromised the data of 65 government agencies and affected NDIS participants. 
In high-stakes breach case, OAIC says Medibank failed to implement ‘basic’ security controls
Medibank failed to put in place baseline security measures, including multi-factor authentication, to safeguard sensitive information from a hacker in 2022, who stole an IT contractor's credentials and logged in to the health insurer's private network three months before the company learned its data was compromised, the OAIC says.
Judge mulls joint trial of ACMA case, class action against Optus
A judge overseeing several cases against Optus over a September 2022 data breach has raised the possibility of hearing a class action against the telco alongside new proceedings brought by the Australian Communications and Media Authority.
Latitude defeats customer’s $1M lawsuit over data breach
A judge has thrown out a self-represented customer’s lawsuit against non-bank lender Latitude Financial after he defaulted on court orders and refused to join tech giants DXC Technology and Crowdstrike to his case over a cyberattack that compromised 14 million customer records. 
Optus taken to court by ACMA over massive data breach
The Australian Communications and Media Authority has brought proceedings against Optus over a September 2022 data breach that comprised the data of up to 10 million customers, the first lawsuit filed by a regulator following a string of major cyberattacks over the past two years.
‘The system is broken’: OAIC dragging feet on Latitude data breach probe, class action firm says
A law firm investigating a group proceeding against non-bank lender Latitude over a data breach last year has called on the information commissioner to give an update on a related class action-style complaint.
Veteran information regulator to take the reins at OAIC
A veteran regulator with decades of government experience has been appointed to lead the Office of the Australian Information Commission amid a major overhaul of privacy laws and simmering controversies over AI, children's privacy and data security.
OAIC’s decision to refuse second Optus class action complaint quashed
A judge has quashed the OAIC’s decision to reject a second class action-style complaint filed over the massive Optus data breach, finding the Privacy Act does not bar second-in-time proceedings.