Protecting Sources and Whistleblowers in the Digital Age

I recently had the pleasure of participating in the Walkley Foundation panel discussion on “Protecting Sources and Whistleblowers in the Digital Age”. My co-panelists were Paul Farrell (Buzzfeed, ex-Guardian), Elise Worthington (ABC), with Julie Posetti (ex-Fairfax/ABC) as compere. As well as providing a forum for the panel discussion, the event served as the official release […]

Discussing the national facial recognition database

On Monday, 9th October, our Executive Officer Jon Lawrence spoke with Steve Austin on ABC Radio Brisbane about the decision by COAG to implement a comprehensive national facial recognition database including photos from all Australian driver’s licences and the threats this ‘Capability’ poses to civil liberties. Listen to the interview here, from 39:14.    

Let’s face it, we’ll be no safer with a national facial recognition database

A commitment to share the biometric data of most Australians – including your driving licence photo – agreed at Thursday’s Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting will result in a further erosion of our privacy. That sharing is not necessary. It will be costly. But will it save us from terrorism? Not all, although it […]

Comprehensive national face database incompatible with a free society

Australia’s leading privacy and civil liberties organisations condemn the decision by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) to provide all images from state and territory driver’s licence databases to the federal National Facial Biometric Matching Capability. These organisations are the Australian Privacy Foundation, Digital Rights Watch, Queensland Council for Civil Liberties, NSW Council for Civil […]