The AANA has been invited to take part in the next round of consultation on the Privacy Law reforms. These consultations will involve:

– Input to an economic and social cost/benefit analysis being conducted on behalf of the Attorney-General’s (A-G’s) department; and
– Consultation on the proposed reforms directly with the A-G’s Department.

Previously the government had indicated that it had not accepted the need for consumers to have an unqualified right to opt-out of receiving targeted advertising. However, as part of the cost/benefit analysis, AANA has learned that a qualified right to opt-out is now being proposed.

The A-G’s Department has indicated that entities that use personal information in targeting would need to update their processes to allow individuals to opt-out of receiving targeted advertising, noting that the opt-out would not need to be unqualified (Proposal 20.3) . Entities would not be required to continue to provide a service to an individual who had opted-out or receiving targeted advertising however the use and disclosure of the individual’s personal information for the purposes of targeted advertising would need to satisfy the fair and reasonable test. In particular, if the receipt of targeted advertising is a condition of accessing a service, entities would need to ensure the impact on an individual’s privacy is proportionate to the benefit.

Advertiser input to the cost-benefit analysis process is crucial to ensure the government appreciates the complexity and cost of implementing the privacy reforms in end-to-end IT systems and the potential impacts of entities not being able to undertake activities such as targeted advertising. For example, the proposed privacy reforms will require companies to update their privacy collection notices to allow users to opt-out of receiving targeted advertising.

Companies would then need to make the appropriate changes to downstream systems to ensure any exercise of the opt-out is implemented.

Any members wishing to take part in this consultation, please reach out to our Director of Policy & Regulatory Affairs at aanaregulatory@aana.com.au.

AANA will continue to update members on the privacy reform process.