1 May 2022
Privacy Awareness Week, held around Australia from 2 to 8 May 2022, will shine a spotlight on the importance of protecting personal information.
This year, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) and state and territory privacy regulators are highlighting privacy as the foundation of trust.
“As the digital economy continues to grow, organisations consider new ways of handling personal information and the community engages further in the online world, trust based on an organisation’s solid privacy foundations will play a fundamental role in supporting successful innovation,” said Australian Information Commissioner and Privacy Commissioner Angelene Falk.
“Our personal information goes to the foundations of who we are. Organisations covered by the Privacy Act have responsibilities to protect this important information as trusted data custodians.
“Organisations are more likely to be trusted with personal information if they show they handle it responsibly, transparently, accountably and in ways the community would regard as fair and reasonable.
“This requires organisations to build privacy into products and services, right from the start.
“There are also simple steps we can all take to protect our personal information like recognising its value and only sharing it with those we trust.”
Now in its 17th year, Privacy Awareness Week is held every May as an initiative of the Asia Pacific Privacy Authorities.
Commissioner Falk said high support for the event shows more organisations are recognising the value of privacy and its role in building trust.
“The OAIC is pleased to see more than 590 organisations have showed their support for Privacy Awareness Week and committed to promoting good privacy practice and advancing the privacy rights of individuals,” she said.
Commissioner Falk will launch Privacy Awareness Week in a virtual event at 9am Monday 2 May. She will be joined by Jane Horvath, Chief Privacy Officer, Apple, Rebecca Skinner PSM, Chief Executive Officer, Services Australia and Erin Turner, Chief Executive Officer, Consumer Policy Research Centre, for a discussion about why privacy matters and what good privacy practices can enable, approaches to privacy and the role of privacy in building trust with the community.
Organisations can sign up to support Privacy Awareness Week at oaic.gov.au/paw and join in the campaign on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn using the hashtag #PAW2022.
For more information about Privacy Awareness Week, including privacy tips for individuals, businesses and government agencies, events and downloadable digital assets, visit oaic.gov.au/paw.
