Wilson Asset Management (International) Pty Ltd (WAMI) has committed to a court-enforceable undertaking to address its privacy practices following an investigation by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).
The OAIC investigated WAMI’s collection of personal information for a petition from the ‘Stop the retirement tax’ website (the website). The website allowed individuals to make submissions to a parliamentary committee inquiry on a proposed taxation policy.
The OAIC considers it was not sufficiently clear to people who signed the petition through the ‘Stop the retirement tax’ website that WAMI would collect their personal information and use it to contact them by email.
The OAIC is concerned that WAMI collected information from the website that was not reasonably necessary for its administration of the petition, such as individuals’ phone numbers, full addresses, and details of their submissions on the proposal. Submissions may have contained sensitive information about the individuals’ political opinions.
The OAIC also considers that WAMI should not rely on pre-selected tick boxes to seek individuals’ consent to the collection and use of their personal information.
Australian Information Commissioner and Privacy Commissioner Angelene Falk said every Australian has the right to expect that organisations will be transparent when collecting personal information.
“Our investigation identified deficiencies in WAMI’s personal information handling practices which will be addressed through a court-enforceable undertaking,” Commissioner Falk said.
“The community expects that all organisations handling personal information will be clear about what information they are collecting and how it will be used.
“Organisations should only collect personal information that is necessary for their activities.”
To comply with the undertaking, WAMI must not repeat the conduct. It is required to destroy the personal information it collected, review its privacy policy, and train all staff in the requirements of the Privacy Act 1988.
An independent reviewer will provide the OAIC with certification of WAMI’s compliance with the undertaking. The OAIC may take court action at any stage if WAMI does not fully comply with the terms of the undertaking.
An enforceable undertaking is a legally enforceable agreement between the Commissioner and an organisation or agency that creates a binding commitment to take steps to ensure privacy compliance.
The undertaking finalises the OAIC’s investigation into WAMI, initiated in April 2019.
