Comment Articles

Does your data belong to you?

Fran Foo ZDNet Australia

Published: 20 Jan 2004 11:35 GMT

But the Commissioner is confident that the Privacy Act does provide a stable framework for deploying RFID technology.

"The Privacy Act only deals with personal information. If a name is attached to a tag [or the name can be deduced from the information linked to the tag] then the Privacy Act comes into play," he said.

The Act requires you to tell people you are collecting information, what you are going to do with it, and deliver on that promise, said Crompton.

In the case of Northwest and JetBlue, both say they had no choice as it was in the interest of national security and not for commercial purposes.

When ZDNet Australia asked Qantas if the US (or Australian) government has ever requested its passenger data, it declined to comment.

Privacy has always been part and parcel of our civil liberties but in the name of security, the basics are always forgotten. If this type of "data mining" continues, privacy will be a privilege... no longer a right.