Facial recognition companies and brands endeavouring to use the technology have been put on notice by Australia’s privacy commissioner after two rulings determined such data collection to be a breach of consumer privacy.

Australian software developer and cybersecurity expert, Mick Esber, will this September launch the beta version of bhapi, a safe social media platform he has developed for Apple and Android.

The Apple AppTrackingTransparency (ATT) framework is a new privacy protection designed to make it easier and more intuitive for consumers to safeguard their personal information on phones, iPads and the Apple TV. For marketers, it’s another privacy hurdle but some new research suggests emphasising trust rather than the technical is the answer to encouraging user opt-ins.

Australia’s Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is claiming a world-first after the Federal Court found Google guilty of misleading consumers about how personal location data collected across Android devices was captured and used.

Research shows the bulk of consumers are willing to exchange their data in return for a personalised offer, but it has to respect their data and privacy at the same time.

On Safer Internet Day, social media platforms along with several tech companies are looking to send a message about safety and protections, particularly for children.

Google’s plans to retire third-party cookies from its Chrome browser may have hit a snag with news the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is investigating the proposal to assess whether it will distort competition. It comes after complaints of anticompetitive behaviour by Google and that the changes concentrate ad spend in the Google ecosystem and further entrench its market power.

More than eight in 10 Australians consider organisations asking for personal information that doesn’t seem relevant to an interaction to be a misuse of their data, a new report has found.

LiveRamp’s Authenticated Traffic Solution will be implemented by Seven West Media, expanding their ongoing partnership and marking the first major media outlet in Australia to implement the cookieless solution.

The end of third-party cookies will soon be a reality for marketers and as adtech and martech players move to adapt, there will be a range of new tools for identification. What alternatives are emerging and how do they handle protecting user privacy and providing addressability?

None of Australia’s top 100 consumer brands meet consent best practices for cookie management, according to the Deloitte Privacy Index 2020.

Apple announced earlier this year its Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA), which allows marketers to attribute app usage on an iPhone or iPad with a user acquisition campaign, is being effectively disabled. It sent something of a shockwave through the mobile marketing industry.

IAB Australia hosted a data governance and consumer privacy webinar recently. As part of this, principal of one of Australia's most respected experts in privacy law and practice, Salinger Privacy, Anna Johnston, shared her thoughts on the future of privacy for the Australian and global media and marketing industry.

Coronavirus tracing apps, temperature sensing drones, phone apps to monitor social distancing, tech giants sharing smartphone location and mobility data - the COVID-19 pandemic is revealing the many ways technology and data can be used to protect human health. But at what cost to privacy?

Alinta Energy stands accused of potentially exposing the sensitive information of its 1.1 million customers because it lacks sufficient privacy protection systems.

“I think in the last five years, we've gone from being able to use some information about an individual to being able to effectively monetise and deliver the exact right message to the exact right person at the exact right time through the martech stack.”

Ikea's decision to give customers more control about how it handles their data signals the role privacy around customer data now plays in the brand marketer's toolkit, several industry experts say.

Mastercard is launching a pilot program to test the effectiveness of a new digital identity verification service, with the aim of developing a new system to verify a person’s identity immediately, safely and securely in both the digital and the physical world. It will also make additional partnerships and pilots throughout 2020.

In a world of huge data growth, where data has been identified by some as the “new oil”, the most critical point for businesses is understanding the identity behind the data, according to Warren Jenson, chief financial officer, president and executive managing director of international, LiveRamp.

Too many people confuse innovation with change, and trade on false positives such as privacy coming at the expense of progress, Apple CEO, Tim Cook believes. And it’s by identifying the distinction between these that he says allows the technology company to continue to succeed.

The takeover of smaller rivals by large digital platforms, which includes swagging their customer data sets, poses a threat to consumers’ choice and privacy, according to Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) chair, Rod Sims.