Pirate Party Australia has sounded the alarm over the potential risks to personal privacy posed by the newly introduced Identity Verification Services (IVS) Bill 2023. This bill claims to bolster identity verification processes but instead introduces new risks to Australians.

“While it’s good that there’s finally going to be a legislative framework here, we’re concerned about the lack of detail regarding protections for Australians against abuses of power and misuses of data,” said Miles Whiticker, party president. “This Bill falls short on transparency and accountability, components that are essential in upholding trust and integrity in how personal data is handled by the government.”

The Pirate Party is pushing for refined and comprehensible guidelines that outline the use and protection of citizens’ identities. It is critical for individuals to be fully informed and to grant explicit consent prior to having their information verified through the new system. Such informed consent is necessary for individuals to make decisions that are in their best interest regarding their personal data.

“The debate surrounding this Bill has also been characterised by an inadequate level of public engagement and consultation,” Mr Whiticker continued. “In our view, a more inclusive approach is required—one that factors in a wider array of perspectives from the Australian community, ensuring that the system reflects the public’s concerns and expectations in relation to digital identity verification.”

Going further, the Pirate Party proposes alternatives that could strike a better balance between the needs of identity verification and safeguarding personal privacy. International best practices for guidance include the strict privacy protocols in models like the GDPR in Europe, which was implemented with the support of the European Pirate Party, and Canada’s Digital Charter. Such systems place a strong emphasis on gaining user consent, reducing the retention of personal data, and implementing stringent controls over data management. These international examples provide a blueprint for amending the current IVS Bill to better respect privacy, affirm user control over personal identity data, and ultimately ensure that Australia’s own policies are in lockstep with leading global standards. Finally, the privacy protections in the IVS Bill must be bought up to the standards of the proposed Digital ID Bill.

Pirate Party Australia reaffirms its dedication to defending the privacy of Australians in the face of advancing digital technology. The party is calling for a comprehensive reassessment of the IVS Bill to fully address the issues highlighted and invite a progressive dialogue to realign the Bill with core principles of digital rights and privacy.

The Pirate Party is concerned about the ongoing attempts by Australian state and federal government to centralise and make available the private health data of ordinary Victorians as seen in the recent Health Legislation (Information Sharing) Bill 2023 (Vic).

Quote by Miles Whiticker, Pirate Party Australia National President:

“The current form of the bill is a significant threat to Victorians’ right to privacy. By not allowing patients to opt out of the scheme, we are creating a dangerous precedent that undermines the autonomy and privacy of every individual in the public health system.”

In 2018 the Pirate Party participated in the national campaign to encourage an individual opt out of MyHealthRecord[1], raising concerns about privacy and data security. We recognise the same issues re-emerging with this information sharing bill, particularly regarding the lack of an opt-out option and the implicitly increased risk of such a centralised data repository.

Quote by Simon Gnieslaw, spokesperson for the Pirate Party in Victoria:

“The Optus, Medibank and Latitude Financial data breaches are just the tip of the iceberg. Well before that, Medicare was compromised too. Data security in this country is an absolute joke, governments don’t even pay bug bounties – leaving no incentive for the “good guys” to find the problems first. This is not a question of “if”, but “when” this data will be hacked, or even be abused by the Government itself.

WorkSafe Victoria[2] started a legal battle in 2021 to get access to contact tracing data to investigate a workplace safety issue, despite assurances that this data would only be used for contact tracing. The Victorian Government’s response to this was to attempt to suppress the fact that WorkSafe were requesting the data, instead of blocking the request. Had they been successful, we wouldn’t even have known that this data was being abused. How are we meant to trust government with our data?

The risk of our personal health information falling into the wrong hands, aside from being ‘none of their business’, is that if that data gets into the hands of private health insurers, they could essentially cheat the system by jacking up the premiums for people who they know are high-risk to unaffordable levels, which defeats the whole purpose of what insurance is for.”

The Pirate Party joins with Liberty Victoria [3], the Law Institute of Victoria [4], Australian Doctors Federation [4], Australian Privacy Foundation [4], , and Digital Rights Watch [5] in voicing concerns over the lack of patient privacy protections in the proposed bill. In particular we support the proposal of Liberty Victoria by calling for best practices in data protection, minimising data collection, requiring an opt-in for data sharing and supporting an explicit right to privacy.

Whiticker added, “At Pirate Party Australia, we have always stood for the protection of digital rights and privacy. This bill, in its current form, goes against our core values. We urge the Victorian Government to reconsider the bill and implement stronger privacy safeguards, including the ability for patients to opt out of the system.”

“We understand the need to improve efficiency and coordination within the healthcare system but this cannot come at the cost of sacrificing the privacy of Victorians. We must find a balanced solution that protects both the welfare of patients and their personal information.”

[1] https://pirateparty.org.au/2018/08/21/pirate-party-australia-supports-opting-out-from-federal-governments-myhealth-record-system/
[2] https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-28/victorian-government-covid-contact-tracing-legal-fight/100728412
[3] https://libertyvictoria.org.au/content/liberty-victoria-comment-health-legislation-amendment-information-sharing-bill-2023-vic, accessed 2/4/2023
[4] https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/absolute-authority-call-to-halt-plan-to-collect-all-victorians-medical-records-20220309-p5a33m.html, accessed 2/4/2023
[5] https://digitalrightswatch.org.au/2023/02/23/vichealthinfosharing/, accessed 2/4/2023

Pirate Party Australia, a political party focused on digital rights and civil liberties, acknowledges the potential risks posed by TikTok, but also emphasises the importance of a measured and evidence-based approach when addressing these concerns. While we understand the importance of national security, we must also protect citizens’ rights to freedom of expression and access to information. An outright ban on TikTok could set a dangerous precedent for censoring other platforms in the future. We encourage open dialogue and cooperation between the Australian government, TikTok, and the international community to address the concerns raised.

Pirate Party President Miles Whiticker said, “A better, more general, approach would be to require all government software to be open sourced. That way we can leverage the open source community to provide decentralised security.”

Pirate Party Australia also recommends that the government focuses on implementing comprehensive data privacy laws and transparent regulations that apply to all tech companies operating in Australia. This approach would ensure that any concerns about data security and privacy are addressed uniformly across the industry, rather than singling out individual companies. These regulations would establish controls on how and where Australian user data can be stored and whether it may be transmitted overseas.

Pirate Party Australia reiterates the importance of an individual right to privacy, augmented by heightened security standards around private data. Individuals must have a legally protected right to control data collection on devices they own, including making decisions regarding data retention, encryption, transmission, and deletion. The Pirate Party also calls for raising the floor for privacy protection in Australia, urging the adoption of higher privacy standards for entities that handle private data, including requiring entities to complete Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs) that encompass binding data security safeguards. Pirate Party Australia believes that these policies will not only address concerns over TikTok but also contribute to fostering a more secure, privacy-conscious digital environment for all Australians.

Pirate Party Australia is also urging the government to work with app store providers and international partners to develop and implement a standardised disclosure system for apps that may be subject to data access legislation by the Australian government or foreign governments. The proposed system would require app developers to clearly label and provide information about potential access to user data, including where it might be used by marketing companies, law enforcement, foreign governments, or machine learning algorithms.

Pirate Party President Miles Whiticker said, “By increasing transparency and providing Australian citizens with accurate and accessible information, we can better protect digital privacy and maintain trust in the digital ecosystem. We believe this approach addresses national security concerns while maintaining the protection of individual liberties and fostering a more informed and engaged digital citizenship.”

The party’s position aligns with growing concerns about the potential for foreign government influence and data privacy issues associated with apps like TikTok. Pirate Party Australia continues to advocate for policies that protect individual privacy.

As part of its latest assault on the right of Australian Citizens to privately access a free and open Internet, the Online Safety Bill 2021 was recently passed by both houses of government.

This lengthy Bill grants extraordinarily broad powers to a so-called “E-Safety Commissioner”, with no statutory limits, in a short-sighted attempt to improve the safety of Australians online. Their rulings are not subject to appeal, and purport to extend across the entire world, regardless of jurisdiction or international borders. They grant the Commissioner near-unlimited power to censor the Internet, and compel assistance from all individuals, internet service providers, hosting services, social media platforms and communications services to facilitate investigations, without any regard for the security of these services or the privacy rights of individuals.

To make matters worse, the Bill is in no way limited to the more laudable objectives of preventing distribution of material that is harmful in its creation or violates users’ privacy (such as child pornography or non-consensual sharing of private intimate video), and instead seeks to apply sweeping restrictions to the entire internet. The Commissioner is empowered to censor or restrict access to any kind of adult content, prevent ordinary people from sharing videos of violent confrontations, intervene in online verbal disputes between school children or Australian adults, construct mandatory industry standards without parliamentary oversight, and indeed “do anything incidental to or conducive to” any of their other goals… all at their sole discretion.

While child pornography and similarly abhorrent material have no place in civilised society, these matters should be handled by Police under judicial oversight and limitation, not by an unaccountable and despotic government-appointed bureaucrat. These laws do not create a “safe” internet for anybody but the government. They harm activists, they harm whistleblowers, they harm sex workers, they harm civilian journalists, they harm free speech, they harm privacy, they harm security, and they harm every single Australian who uses the internet. But for Labour, the Coalition, and the new E-Safety Commissioner, it seems the ends truly do justify the means.

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In 1817, Thomas Jefferson wrote that the price of liberty is eternal vigilance. We are now in a global crisis that puts this mantra into stark relief. In the name of preventing the spread of the virus massive quarantines are being enacted all over the world with many countries enforcing it with the army, police and huge fines. But quarantine isn’t the only threat to liberty in these times in the UK, private companies are working with the NHS (National Health Service) are gaining access to domestic health records to develop a data analytics platform[1] while multiple countries are experimenting with or deploying cellphone tracking to help control virus spread[2][3] while US and Chinese tech companies are exploring a massive release of their users location data[4][5]. Meanwhile in Europe, America and Australia many countries are only just starting to recommend their citizens go into self quarantine.

The most extreme response is in China where the outbreak originated, where CCTV has been installed outside the homes of infected individuals[6] and remotely piloted drones warn people to wear masks and stay inside[5]. But Israel, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea have also implemented similarly extreme forms of data tracking[6].

The data, assuming it’s accurate, speaks for itself though. China and South Korea have seen a massive drop in new infection rates. As a necessary cost for preventing mass deaths due to Coronavirus, health professionals are recommending that our liberty must be temporarily reduced. We cannot be free if we are dead. Virginia Woolf said it best. “Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.” Our minds must be more free and vigilant than ever in monitoring for tyranny.

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