Good Privacy Practices

The Australian Privacy Commissioner, Karen Curtis, has called for Not for Profits, businesses and government agencies across the country to publicise their commitment to good privacy practices in the lead up to Privacy Awareness Week in May.

Curtis says that while so many organisations have good practices in place to protect their donor and customer data, they could be doing so much more to convey this message to their client base.

The Privacy Awareness Week is an annual promotion by the Australian Office of the Privacy Commissioner and the other Asia Pacific Privacy Authorities. During the Week, various activities are held to promote privacy responsibilities within the public and private sectors, and raise awareness of the public’s privacy rights.

Karen Curtis urges organisations to sign up as a Privacy Awareness Week “partner” at www.privacyawarenessweek.org/partnerships.html, committing them to hold activities in the run up to and during the Week.

Activities could include:
• developing privacy FAQs for customers
• launching privacy materials
• publishing information about privacy procedures online
• training staff in privacy practices
• reviewing privacy policy and privacy procedures
• distributing promotional items available from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.

She says the public has a high expectation that their personal information will be treated appropriately by organisations and Privacy Awareness Week is an opportunity for organisations to demonstrate to the public that the trust they have in their privacy practices is not misplaced.

The theme for Privacy Awareness Week is “Privacy: it’s in your hands”.

For further information about Privacy Awareness Week visit: www.privacyawarenessweek.org/australia.html