The COVIDSafe app has been marketed as offering privacy 'protected by law'. On Sunday, the Federal Government released an exposure draft of legislation designed to put those protections in place, and to dispel lingering doubts about the app. ...

On Sunday, the Australian Government launched its voluntary digital contact tracing app 'COVIDSafe', along with the app's Privacy Policy, an independent Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) and the Department of Health's response to that PIA. The Chief Medical Officer has predicted that the application will have been downloaded more than 2 million times by the end of Monday. ...

The Australian Government has flagged that Australia's baseline 'social distancing' restrictions may be eased more quickly if, among other things, at least 40% of Australians download and use a new voluntary digital contact tracing app, 'COVID Trace'. The announcement has sparked significant debate ...

Data analysis, and the technology that facilitates it, is currently playing a critical role in the global and national efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Alongside the front-line health response, it has become a core part of the daily calculations made by governments and health organisations. ...

The Australian Human Rights Commission ( AHRC ) has published a discussion paper on proposals to legislate for a human rights approach to artificial intelligence ( AI ) systems. If adopted by the ...

Both the Sydney population and the population of Melbourne are expected to reach the size of New York City by 2050, raising questions about how our cities of the future will function. ...

We are currently at a fascinating time in Australia, where the data space has seen an enormous amount of new regulation over the last few years and faces significant potential regulation on the horizon. The likely impact of these changes on the way in which we deal with data and, in turn, the way in which we might deal with ethics raises a number of compelling (and complicated) questions - particularly as they relate to AI. Technology, Media & Telecommunications Partner Michael Park sat down with Dr Maria Rosario Todao, Deputy Director of the Digital Ethics Lab at Oxford University, to discuss the intersection of these themes and the emerging trends around the world. ...

There is more M&A activity in data across all sectors, and data opportunities and risks are impacting headline price, post-completion deal value and risk-allocation profile of investments and M&A transactions. For both buyers and sellers, this playbook helps in-house counsel and dealmakers navigate the data issues that arise in the context of mergers, acquisitions, demergers and investments to maximise the value in these transactions. ...

Data remains one of the most undervalued assets, with most companies still failing to even include it as an asset on their balance sheet. Buyers and sellers who can recognise data assets and properly demonstrate how value can be extracted from them will be best placed for future M&A transactions. ...

In a trail-blazing and world-leading move, the ACCC has commenced proceedings against Google, alleging that it engaged in misleading conduct, and made false or misleading representations to consumers about how and when it collects, keeps and uses their personal information in relation to location data. It is the first case brought globally to probe Google's approach to location data collection, and is likely to increase the focus on consumer awareness of data use in digital markets. ...