How is personal information gathered in Australia?
I keep hearing how companies and business gather information about our personal lives and use it for marketing purposes. How have changing business practices and consumer habits changed the way personal information is gathered?
Lawyer Answers (1): Answers from lawyers are general preliminary responses. They are not formal legal advice and cannot taken account of all your circumstances. They do not create a lawyer–client relationship.
- This reflects the recent explosion of information collation, processing and storage. It has become evident that:
- telecommunications providers are privy to client data such as the length and destination of all telephone calls made;
- pay TV companies are privy to the viewing habits and patterns of their subscribers; and
- social networking sites such as Facebook collect huge amounts of personal information on users.
- This information is used to better target advertisements for consumer products and services.
- Australian privacy laws work to prevent this information from being gathered if you haven't given your consent and also regulate the way the information can be used after collection.