The OAIC’s latest Notifiable Data Breaches Report (Jul – Dec 2023) reveals the risk for organisations that outsource the handling of personal information to third party service providers and contractors – as well as risks of retaining personal information for longer than needed. In this Update we review the OAIC’s latest findings and provide guidance on steps an organisation can take to minimise risk and harm and to protect confidential information/data.
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A recent decision of the Federal Court of Australia highlights the importance of choosing trade marks that are ‘distinctive’ and not ‘descriptive’. The case serves as a timely reminder to businesses to ensure that your trade mark is distinctive and not merely descriptive, if you wish to secure valuable common law and exclusive rights afforded by its use and registration of a trade mark.
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Under Australian Privacy Law, organisations that hold Personal Information must take reasonable steps to destroy or de-identify personal information that the entity no longer needs – or face risks of incurring high penalties and reputational damage. An effective Data Retention and Destruction Policy provides an entity with a clear roadmap to ensure compliance with its obligations at law.
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During the period of 2016 to July 2024, the awards for compensation for privacy breaches in Determinations made and published by the Australian Information and Privacy Commissioner (OAIC) have ranged from about $1,000 to $20,000. In this update, Stephens Lawyers & Consultants provides a review of the OAIC Determinations and compensation awards for privacy breaches made during the period October 2022 to July 2024 – and factors taken into account by the OAIC in making those awards.
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The additional requirement to establish “serious harm” in a defamation action was part of the reforms to Australian defamation law which came into effect on 1 July 2021. They were enacted to encourage defamation claims not involving “serious harm” to be resolved without court action. This update provides a review of recent Australian defamation cases where the courts have considered whether the “serious harm” requirement has been established and provides useful guidance on factors that the court will consider in determining “serious harm”.
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