Recently, Australia’s cyber security regulators made some changes in regulations. Australia’s privacy Regulator is concerned about these changes undermining its ability to handle privacy breaches.
A Cyber Security discussion paper (PDF) submitted by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner has raised the concerns. The paper put a question forward asking, ‘’How should we approach cyber security technologies future-proofing out to 2030?’’
With emerging new technologies such as Quantum, artificial intelligence, internet of a Thing, cyber security will be greatly impacted. Moreover, new technologies will continue to emerge making it difficult for cyber security regulators.
The proposal suggests expanding the scope of the Security of Critical Infrastructure Act (SoCI) to include customer data and systems, which could result in restrictions on the regulator’s functions and powers in the event of a data breach.This could also affect the regulator’s ability to investigate and handle complaints made by individuals.
The regulator proposes that any amendments to the SoCI should be accompanied by protections for disclosure to the regulator. Additionally, there is a “safe harbor” proposal in the discussion paper that suggests that information shared with the Australian Cyber Security Centre and Australian Signals Directorate would not be passed on to regulators. Which raises concerns about the ability of the regulator to effectively monitor and enforce compliance with privacy laws.
The privacy regulator wants to ensure that any changes to cyber security legislation will not compromise their ability to keep our information safe and to be able to respond quickly and effectively in the event of a privacy breach.
