Media release: Building a foundation of trust during Privacy Awareness Week and beyond

Privacy Awareness Week (PAW) will be held from 2-8 May 2022 and it is a great reminder for the public service and the community about the importance of establishing trust, by protecting and respecting personal information at every opportunity.

This year’s PAW theme is Privacy: the foundation of trust.

Queensland Privacy Commissioner, Paxton Booth, said when it comes to privacy, we can all contribute to building a foundation of trust.

“Before personal information is collected by a government agency, Queenslanders should, if it’s not clear to them, ask: How will my information be used? Why is it being collected? Who will have access to it?”

“Building a foundation of trust goes both ways. Government agencies should be equipped with answers to these simple but important questions.

“Agency staff should be able to explain, if asked, how the information collected from individuals will be used, stored and shared.”

Mr Booth said these small actions can help build greater trust with government agencies and encourage agencies to be more responsible with the community’s personal information.

Privacy Awareness Week in Queensland was launched today with a virtual event.

Mr Booth said, “I encourage Queenslanders and the public service to watch the pre-recorded launch and listen to our keynote speaker Professor Edward Santow, former Australian Human Rights Commissioner and now Industry Professor, Responsible Technology at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS).

“Professor Santow leads UTS' new initiative on building Australia's capability on ethical artificial intelligence. His keynote presentation is titled Artificial intelligence and privacy: can they be friends?” Mr Booth said.

Professor Santow discusses how in a time of unprecedented technological change, trust in government has been consistently falling. He challenges thinking on the use of artificial intelligence, explores the rise of facial recognition technology and suggests a way forward that puts privacy at the heart of how AI is designed, developed and used, and how this could improve trust for agencies.

Community expectations about information privacy are high and increasing. In 2020, 70% of Australians said they consider protection of their personal information to be a major concern in their life. 83% want government to do more to protect the privacy of their data.[1]

Handling the community’s personal information the right way – in a privacy-respectful way – builds a foundation of trust and transparency with Queenslanders.

The OIC has also released a range of resources to help raise privacy awareness among public sector staff across Queensland and encourage agencies to implement a privacy by design approach to all projects and new initiatives.

More information is available at www.oic.qld.gov.au/paw2022

Media contact: Steve Haigh
Phone: 32347373