It looks as though Australia’s privacy regulator, Timothy Pilgrim, is calling full time for business under changes to their privacy law obligations which took effect in March 2014. Amongst other things, those laws give the regulator power to proactively investigate and ultimately fine non compliant businesses. In a speech last week, Mr Pilgrim announced that “we are just getting ready to conduct an assessment of the online privacy policies of 21 entities...”. The 21 businesses have not been named.

Here is Mr Pilgrim’s full speech.

Kristina Keneally, the former Labour NSW premier writes in yesterday’s Guardian Australia about the ACTU’s submission to the Fair Work Commission that employers should have to justify their reasons for refusing an employee’s request to work part time or flexibly. Inevitably, it’s quite a politicised piece. Politics aside, it’s my observation that women (and men) returning to work part time as new parents, are some of the most motivated and productive in the workforce. They are delighted to be given the opportunity to work part time, and don’t want to let their employer down as a result.

Record out of court fine for failing to follow email marketing laws

The company responsible for managing Gray’s auctioneers online business, Grays Online, recently came under the scrutiny of the communications regulator, ACMA, for breaches of the Spam laws, resulting in a fine to Grays of $165,000 – the largest ever imposed out of court by the regulator.

Grays mistake was a simple one – they considered that a particular email sent as part of a direct marketing campaign was not ‘commercial’ within the Spam Act. It was.