ACS has called for a government-endorsed Cyber Security Trust Mark to improve Australia’s privacy protections in a Senate submission.
The ACS submission to the Senate’s review of the Privacy Legislation Amendment (Enforcement and Other Measures) Bill supported increased fines for organisations breaching privacy laws however warned higher penalties will not prevent lapses as no IT system can be seen as 100% secure.
ACS suggests a government mandated Cyber Security Trust Mark regime that would encourage Australian businesses and non-commercial organisations to secure their systems. In the event of a breach, entities that have the Trust Mark would provide assurances to courts, insurers and consumers that reasonable steps had been made to protect data.
“No system can be fully secure,” said ACS Chief Executive Office, Chris Vein. “We’ve even seen the US National Security Agency being breached in recent years. We have to recognise the complexity of modern computer systems means security is about identifying and managing risks.
“This is why ACS has suggested a range of measures alongside increased penalties, such as a ‘safe harbour’ for those who have tried to do the right thing, increased resources for the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, reviewing data retention laws and strengthening the Notable Data Breaches regime.
“We need to think of the bigger picture, one piece of legislation alone can’t provide the data protections Australians expect so an overhaul of the wider regulatory framework along with incentives for organisations to do the right thing is essential.”
ACS submission to the Senate committee makes the following recommendations.
- A government supported Cyber Trust Mark program
- A tiered penalty regime for breaches
- Clear modelling of penalties
- Strengthening Notable Data Breaches
- Review the current data retention laws
- Extend whistleblower protections to cyber security professionals
ACS’ submission to the Senate can be found on the ACS website at https://www.acs.org.au/insightsandpublications/public-policy-position.html
