The Census could be transformed into a continuous movie detailing the lives of all Australians, a parliamentary inquiry into the Privacy Act has heard.
"One of the most disturbing Government proposals is to change census procedures in Australia so that individuals names and addresses will be linked to their census answers," Democrats Senator Natasha Stott Despoja, who initiated the inquiry, said.
"This example illustrates the overwhelming message of the inquiry that the Act is lagging behind and urgently needs updating.
"Witnesses from a diverse range of organisations have been critical of the significant inconsistencies and holes in the current regime and the continued under-resourcing of the Privacy Commissioners office.
"The whole concept of privacy protection has changed since the Act was introduced no longer are we simply concerned with paper or electronic records, we now have to contend with issues such as genetic testing, biometric identification, the use of microchips and closed circuit television surveillance, just to name a few.
"Even the private sector is telling us that the concept of consent in relation to the collection and use of personal information has become meaningless for the average Australian with a car, telephone, bank account and basic utilities.
"It is clear that most Australians remain unaware of their privacy rights or what they can do if their privacy has been violated.
"Yet in its recent Budget, the Government allocated massive amounts of funding to new privacy-intrusive measures, while continuing to starve the Privacy Commissioners office of adequate funding," Senator Stott Despoja said.
Hearings continue in Canberra today.
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