Practical privacy assistance from Privacy Commissioner for Privacy Awareness Week

The Federal Privacy Commissioner has launched Privacy Awareness week by the release of a Guide for Privacy Impact Assessments, and a model for layered privacy notices. The Federal Guide is similar to an earlier publication by the Victorian Privacy Commissioner ( Privacy Impact Assessments - a guide,) and provides a useful set of steps for any privacy assessment project.

The layered notice initiative has been a work in progress for some years and was a recommendation from the Conference of Privacy Commissioners in Sydney in 2003 (Resolution).

The Centre for Information Policy Leadership has done a lot of work in this area.

It's a commendable approach designed to provide a short statement ( PDF ) of important privacy matters likely to be of interest, linked with and supported by a more detailed policy (PDF) for those who want to read the fine print.

Some Federal Government agencies have already adopted this practice. The Federal Privacy Commissioner is urging Federal and private sector bodies covered by the Privacy Act to go down this path.