Privacy in the work loo for Victorians

Victoria's Surveillance Devices (Workplace Privacy) Act came into force on 1 July. The Act imposes criminal penalties for employers who put surveillance devices in workplace toilets and change rooms.

As we commented recently in connection with the NSW Government's response to a Law Reform Commission report, governments here don't seem too concerned about the broader and growing issue of surveillance in public places, or of people outside the workplace.

My guess is that we still have plenty of surveillance related privacy problems. Just like others, for example this report about the use of video surveillance in a methadone clinic in Canada that resulted in an image of a woman giving a urine sample being picked up by a camera device in a nearby car.

Thanks to an alert reader for the Canadian link.