#deletemydetails

I believe if a company no longer needs someones data, they should delete it.

Why?

When personal data is stolen, it can lead to identity theft and financial crimes. The more we share our data with businesses, the greater the risk this could happen to you.

It's also the law

In Australia, The Privacy Act (1988) helps protect individuals from these crimes. It requires businesses who no longer actively use our data to delete it or de-identify us.

Reference:
Section 4, parts 11.1 and 11.2

The problem

I, like many Australians, had my data stolen by the Optus hack in October 2022 yet I hadn't been a customer for three years.

If big companies like Optus observed this law, my details would never have been stolen.

We need better laws

Politicians in Australia need to update The Privacy Act. It was written for a time prior to the Internet when threats were far less significant.

We need laws for the digital age.

The plan

Many people are talking about data security but they're ignoring a bigger topic: ensuring our data is being handled responsibly.

The three #deletemydetails pillars:

1. Don't collect more data than essential

2. Protect the data you do collect

3. Pro-actively delete or de-identify the data you no longer need

By implementing these three rules, it will minimise the impact of data breaches for all Australians.