Privacy reforms pass through lower House (ZDNet)
The proposed changes, some now four years old, are designed to tighten the rules on how personal information is sent outside of Australia, how personal information may be used for direct marketing, increase the protections provided to sensitive information, such as health records and biometric data, and provide the Privacy Commissioner with powers to allow him to apply civil penalties in cases where the Privacy Act has been breached.
Unisys fingers repeat drunks in Northern Territory (IT Wire)
Drunk individuals taken into protective custody in the Northern Territory are being identified using a fingerprint biometric system implemented by Unisys.
One of the problems of dealing with people severely under the influence of alcohol is that they may be unwilling or unable to identify themselves, and not all members of the community carry identification.
In the NT, those who get into trouble with the law while intoxicated three times in three months are placed on the Banned Drinker Register (BDR), and cut off for a year.
More information on the Northern Territory banned drinker register [pdf]
Increase in passport fraud detections (News.com.au)
A DECISION to upgrade Australian passports with microchip and biometric technology has resulted in an increase in fraud detections, a new report says.
Some people want a passport with a kangaroo and an emu on it so badly that they’ll break the law. Biometrics make it harder to get away with it.