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Privacy guidelines 'gutted'
      Karen Dearne and Kate Mackenzie
      The Australian 18sep01

      NEWLY released privacy guidelines have been slammed by consumer and
      privacy groups after a last-minute revision.

      Consumer advocates said political pressure had led to the gutting of
      guidelines covering the operation of the new private sector privacy
laws.
      "Basically, the revised guidelines are road-kill," Australian
Consumers
      Association spokesman Charles Britton said.
      "But there's no doubt that Prime Minister John Howard and
Attorney-General
      Daryl Williams were driving the semi-trailer that went over the top."
      The original guidelines produced by Privacy Commissioner Malcolm
Crompton
      showed the law could be effective in providing privacy protections, Mr
      Britton said.
      But business concerns about the commissioner's tough stance resulted
in Mr
      Howard calling for further discussions with the attorney-general.
      "It's almost like the government is repudiating its own legislation,"
Mr
      Britton said.
      "There's been pressure from business and now the government is
      backpedallinlg madly."
      Meanwhile, Electronic Frontiers Australia has quit the commisssioner's
      National Privacy Principles reference group, citing strong
disapporoval of
      "significant reversals" and "minimalist and secretive" consultations
over
      the revised version.
      "It is clear a decision has been taken to favour business interests
over
      the privacy of ordinary citizens that the legislation is intended to
      protect," EFA executive director Irene Graham said in an open letter
to Mr
      Crompton.
      "The guidelines have been gutted."
      Ms Graham said business groups were well aware that the guidelines
were
      just that - guidelines, not the law.
      "Such groups have already had nine months to prepare to comply with
the
      legislation," she said. "The claim they cannot do so until the final
      guidelines were issued is nonsense."
      Mr Britton said the original guidelines stands as the aspiration
consumers
      should have for the operation of hte privacy act.
      "The first version remains in our view an entirely viable
interpretation
      of the law, and one that we'll be pursuing," he said.