Mills, John --- "Commission for the Future's smart card study" [1996] PrivLawPRpr 3; (1996) 2(10) Privacy Law & Policy Reporter 185

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Commission for the Future's smart card study

John Mills

The Australian Commission for the Future has commenced a major research study which aims to create a national agenda for the discussion of the social issues associated with smart card technologies.

The Commission, chaired by Senator John Button, tries to identify issues of long term significance and assist Australians to make informed choices concerning them. It has engaged Monash University's Centre for Electronic Commerce to undertake the Research.

A paper from the Commission outlining the issues to be addressed categorises the issues under the headings of security, privacy, impact on employment, accessibility/equity, law enforcement, regulations, and standards. Concerning privacy issues, the Commission identifies the following issues:

• In what ways and to what extent are smart card schemes in consumer financial services privacy protective and to what extent privacy invasive?
• Of the various schemes is pilot and being prepared for launch in Australia, does the extent and nature of privacy invasiveness differ significantly?
• What are the relative advantages and disadvantages of smart card schemes that identify the card user, compared to those that provide anonymity to the card user?
• To what extent is it practical to offer psudeononymous schemes, in which the link between the transaction trail and the individual is not directly visible to participants, but is discoverable if legally necessary eg to support law enforcement?
• To what extent is Australia's existing privacy-protection regime adequate to deal with the privacy implications of smart card schemes in consumer financial services?
• Is an industry code of practice desireable, and if so, what enforcement mechanism would be appropriate? Alternatively, what would be the appropriate features of legislation?
• What opportunities are available, with the various smart card schemes, to collect data about consumer spending, that could then be used for more targeted marketing?

For more information, contact John Mills, consultant to the Centre for Electronic Commerce, tel [phone], fax [phone]