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Privacy meets benefits of driverless cars head-on

August 22, 2018 By Law To Your Door

Love to drive? Did you know that the driverless car industry is estimated to be worth $90 billion within the next 15 years. As you get excited about the potential to watch Netflix (or sleep) during peak hour you might want to pause for a moment to consider that, alongside the benefits, each car will collect – daily – up to 12,000 GB of data about you; data that is not only of great commercial value but is vulnerable to potential cybersecurity threats.

There is often a gap between what people know about information collected about themselves and how it will be used. Understandably, with your movements set to be tracked across all elements of the day – from where you go to where you shop, what you buy and who you interact with it becomes increasingly imperative that the companies collecting the data have a greater onus to protect your privacy from the beginning of the information cycle by being more transparent about how the data will be collected and used.

Privacy laws in Australia apply to companies making more than $3 million. Essentially the laws require them to:
• only collect personal information relevant to their functions and activities;
• make people aware of personal information collection and how that information is used through an up-to-date privacy policy and collection notices provided at the time information is collected;
• only use and disclose personal information for the purpose for which it is collected, with the individual’s consent, and for limited other purposes; and
• keep personal information secure.

In terms of international precedent 20 US States have enacted laws pertaining to self-driving cars. There is also the AV Start Act currently before the US Senate which touches on a number of cybersecurity, data access and privacy concerns. Australia’s privacy principles reflect the guidance coming out in jurisdictions around the world for privacy in the context of autonomous vehicle technology.

One driverless car manufacturer Tesla says it’s possible to opt out of data sharing, but the company warns that this may cause “reduced functionality, serious damage, or inoperability”, including the disabling of software and firmware updates.

As a desire for improved road safety drives (no pun intended!) the introduction of self-driving cars across the globe it will be interesting to see how Australian law responds to an important need for the responsible and transparent use of personal information in an age of increasing data production.

The contents of this blog, current at the date of publication set out above, are for reference purposes only. They do not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. Legal advice about your specific circumstances should always be sought separately before taking any action based on this publication.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: cybersecurity, data collection, data privacy, driverless car industry, driverless cars, driverless vehicles, personal information

Cybercrime shines brightly on National conveyancing platform

August 22, 2018 By Law To Your Door

Two recent cases of email impersonation fraud have shone the light on the potential security of data managed by PEXA (‘Property Exchange Australia’), Australia’s national electronic land conveyancing platform.

Why is this relevant to you?
Conveyancing is the process of transferring ownership of a property from one person to another. It is a critical step in the buying or selling of a property.

If you are in the process of buying or selling a house in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia it is more than likely that your conveyance will be conducted via PEXA.

Benefits of PEXA
PEXA has proven a valuable tool for home buyers and solicitors/conveyancers alike.

PEXA evolved from the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting in 2008, which agreed to modernise the traditional paper-based property settlement process.

PEXA’s network of conveyancers and lawyers allow home buyers the ability to select the right conveyancing professional to help them through to settlement. PEXA allows the solicitor/conveyancer to:

    • liaise with the home buyer or seller’s bank,
    • conduct title searches,
    • lodge transfer documents with Land Registries,
    • transfer funds digitally to ensure a seamless settlement; and
    • reduce the number of manual processes and the paperwork required with traditional conveyancing transactions.
    • Payments are made digitally rather than via bank cheque. Automatic online document checks reduce errors, and documents are lodged instantly to make the process as quick and easy as possible.

Overall, using an electronic platform and solicitors have shown a strong willingness to work with PEXA because the system removes uncertainty and avoids errors. There are currently more than 3,500 members on the PEXA network, including Law To Your Door. More than $33 billion worth of property has been successfully transacted online via the platform to date. This will only increase as the property industry works towards a 100% online system of property exchange. The e-transfer system is set to become mandatory in Victoria in October this year, with NSW to follow suit next July.

 

How safe is PEXA?
2 instances of email fraud– the most recent on 31 May this year – raise questions about the resilience of the PEXA platform and the security of its data. Hackers broke into 2 conveyancing firms’ email accounts, accessed their mail from PEXA and set up new user accounts from which they were able to intercept the proceeds of sale, misdirect funds and leave one family homeless.

In response PEXA has introduced a range of cybersecurity measures and processes to counteract future fraud as well, on 27 June 2018, as announcing a new consumer guarantee for e-transactions. PEXA anticipates this guarantee will go above and beyond any guarantee available in the paper-based settlement process and will provide greater safeguards to consumers whose conveyancer or lawyer uses PEXA.

The Law Society has also written to the Minister for Finance, Services and Property, The Honourable Victor Dominello MP, to express the profession’s concerns, and will be meeting with him and other key stakeholders to consider any required action, including legislative protections, to ensure any outstanding concerns are addressed.

Updates

Given the mandatory adoption of PEXA in NSW in July 2019 and the relevance of this issue to a great many of our clients we will continue to update you on relevant developments.

Please be reassured that Law To Your Door is committed to maintaining the highest levels of cybersecurity on all IT systems used within the Firm.

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The contents of this blog, current at the date of publication set out above, are for reference purposes only. They do not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. Legal advice about your specific circumstances should always be sought separately before taking any action based on this publication.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: conveyancing, cybersecurity, PEXA, property law

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