Site Changes

On 1 November 2010 the Office of the Privacy Commissioner was integrated into the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner and a new website established at www.oaic.gov.au.

Note 1: Major changes to the Privacy Act 1988 will come into effect in March 2014. Agencies, businesses and not for profits need to start preparing for these changes. For more information go to our privacy law reform page at www.oaic.gov.au
Note 2: From 12 March 2013 content is no longer being added to, or amended, on this site, consequently some information may be out of date. For new privacy content visit the www.oaic.gov.au website.

Do I have rights under the Privacy Act when I use social networking sites?

This will depend on whether the social networking site is covered by the Privacy Act.

To be covered by the Privacy Act, an organisation must be based in Australia.

Some things to keep in mind about this include:

If the social networking site is based in another country, such as the USA, then you may not have privacy rights under Australian law when you use the site.
If the site is based in Australia, and it’s not a small business (a small business is an organisation with an annual turnover of $3 million or less) then the Privacy Act may apply.
The Privacy Act doesn’t cover individuals acting in a personal capacity. So, individuals posting information on social networking sites would usually be exempt from the coverage of the Privacy Act (though their actions may be covered by other laws).

To find out what your rights are under the Privacy Act, visit www.privacy.gov.au/materials/types/brochures/view/6811.

To find out more about which organisations are covered by the Privacy Act, go to www.privacy.gov.au/materials/types/infosheets/view/6544.

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