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Topic(s): Corporate information

Media Release: Students encouraged to participate in international privacy competition

30 April 2007

The Privacy Commissioners of Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, the Northern Territory, New South Wales and Victoria today launched an international privacy competition and have encouraged secondary school students to enter. Prizes include a laptop computer and gift vouchers.

''Our Offices have chosen to target secondary school students as this age group is often seen as lacking in privacy awareness, as evidenced by their willingness to give-away private information on websites such as MySpaceÃ¢â€žÂ¢ and YouTubeÃ¢â€žÂ¢ .

One of the aims of this competition is to encourage students to consider the importance of privacy in their daily lives,'' Ms Karen Curtis, Australian Privacy Commissioner, said on behalf of the Commissioners.

The international competition is being jointly hosted by the Asia Pacific Privacy Authorities (also known as APPA) as part of Privacy Awareness Week, 26 August - 1 September 2007. Privacy Awareness Week is an annual promotion to raise awareness of the importance of protecting privacy. The theme for 2007 is privacy is your business.

The competition gives students the chance to write about any aspect of privacy - their opinion of its relevance in today''s society, how it does or doesn''t affect them in their daily life or perhaps the influence that the internet has had on privacy.

The APPA Privacy Commissioners will judge the competition. Entries can be in any written format such as a poem, essay or even a blog. The competition closes on 3 August 2007. The winners will be announced during Privacy Awareness Week.

''This is an opportunity for students to express their ideas on an important issue, and possibly win some great prizes at the same time,'' said Ms Curtis.

Further details of the competition and Privacy Awareness Week in general, are available at www.privacyawarenessweek.org or by contacting the relevant privacy authority in your jurisdiction.

Related information:

Health information and internet privacy top youth privacy concerns

http://www.alrc.gov.au/media/2007/mr1104.htm