5 May 2008

The Privacy Commissioners of Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Canada, 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 video camera and gift vouchers to the value of approximately $3,000.

"Our Offices have chosen to target secondary school students as this group is one of the main users of social networking sites and they appear to give away a significant amount of personal information via this medium," Ms Karen Curtis, the Australian Privacy Commissioner, said on behalf of the Commissioners.

"We are keen to understand whether or not privacy is something students consider in their daily activities, and to encourage them to start thinking about the information that they disclose and the impact that this may have on their life."

The international competition is hosted by the Asia Pacific Privacy Authorities (APPA) as part of Privacy Awareness Week, 24-30 August 2008. Privacy Awareness Week is an annual promotion to raise awareness of the importance of protecting privacy. The theme for 2008 is "privacy is your business".

As part of the competition, students are invited to create a video about any aspect of privacy, such as 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 competition closes on 25 July 2008 and entries will be judged by the APPA Commissioners. 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.