Australia flags new corporate penalties for privacy breaches
Australia has proposed tougher penalties for companies that fail to protect customers’ personal data after two major cybersecurity breaches left millions vulnerable to criminals
By ROD McGUIRK
Published - Oct 22, 2022, 12:21 AM ET
Last Updated - Jun 24, 2023, 01:52 AM EDT
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia on Saturday proposed tougher penalties for companies that fail to protect customers’ personal data after two major cybersecurity breaches left millions vulnerable to criminals.
The penalties for serious breaches of the Privacy Act would increase from 2.2 million Australian dollars ($1.4 million) now to AU$50 million ($32 million) under amendments to be introduced to Parliament next week, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said.
A company could also be fined the value of 30% of its revenues over a defined period if that amount exceeded AU$50 million ($32 million).
Dreyfus said “big companies could face penalties up to hundreds of millions of dollars” under the new law.
