ABSTRACT
Voluminous information about individuals is being shared every day and everywhere. Streamlining data sharing activities effectively allows public and private entities to use information for policy advancement, knowledge creation and business growth. At the same time, such sharing of personal information also risks harming individuals’ privacy and autonomy. How are data sharing activities governed in Australia? What are the main problems with the existing legal framework? This article explores three ways in which the interests of individuals whose data is being shared may be better protected. These are (a) improvements in data privacy and data sharing legislation, (b) adapting private law frameworks to create more protective structures (as in the notion of ‘data trusts’ and ‘information fiduciaries’) and (c) enhancing data governance through better contracts, including model data sharing agreement templates. We conclude that while law reform may be desirable, particularly along the lines of the first possibility, organisations that truly ‘care about privacy’ can act now to improve their data sharing practices through better data sharing agreements and the data culture that they cultivate. The Australian Office of the National Data Commissioner can lead the way with a restructured and reimagined data sharing model agreement.
Shiri Krebs and Lyria Bennett Moses, Data Sharing Agreements: Contracting Personal Information In The Digital Age (2024) 48 (1) Melbourne University Law Review 95.
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