Good morning wonderful people, we’ve reached hump day. Let’s jump straight into some tech news.
1. Privacy reforms all but law
Under current Australian privacy legislation, companies are prevented from sharing such details about their customers with third parties. But, reforms to the Australian Privacy Act are upon us. Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus introduced legislation in October to significantly increase penalties for repeated or serious privacy breaches. In a statement, Dreyfus said, “When Australians are asked to hand over their personal data they have a right to expect it will be protected”. Now, a Senate committee probing the reforms has recommended the legislation be passed, all but enshrining the changes into law.
2. Afterpay agrees it should have some lending responsibility
According to the Australian Financial Review, Afterpay is in complete understanding that it should be performing some sort of credit checks on its customers – who would have thought that determining first if someone can afford to get into debt would be a smart move ahead of loaning them money. The understanding follows the federal government earlier this week announcing its plans to come down heavy on the buy now, pay later industry, an absolutely gangbusters booming industry in Australia that is essentially a credit card by another name.
3. Queensland teachers get ‘digital detox’ green light
Teachers in Queensland will have the “right to disconnect”, that is, they can legally ignore work calls and emails outside of work hours. Per a report from The Australian, the move comes as part of reforms introduced to the state that agrees to lift the wages of teachers. The clause, a “digital detox”, would allow teachers to shut their computer and not be expected to open it until the next day. They also aren’t expected to answer calls or texts from parents or their principals, either. We should all follow their lead.
4. Elon Musk’s wealth drops by $13 billion in one (1) day
Another day, another news item about everyone’s favourite tech CEO. Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter chief Elon Musk saw his wealth plummet by $US100 billion dollars this year (that’s around $150 billion in Aussie terms), bringing his net worth to somewhere between $US170 billion and $US182 billion ($255-$273 billion). That’s down from an estimated $US340 billion ($511 billion) in November 2021. The drop comes as Tesla shares decreased to a two-year low this week, reducing Musk’s wealth by about $US8.6 billion ($12.94 billion) in just one day.
5. FTX bypassed Aussie regulatory process
The Guardian is reporting that failed cryptocurrency platform FTX bypassed the regular process for obtaining a financial services licence in Australia and that the industry regulator, ASIC, did not assess its fitness to hold one in the lead-up to the company’s collapse. Per the report, ASIC last week suspended FTX’s Australian financial services licence after it went into administration alongside its global parent company, which filed for bankruptcy in the U.S..
BONUS ITEM: While this isn’t new, footage is again making the rounds and we couldn’t not bring it to your attention. Don’t watch if you’re eating breakfast.
https://twitter.com/fasc1nate/status/1595034139186454528
See you tomorrow.