Crompton made his remarks as he prepared his speech for the International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners which began in Sydney today. They also come just a day after Crompton had presented at IBM's privacy technology summit -- a closed conference attended by 50 government and private sector delegates, which included speakers such as the privacy officer of the National Australia Bank and the general manager of IT at the Health Insurance Commission (Medicare).
"I am committed to making sure that the days of long-winded and confusing privacy statements that most consumers ignore are numbered," Crompton said in a statement. "The average consumer wants to spend about 10 - 30 seconds scanning a privacy statement."
The way privacy information needs to be presented should be simplified, Crompton says. He cites food nutrition labelling as a good example. "Condensed privacy statements presented in a similar way would increase consumer awareness and interest in privacy," he said.
IBM's privacy technology guru, Steven Adler, praised Crompton during an interview with ZDNet Australia after IBM's privacy summit. "Australia is very lucky to have a commissioner like Malcolm Crompton," he said.
Describing Australia as "very proactive" and a leader in privacy, Adler says the level of uptake of technologies used to enable companies to comply with privacy legislation in the nation shows companies want to be responsible corporate citizens. Brand protection is also a factor, he says.
"The biggest motivator for privacy is brand damage... not just fines from a commissioner," Adler said.
Surprised by the level of interest in Australia and New Zealand in U.S. privacy laws, Big Blue's privacy software expert maintains the issue is global and privacy advocates don't care about borders. "Ideas today have no boundaries and issues are international," he said. "People in Australia read about privacy laws in the U.S."
People are starting to accept that security technologies are there to help enforce privacy, not violate it, Adler says. "Privacy is about protecting people," he said. By restricting access to consumer information at its source, companies can help to clamp down on crimes such as identity theft, which is becoming a serious problem globally, he added.
Technology is starting to play a role in assisting companies in complying with legislation and tracking privacy concerns through an organisation. "Privacy regulations are being introduced that organisations look at and say 'my god, what do we do with this'," Adler said.
