This briefing paper reflects discussions held in a roundtable of 16 policy experts around privacy, human rights and consumer law. The roundtable was prompted by proposals put forward in the Privacy Act Review and the significant pushback from ad tech and media against these reforms, which would curb targeted advertising and its associated profiling.

The proposed changes allowing individuals to opt out of receiving targeted advertising and the use of their personal information for direct marketing purposes, align with existing requirements in EU regulation and legislation in some US states. 

Key recommendations

• The proposed changes should require an explicit opt-in for targeted advertising.
• A broader duty of care model should be considered for the Privacy Act.
• It needs to be made explicitly clear, either in the Act or through subsequent guidance, that consent does not override the need for fairness and reasonableness.
• There should be an expectation that regulators proactively use their investigative powers and respond to complaints in a timely manner, and their funding needs to be commensurate with this.
• Legislative reforms should consider provisions for researcher access and other heightened measures to create observability.
• Strategic litigation needs to be considered around the rights-based violations emerging from the targeted advertising model.