The latest interim report from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC’s) five-year Digital Platform Services Inquiry has found consumers are generally unaware of the extent of their own data generation and its collection and sharing with firms and businesses.
The ACCC found privacy policies provided by businesses generally use “ambiguous language or ‘take-it-or-leave-it’ terms” that are not transparent with consumers and make it difficult for them to “understand, intentionally consent and control what happens to their data”.
The report confirms data companies collect consumer data from a variety of sources and use it to sell services to businesses across several industries, including data-driven marketing, advertising, risk management, identity verification, fraud detection services, and property analytics.
However, it also found that these data collection practices do not reflect consumer expectations, with a 2023 consumer study confirming 74 per cent of Australians are uncomfortable with their personal information being shared with or sold to other companies.
“Data is a critical commodity in today’s economy as it helps businesses create innovative products and tailor new services for consumers. Its importance will only increase with the rise of artificial intelligence,” ACCC Deputy Chair, Catriona Lowe, said.
“This report shines a light on a relatively unknown part of the data ecosystem and examines the data products and services supplied by data firms. In many cases, the data firms do not have a direct relationship with the consumers whose data may be used.
“Many consumers may be unaware of the scope of data that is collected and then shared or on-sold to other data firms or unidentified third parties.
“As consumers are increasingly required to provide personal information or other data on themselves to access important services, such as applying for a rental property or receiving an insurance quote, we are very concerned that consumers may be unable to exercise choice or meaningful control over how their data is shared and used.”
The ACCC said it was concerned about the prospect of de-identified data being re-identified as it is matched with additional data sets and points, which may be used to target vulnerable consumers.
“The ACCC continues to support reforms to strengthen privacy laws to empower consumers to control and protect their data and the introduction of an across the economy unfair trading practices prohibition to address potential consumer harms,” the consumer watchdog said in its report.
“In addition to the potential harms arising from the misuse of consumer data, the ACCC has observed that data firms have potential incentives to harm competition by placing contractual obligations in agreements with business customers or data suppliers that limits a competitor’s access to data. This may foreclose rivals, especially in industry sectors where only a small number of data firms offer services.
“The report also observes that mergers and acquisitions by data firms are frequent and are often a tool used to broaden the portfolio of a data firm’s products and services but can provide the acquirer with the ability to restrict access to important datasets.”
The report also listed several examples of data that may be collected about consumers, including:
- Name
- Address
- Email addresses
- Phone numbers
- Date of birth
- Living situation/household
- Relationship status
- Number and age of children and pets
- Employment status
- Income
- Whether the person received welfare payments
- Education status
- Biometric data
- Criminal and medical history
- Preferences, interests, attitudes, opinions and behaviours
- Socio-economic status
- Purchase and transaction history
- Social media accounts
- Unique identifiers for online activities (mobile device identifier, cookie ID, IP address)
- Location, including in real time
- Device information (browser used, device type, operating system); and
- What content is consumed across TV, radio and online
