The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) has put the onus on businesses to ensure their use of tracking pixels complies with privacy laws.
The government agency has released guidance to ensure private sector organisations comply with the Australian Privacy Act when using third-party tracking pixels on their websites.
The guidance responds to industry demand for greater detail on the application of the Privacy Act to tracking technologies, as well as interest in the topic across government, media and the community.
Social media companies and other digital platforms offer tracking pixels which collect information about a user’s activity to send a third-party provider.
Pixels and other tracking tools such as cookies enable granular user surveillance which can be useful for business analysis, advertising and ROI measurement.
Australian Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind said many of these tracking tools are harmful, invasive and corrosive of online privacy.
“This is a real concern in the community with our Australian Community Attitudes to Privacy Survey 2023 finding that 69% of adults did not think it fair and reasonable that their personal information was used for online tracking, profiling and targeted advertising, with that rising to 89% when material was targeted at children,” she said.
The guidance states that organisations seeking to deploy a third-party tracking pixel on their website must ensure it is configured and used in a way that is compliant with the Privacy Act.
Brands and publishers are being told to ensure they understand how the product works, identify the potential privacy risks involved and implement measures to mitigate those risks, and not adopt a ‘set and forget’ approach.
Failing to conduct appropriate due diligence can create a range of privacy compliance and other legal risks.
New privacy legislation will grant the OAIC direct fining power, with penalties reaching $330,000 for administrative breaches and $66,000 for infringement notices.
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