The MFA's Privacy submission highlights global competitiveness concerns

Ashley Regan
By Ashley Regan | 26 April 2023
 
Sophie Madden.

The Media Federation of Australia (MFA) has highlighted its concerns around global competitiveness, targeting, trading and consent in its submission to the Federal Government’s Privacy Act Review.

Sophie Madden, chief executive officer at MFA, told AdNews the MFA supports the modernisation of privacy laws to protect consumers, following in line with the ADMA (Association for Data-driven Marketing and Advertising) and the AANA (Australian Association of National Advertisers) who are also defending the use of targeted advertising.

However, "the MFA is concerned that some of the Report’s proposals may have detrimental impacts for consumers, business and the community, and may result in privacy laws that are inconsistent with, and more onerous than, privacy laws in other jurisdictions," Madden said.

The Privacy Review is aiming to restrict targeted marketing, especially to children, which may have the unintended consequence of putting potentially harmful ads in front of children and vulnerable groups.

The MFA's main concern is Australian businesses will be at a disadvantage to those in countries with less strict privacy laws. This can make it harder for local businesses to grow and compete for global customers. 

For example, the proposed 'targeting' definition is inconsistent with other key jurisdictions in the world and goes further than the GDPR or the UK.

Similarly, the MFA argues that the impact of the proposals may introduce regulatory complexity and potentially overregulation which can result in confusion for the community and can discourage investment and involvement in the Australian market.

In its submission, the MFA flags that the definitions of ‘targeting’, 'trading' and 'consent' are excessively broad and 'not workable' because the definitions go 'well beyond' the commonly understood meaning of the term or the scope of activities that should be regulated by privacy laws.

The MFA is also worried about compliance costs as businesses may face significant costs to comply with new privacy regulations, potentially hindering growth and innovation, particularly with small businesses.

In its submission, the MFA flags that the requirement for consent is unambiguous and may have the unintended consequence of depriving consumers of the benefits they expect; deprive advertising platforms of the relevant data (e.g. that someone may be a child) which can enable appropriate exclusion from certain advertising; and be materially detrimental to many businesses that are fundamental to the economy and the media environment.

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