Australian defense personnel data auctioned via real-time auction advertising platforms
Live location data – and much more – of Australians is shared almost 450 times a day across a multitude of digital advertising markets.
A new report from digital advocacy group Reset.Tech Australia has revealed the alarming scale of Australian data being shared without consent via real-time bidding (RTB) to place ads in front of users on the fly.
According to the Any buyer accepted report, the real-time bidding system shares the location of an Australian citizen 449 times per day on average.
And it’s not just about location data. Real-time bidding – a form of advertising process whereby an ad can be targeted to a particular user in real time, and advertisers can bid to have their ad placed based on information known about that user – can share data movement, financial interests, sexual preferences, drinking habits and much more.
It’s not just ordinary Australians, but potentially every Australian who visits a website hosting adverts – and this includes the data of defense personnel and political leaders, potentially creating a national security risk, according to Reset. TechAustralia.
But for ordinary Australians, releasing so much personal data poses a personal risk, potentially leading to being the target of scams and identity theft.
“The nature of the RTB process is a dirty little secret that has remained under the public radar for too long,” Alice Dawkins, executive director of Reset. Tech Australia, said in a statement.
The Reset.Tech Australia report is based on data published by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) in a report titled Australia’s hidden security crisis.
“We hope that with this report, which draws heavily on ICCL’s strong track record on this topic, we can encourage public debate on this pernicious market to which none of us have subscribed,” said Reset.Tech Australia.
John Pane, president of Electronic Frontiers Australia, said the RTB system “goes beyond personal guarantees”.
“The data trails we leave behind extend to our friends, family, and every website we visit. This creates a web of vulnerabilities that is impossible to manage alone,” Pane said.
“To solve this problem, we need systemic reform, not individual vigilance. »
One of the most alarming elements is that even the advertising industry cannot control the flow of personal data. There is simply “no technical way to limit how the data is used” once it has been published, according to the industry’s own documentation.
Chandni Gupta, deputy chief executive of the Consumer Policy Research Centre, said: “Australians deserve privacy protections that focus on people, not profit. »
“It’s time for the federal government to modernize what it means to be identifiable to cover data points obtained from any source and by any means. It must put the onus on businesses by imposing clear obligations on the collection, sharing and use of consumer data that lead to fair and safe outcomes for Australians.
You can read the full report here.
