Micro-chipping away at privacy: privacy implications created by the new Queensland driver licence proposal

Abstract

[Introduction]: Queensland Transport plans to launch its ‘New Queensland Driver Licence’ Smartcard in 2008. The introduction will commence in November 2008 as a pilot with a complete rollout in July 2009. Delivery of the smartcard driver licence could be through a public-private partnership, with revenue earned through the partnership helping to offset the costs of the new driver licence. The most recent media statement on the proposal, dated January 18 2007, confirmed that shortlisted bidders had been invited to submit binding bids for the development of the new licence. This will make Queensland the first State in Australia to introduce a smartcard driver licence. Whilst Queensland Transport has specifically addressed issues of privacy in its Privacy Management Strategy, the use of the smartcard technology will occur despite the absence of clear legislative protections including legal redress for information privacy. The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) in its recent Review of Australian Privacy Law Discussion Paper (ALRC Discussion Paper) has identified the use of smartcards as raising significant privacy concerns including their lack of anonymity; their ability to collect vast amounts of information; and the ability to generate profiles. It is disappointing that Queensland has failed to implement the recommendations of the 1998 Queensland Legal, Constitutional and Administrative Review Committee’s Report on Privacy in Queensland that would have created adequate protections for privacy as a means of balancing the privacy concerns associated with smartcards. This article considers the privacy implications associated with the NQDL Proposal particularly in the absence of state privacy legislation. It concludes that information privacy legislation in Queensland is required as a matter of priority.