Privacy Awareness Week: Let's Get Back to Basics

Privacy Awareness Week will take place  from 1 - 7 May 2023.

Privacy Awareness Week is a global campaign that highlights the importance of privacy and raises awareness for about how to protect our own personal information and that of others.

This year’s theme is "Back to Basics - Privacy foundations in NSW" and will focus on reminding us about fundamentals of privacy, and highlight basic steps we can all take to keep personal information secure.

Privacy Awareness Week is a necessary reminder that every day we can take simple measures to protect our privacy, and the privacy of others.

This Privacy Awareness Week, we’re going back to basics and sharing helpful tips to protect your personal information:

• Store documents such as passports, driving licences, pay slips, tax returns, bank statements and bills in a safe place
• Shred or destroy personal documents you are throwing away such as bills, receipts, credit card statements and other documents that show your name, address or other personal details
• If you need to post personal documents, ask the post office for advice on the most secure method
• Limit the number of documents you carry around on you. Don’t leave personal documents in your vehicle or unattended
• Check your bank and credit card statements for unusual transactions
• Always use a different password and PIN for different accounts and take care when using public computers to access personal information
• Regularly check your records. Make sure your information is correct and up to date.
• Update your privacy and security settings on all of your devices.
• Share with care. Be mindful of what you share on social media about yourself and others
• Use multi-factor authentication to better protect your online accounts.
• Be wary of public wi-fi and avoid using it for things like internet banking.
• When you sign up for a new service or app, be sure you know what you’re agreeing to in the terms and conditions.

Privacy Awareness Week NSW 2023 webinar: Privacy, Data and Digital Technology

The webinar focuses on the impact of technology such as Artificial Intelligence, digital identity, and facial recognition. Watch it below.

The IPC (Information and Privacy Commission NSW) has collected a range of useful resources for parents, teens and children to help you think about how personal information is shared online and how best to protect your privacy.

• Privacy tips for parents and carers
• Privacy tips for teenagers
• Privacy tips for kids

For further reading and specific issues, check out the IPC's Privacy Fact Sheets

Updated Privacy Self-assessment Tool

The Privacy Self-assessment Tool enables agencies to assess their systems and policies to ensure their compliance with their privacy requirements under the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (PPIP Act) and the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (HRIP Act). The revised tool has been designed so that agencies can perform an assessment of their privacy governance maturity while also tracking their progress in improving their privacy practices.

Access the privacy self-assessment tool.

Back to Basics Top Tips

The IPC has developed some Back to Basics top tips to help encourage people to make privacy a priority.

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For further information visit: NSW Privacy Week 2023.