#131 Dr Rys Farthing on evidence based digital policy and the Children's Online Privacy Code

This week we're in conversation with Rys Farthing, who is Research Director at Reset.Tech Australia, a Not-for-profit that aims to develop evidence around digital issues so that policy makers can be more informed.

We explore some of the challenges for effective digital policy making in Australia and around the world, and discuss our hopes and expectations for the Children's Online Privacy Code.

If you're a regular listener, you'll know that Reset's work comes up somewhat regularly (both episode #120 about real time bidding and #93 about data brokers were based on research reports published by Reset, for example). We believe that there's a real need for the kind of work that Reset.Tech Australia does, to build an Australian evidence base around tech policy issues and solutions, and how they play out in the Australian context.

Links:

The OAIC's announcement about phasing consultation is here: https://www.oaic.gov.au/news/blog/sunshine-and-double-rainbows-building-a-better-online-environment-for-children-and-young-people 

The law that give rise to the Children's Online Privacy Code is here: https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_LEGislation/Bills_Search_Results/Result?bId=r7249

About grooming on Facebook. The leaked files that 75% of grooming came from Facebook's People You May Know (PYM) feature were reproduced in a US court, on page 12 here: https://socialmediavictims.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Spence-Complaint-6_6_22.pdf Also Zoe Daniels asked if PYMK was still turned on for Australian kids in Sept 2024, and the answer was yes: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/metas-disregard-for-the-public-interest-is-galling-says-independent-mp-zoe-daniel/news-story/7783e5551f8669f665c7599d4e1dc47c

The document that notes that industry was aware of the issues of setting the bar of protection at 16 not 18. In response to a number of orgs raising this in their consultation process they responded: "in response to feedback the Code provisions concerning privacy settings on children's accounts have been amended to apply to children under 16." https://onlinesafety.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/221118_Submissions-log-responses_FINAL.pdf

Finally, we also mention the Centre for automated decision making & society's Australian ad observatory project - a fantastic participatory research project providing much needed visibility into how ads are targeted to people in Australia: https://www.admscentre.org.au/australian-ad-observatory-investigating-mobile-and-dynamic-advertising-via-computational-and-participatory-approaches/

Credits:

Editing and post-production by Martin Franklin (East Coast Studio) www.eastcoaststudio.com.au

Music by Bensound.com