“We need crystal clear legal obligations for industry in this legislation. These obligations are so unclear that companies will be spamming consumers and inundating the regulator about every possible scam, and the regulator won’t even be sharing that information with Australians or using it to have scams removed.”
Proposed changes to the Privacy Act place too much burden on individuals and don’t tell businesses gow to chare the burden, says Sunita Bose, managing director of Digi.Credit: Jeremy Piper
Jones defended the consultation process and said about two-thirds of scams in Australia originated from social media platforms.
“Our laws ensure that social media platforms, telcos and banks prevent and protect consumers from scams or face up to $50 million in penalties and be required to compensate victims,” he said.
“It is unfortunate that the lobby group for Big Tech are promoting their weak, voluntary industry code as an alternative. It’s not good enough. It is even weaker than what they signed up to in the UK. The laws of Australia don’t stop at the internet. No one is off the hook.”
A spokesman for the Australian Banking Association said banks had participated in consultations, as had telcos, social media platforms and consumer groups. “Banks support legislation that enshrines an entire ecosystem approach which is the only way to properly protect consumers and help drive down scam losses.”
Consumer Action Law Centre chief Stephanie Tonkin says the laws will fall short of protecting consumers
Meanwhile, Customer Owned Banking Association CEO Michael Lawrence said the organisation backed the government’s proposed “ecosystem approach to scams that includes digital platforms and telecommunication providers in the Scams Prevention Framework from the start”.
However, the proposed anti-scam legislation has faced criticism from other quarters including the Consumer Action Law Centre, which says they put too much onus on consumers to fight for redress in lengthy dispute resolution processes that could take between 18 months and two years.
“What’s worse than this delay is that there is no guarantee of victims getting any money back at the end,” its CEO Stephanie Tonkin said.
Independent senator David Pocock earlier this month held a Canberra press conference alongside scam victims to call for stronger action against scammers.
Independent senator David Pocock earlier this month held a Canberra press conference alongside scam victims to call for stronger action against scammers. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“The government’s top priority here should be protecting people, not shaping policy in the best interests of big corporations, whether they are big banks, telcos or social media giants,” he said.
Pocock said a more robust protection framework was needed. “This must include a reimbursement model that has proven to be successful in the UK. The government’s current proposal is weak, won’t be effective and puts far too much burden on scam victims.”
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