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In line with Privacy Awareness Week (1–7 May), the NSW government has rolled out a new initiative aimed at providing people with greater control over their personal information and how it is shared.
Over the last year, a series of cyber attacks, including the recent ones affecting Optus and Medibank, have compromised the personal information of individuals throughout the state, according to the NSW government.
The primary reason behind these breaches has been identified as inadequate storage of physical documents by businesses, which has resulted in them being exposed to identity theft. As a result, the annual cost of cyber attacks in the state is now estimated to be $42 billion.
In 2022, ID Support NSW had to replace over 50,000 physical documents following cyber incidents and natural disasters.
With the growing concern around online security and privacy, the NSW government underscored the importance of “protecting online data and building world-class privacy and security measures” and has taken significant steps to protect citizens’ personal information.
As a part of these efforts, the government has developed the NSW Digital ID (beta) and is currently undergoing testing to ensure its effectiveness.
The beta version of NSW Digital ID has commenced trials, with the state government reporting a customer satisfaction rating of over 90 per cent across all pilot tests.
Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government Jihad Dib said that “with the world moving towards a digital future, it’s more important than ever for people to feel safe when providing personal information online and the Digital ID will help do just that”.
The NSW Digital ID is designed to empower individuals by giving them control over how and when their personal information is shared, thus putting an end to the oversharing of such data.
This is achieved by requiring individuals to verify their identity only once during the setup process, which in turn grants them the ability to manage which details are shared with other government agencies and private companies.
For example, individuals can confirm their age without revealing other personal details, such as their date of birth or street address, which would be present on a physical driver’s licence.
Mr Dib said that by giving people the option to control their personal information safely and securely online, it can “hand the power over their privacy back to the people”.
“We want to take proactive steps to ensure everyone has access to the tools they need to protect their privacy and provide security around personal information,” he added.
Privacy Week, with the theme “Back to Basics”, highlights the significance of safeguarding people’s online presence and returning control of information sharing to individuals.
This objective has prompted the integration of top-notch privacy and security measures into all digital services offered by the NSW government.
“Any digital service the NSW government provides will continue to undergo rigorous testing to ensure the community has confidence that their private information is safe and secure,” Mr Dib stated.
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