On 15 October 2019, the Treasury Laws Amendment (2018 Measures No 2) Bill 2019 (Bill) passed the House of Representatives and has now been introduced to the Senate.

Although digital manipulation of images and video has been around for some time, the combination of software that improves the realism of the fake and the speed at which fakes can be generated and disseminated to targeted audiences has made headlines in the political sphere over the last year or so. The manipulation of video images using artificial intelligence has been called ‘deepfake’, a portmanteau of ‘deep learning’ and ‘fake’.

Although digital manipulation of images and video has been around for some time, the combination of software that improves the realism of the fake and the speed at which fakes can be generated and disseminated to targeted audiences has made headlines in the political sphere over the last year or so.  The manipulation of video images using artificial intelligence has been called ‘deepfake’, a portmanteau of ‘deep learning’ and ‘fake’.

Most new software for organisations these days is a ‘cloud service’.  While previously you bought a CD ROM that you popped in your computer and ran the program on that local computer, cloud software means that the program is running on a server somewhere else in the world and delivered to you via the Internet. 

At any stage of the procurement lifecycle – from tender writing to final negotiations – accurately and completely describing what you are buying is critical…and rarely straightforward.  Here are some of our thoughts on getting this right.

A “lack of probity” is often raised in a procurement context as part of a complaint that there is an element of perceived unfairness.  It is an easy allegation to make, and one that is often made easier when organisations do not take the time to understand probity and embed it into their procurement practices. 

The closing date of the Australian Government’s consultation process regarding the making of an initial coin offering (ICO) provides us with an opportunity to take a breath and review the current regulatory state of the crypto world, in preparation for the regulations that may be on the horizon.

In light of the ATO’s current position that income from cryptocurrency sales will generally be taxed under capital gains tax (CGT) provisions and increased scrutiny on cryptocurrency transactions, taxpayers should ensure they keep accurate records of cryptocurrency transactions.

Did you or do you currently hold cryptocurrencies? Did you sell any cryptocurrencies before finding out that the Australian Tax Office (ATO) would vigilantly tax cryptocurrency sales? Are you left scratching your head after reading the ATO’s guidance? If so, you are one of many Australians currently finding themselves in an uncertain tax situation.

Notable global intellects Elon Musk and the late Stephen Hawking both openly cautioned about the risks to humanity posed by AI technologies.

I was intrigued by the high level numbers coming out of the Australian Corporate Counsel report '2017 Benchmarks and Leading Practices' on what in-house teams were spending their money on.

All businesses increasingly rely on other service providers to deliver their products and services, and even a small business will have a surprisingly large supply chain made of many large and small suppliers (who of course have many of their own suppliers). 

Cyber security experts counsel us that it’s a matter of when, not if your data will be compromised in some way either maliciously or by accident.  The opportunity for personal information to be lost only increases as businesses store greater and greater amounts of electronic information and outsource marketing, HR and operational activities to third parties without considering how they will protect information entrusted to them. 

To help you determine if your business legally requires a privacy policy under the Privacy Act, we have developed a simple flow chart for you to follow. If the answer is yes to any of the questions in the chart, a privacy policy should be prepared to ensure your business is not subject to penalties for non-compliance with the Privacy Act.