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Privacy is your business

Privacy is your business is the slogan being used by the Asia Pacific Privacy Authorities (known as 'APPA') for Privacy Awareness Week 26 August to 1 September 2007.

Privacy Awareness Week is held every year to remind people of the importance of protecting their privacy.

• You can write about any aspect of privacy – how it affects you, your friends, your family, your life. You may want to write a blog about how privacy impacts upon your daily life.
• Or maybe you don’t really think about privacy at all. If you don’t, we’d like to know why.
• You may want to write a poem or an essay.
• Your entry can be short or it can be up to 1,000 words.

ENTRIES CLOSE 5PM FRIDAY 3 AUGUST

• Download the info pack and entry form (pdf)
• Media Release: Students encouraged to participate in international privacy competition

中文版 / Information in Chinese

• 下載參賽表格 PDF : 下載參賽表格 MS Word
• Download Poster PDF

Does the internet really mean the death of privacy?

Some people say that young people today have no sense of their own privacy nor that of others. They believe that young people live life very publicly in cyberspace through sites such as MySpace™, YouTube™ and Facebook™. In cyberspace — there are no secrets!

Some older people say that this is a bad thing—that young people are risking their privacy, and perhaps their health or relationships, or in extreme cases their security, by being so public and letting anyone learn all about them: Who you like or don’t like, whether or not you are in a relationship, what your dreams and hopes are. What do you think?

Maybe you’re not interested in the internet at all. Maybe it’s hard to get access to a
computer. Perhaps ‘privacy’ means something entirely different to you, particularly if you live in a small town or in a rural area. Tell us about it.

Do you have other privacy concerns?

What do you think about more and more surveillance cameras recording your every move in public places, such as shopping centres, and even in some schools? Do you ever think about what happens to your financial information or school records or other personal or health information? Do you ever wonder “why do they need to know that?” Are you worried about cyber-bullying which could happen if someone gets hold of your mobile telephone number or email address?

All of these, and many more, can be the basis of your entry.

We think that privacy never goes out of fashion. We want to hear from you so we can keep it looking good!

This website is managed by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, Australia. Click here to view our Privacy Policy.