The Australian government on Saturday proposed tougher penalties for companies that fail to protect customers’ personal data after two major cybersecurity breaches left millions vulnerable to criminals.
The penalties for serious breaches on the Privacy Act would increase from $2.2 million (US$1.4 million) now to $50 million (US$32 million) under amendments to be introduced to Parliament next week, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said on Saturday in Melbourne.
Dreyfus said “big companies could face penalties up to hundreds of millions of dollars” under the new law.
“It is a very, very substantial increase in the penalties,” Dreyfus told reporters.
“It’s designed to make companies think. It’s designed to be a deterrent so that companies will protect the data of Australians,” he added….