Documents related to the proposed involvement of Mastercard in delivering an online age verification system in Australia
Richard Smith made this Freedom of Information request to Digital Transformation Agency
Dear Digital Transformation Agency,
There has been a recent announcement by the Mastercard Incorporated (Mastercard), a public company incorporated in the United States of America, that it is working with the Digital Transformation Agency on the development of an age verification system for Australia. (https://www.mastercard.com/news/ap/en/ne...)
The protection of privacy is a fundamental human right. The protection of individual privacy is also vital in the age of electronic communication and commerce, with the cost to impacted individuals of identify theft and privacy breaches rising.
The involvement of a large multinational in the development or operation of an age verification system in Australia with a potential for a breach of privacy is an issue that I consider to be of significant public interest.
I therefore request the following Government Information:
a) Documents related to proposed involvement of Mastercard, or any entity working on the behalf of Mastercard, in delivering or influencing the delivery of an online age verification system in Australia covering the period beginning 1 February 2020 to 17 November 2021. Included in the scope of my request would be correspondence, including emails, whether internal to the office or between the office and outside parties, diary entries, calendar entries, notifications of meetings and minutes of meetings; and
b) Documents related to discussion of development of policy for an online age verification system in Australia, and any draft or final policy papers or proposals with the involvement of Mastercard, or any entity working on the behalf of Mastercard.
If this can be answered as informal request, please do so.
Otherwise, please proceed with this as a formal request under the Freedom of Information principles & framework, i.e. the Freedom of Information Act 1982 & other associated guidelines and regulations.
Yours faithfully,
Richard Smith
OFFICIAL
Dear Richard Smith
DTA is currently experiencing a high volume of FOI requests and we apologies for the delay in responding to your request below.
In response to your request dated 18 November 2021 in which you requested under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act) access to:
a) Documents related to proposed involvement of Mastercard, or any entity working on the behalf of Mastercard, in delivering or influencing the delivery of an online age verification system in Australia covering the period beginning 1 February 2020 to 17 November 2021. Included in the scope of my request would be correspondence, including emails, whether internal to the office or between the office and outside parties, diary entries, calendar entries, notifications of meetings and minutes of meetings; and
b) Documents related to discussion of development of policy for an online age verification system in Australia, and any draft or final policy papers or proposals with the involvement of Mastercard, or any entity working on the behalf of Mastercard.
I wish to inform you that your request contains information relating to third parties. As a result, DTA is required to consult.
Notice of Consultation
Your request covers a document relating to the business, commercial or financial affairs of an organization. Accordingly, DTA is required to consult with the organisation concerned before making a decision on the release of this document.
Section 27 of the FOI Act provides that if a request is made to an agency for access to a document containing business information organisation, and it appears to the agency that the organization might reasonably wish to make a contention that the document is exempt under section 47 (trade secrets etc), or section 47G (business information) of the FOI Act, then the agency must not decide to give access to the document unless the organisation concerned is given a reasonable opportunity to make submissions in support of their contention, if it is reasonably practicable to do so.
The DTA will take into account any comments we receive from the organisation. However, the final decision on whether to grant access to the document requested rests with DTA.
Extension of time to process the request In accordance with section 15(6) of the FOI Act, the period for processing your request has been extended by an additional 30 days in order to allow DTA time to consult with the organisation. The processing period for this request will now end on 18 January 2021.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly
Regards
Suzie Sazdanovic
FOI and Privacy Manager
Phone: 02 6120 8595
OFFICIAL
OFFICIAL
Hi Richard,
I am reaching out to you on behalf of my colleague Suzie who is on leave
at the moment. I had been informed that we were requesting an extension on
your FOI request but I was unable to attain any prior email trails in
relation to this.
Are you able to provide me with either the most recent trail or your
approval for your FOI request to be extended until the 18^th of February
2022.
I apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate any
feedback from you.
Kind regards,
Nik Glusac
Treasury Officer
Finance, Procurement and Assurance
Digital Transformation Agency (DTA)
E: [1][email address]
[2]www.dta.gov.au
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OFFICIAL
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OFFICIAL
Dear Richard
Please find attached the decision and documents in response to your FOI request.
For your convenience, we have also included a schedule of the relevant documents.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me directly.
Thanks
Suzie Sazdanovic
Digital Transformation Agency (DTA)
PH: 02 6120 8595
OFFICIAL