Albo eyes an algorithm off switch + Blowing the whistle on KPMG
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What is the Australian government’s plan for an algorithm “opt‑out” on social media?
A listener production.
Hey Chris Beer with you. Welcome to the briefing. A consulting firm with very lucrative government contracts has become the latest to be embroiled in a scandal that involves a whistleblower, a parliamentary inquiry, and some of the country's biggest companies.
It's been a real erosion of trust from people in supreme senior positions who absolutely knew what they were doing, and they certainly knew that what they were doing was not right.
That deep dive into the latest with KPMG and why you should care about it is coming up in the second half of this episode. First though, let's get into the headlines with Sasha Barbagat. It's Tuesday, the first of September.
Hey Chris, happy start to spring. Pinch and a punch for the first of the month. I don't know why you find that so amusing. And then you're supposed to go a hit and a kick for being so quick. Yeah.
Yeah. Well I didn't, but thank you so much. That's fine. You're too young to re You're too young
to remember. All right. We could soon be able to opt out of the algorithm on social media in a move being looked at by the Albanese government. The Prime Minister says Labour is looking at the best and most practical ways to protect Australians, telling nine papers he wants people to have more control over what lands on their screens. Now his comments follow those of Social Services Minister Tanya Plibosek on Sunday. who said the government was working with youth led group Teach Us Consent on how an opt in or opt-out system might actually work.
It'll most likely be part of next month's digital duty of care laws, and it's expected to be an opt-out feature rather than an opt-in. And that's partly to head off claims of government overreach from voters and to avoid poking the big tech giants who are close to the Trump administration. Meantime, we've also got more clarity on Labour's new privacy laws, which we were talking about yesterday and whether they'll cover smart glasses. A quick reminder. These are the laws which will include a right to erasure plus a new tool called ID Lock, giving us more say over how our personal documents get stored and used online and essentially giving us the ability to get it all removed when we want it all removed from platforms.
From the
Attorney General Michelle Rowland says banning the controversial AI glasses or smart glasses isn't on the table in this consultation. But she hasn't ruled out other measures encouraging local governments to follow in the example of Brisbane City Council, which last week banned people from secretly filming with smart glasses at public pools. So, uh yeah, no plans yet. But also the point to make is that this consultation. It's not actually something that they could legislate or or propose legislation around an import ban in this particular um set of legislation. So we weren't gonna see that no matter what.
Interestingly, we also heard from the Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind. She said that the Privacy Act might not be the best way to introduce a ban altogether. So, again, to that point of like it's not part of this consultation, but the government's not completely ruling it out. And of course, that's because of pressure from the Greens and some independents that they want to ban the import of these glasses. Michelle Rowland, though, she did say that the government doesn't want to play a whack-a-mole when. It comes to emerging techs, and she doesn't want to be like going through this thing and just banning it as it comes along. She just wants that overall blanket rules and laws that can cover a bunch of them, and she doesn't want to be coming in with new laws that are vague and wouldn't cover new technologies.
So sounds like I mean it's a mix, right? It sounds like the government kicking the can down the road, like we were speaking about off air earlier, or Or is this the government trying to think it through? Or is this the government hearing the chatter and going, Oh shit, now we have to act? I don't know.
How are the new privacy laws addressing smart‑glasses and digital‑duty‑of‑care?
Yeah, well it's like with the gambling laws, it feels like there's so many interests at play.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the Australian government’s plan for an algorithm “opt‑out” on social media?
0:02–3:50
2
How are the new privacy laws addressing smart‑glasses and digital‑duty‑of‑care?
3:50–7:46
3
Why is Lionel Messi’s retirement from the Argentina team making headlines?
7:46–11:20
4
What is happening with the Nepal floods and the missing Australian travellers?
11:20–14:44
5
How is the KPMG whistle‑blower scandal unfolding and why should you care?
14:44–18:44
6
Which Australian companies were allegedly targeted by KPMG’s misuse of confidential data?
18:44–22:34
7
What does the KPMG scandal mean for the future of auditing and consulting in Australia?
22:34–25:58
8
How might AI and AI‑generated reports reshape the big‑four consulting firms?
25:58–29:12
Speakers
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