The government is seeking to reassure Australians their census data is secure, after the ABS was forced to take down the site on Tuesday night to ensure data was protected.
This is the screen that greeted many Australians on Census night, 9 August 2016.
ABS
Despite assuring Australians its systems were load tested and secure, the Census site went offline at a crucial time. Could the ABS have avoided such an embarrasing failure?
The ABS’ census website spectacularly crashed on Tuesday night.
Alan Porritt/AAP
Nick Xenophon is a populist politician with a knack of identifying issues likely to trouble people. When he said this week he wouldn’t put his name on his form, he immediately elevated the debate around…
The ABS promises it has the best of intentions, but many don’t trust it.
Shutterstock
The backlash against the Census suggests the Australian Bureau of Statistics didn’t do enough to convince Australians it needed to collect their private information or that it’d be kept safe.
South Australian senator Nick Xenophon has spoken out against census data retention.
Dan Peled/AAP
Census data have a real impact on the lives of Australians, from determining political representation through the distribution of electorates, to the allocation of government funding.
The ABS has safeguards to protect privacy and secure data collected in the census.
AAP/Alan Porritt
As governments look to new ways to step up surveillance, hackers find new ways to subvert it. Is there a way to end this cat and mouse game, described as a crypto-war?
In just four swipes on the interface of your phone, another person can access a wealth of your personal information.
shutterstock
In what circumstances can police search your phone? Must they obtain a search warrant? And what will happen if you refuse to provide your passcode or fingerprint required to access your phone?
How much privacy are we willing to give up in the name of cutting-edge science? And do we care about the kinds of research that will be done with our donations?
The augmented reality mobile game Pokemon Go.
Reuters/Sam Mircovich/Illustration
The latest Pokémon GO craze is transforming some public and private spaces as people interact with the game via their smartphone. In some cases, this might unwelcome, even problematic.
How hard is it to find what people would prefer was forgotten?
Magnifying glass with person and question mark via shutterstock.com
If you use one of the many apps to map your walking, jogging or cycling route then you could be giving away information that could be abused by others.