Medibank on the hook for trillions but there’s more at stake than money

The $21.5 trillion in fines that Medibank Private could potentially pay as a result of legal action taken by Australia’s privacy watchdog is a screamer of a headline, and easy to relegate to the realms of fantasy.

In Medibank’s case the heat is being applied by Australia’s privacy regulator - the relatively unknown Office of the Australian Information Commissioner , which has instigated civil proceedings in the Federal Court against the insurer for failing to protect the privacy of 9.7 million Australians whose details were stolen in the 2022 cyberattack.

But how the court will treat the alleged contravention of the Privacy Act is difficult to predict. The OAIC has taken similar action only twice previously and both cases are still grinding their way through the courts.The OAIC’s first action, taken in 2020, was against Facebook’s owner Meta.

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