Australian Tech Workers Get Powerful New Voice Against Corporate Greed

Australian Tech Workers Get Powerful New Voice Against Corporate Greed

A recent guide released by the Human Rights Law Centre has empowered Australian tech employees to speak out against corporate wrongdoing. The guide, Technology-Related Whistleblowing, provides a comprehensive summary of legally protected avenues for raising concerns about the harmful impacts of technology and practical considerations.

The move comes as Australia experiences relatively little tech-related whistleblowing, with many experts citing the need for greater public accountability via whistleblowing. Recent laws and scandals have highlighted the potential harms involved in technologies and platforms, including a ban on social media for under 16s and a “digital duty of care” for technology companies.

The guide outlines the protections available to tech employee whistleblowers, explaining that different whistleblower laws exist in the private sector and public interest disclosure legislation. It also highlights concerns over automation in tax Robodebt scandal, AI data usage, and impact on Australian jobs, as well as consent issues in AI model health data and payout after Facebook Cambridge Analytica scandal.

A recent report by Human Rights Watch found that an Australian radiology company handed over medical scans of patients without their knowledge or consent for a healthcare AI start-up to use the scans to train AI models. Additionally, photos of Australian kids were used by AI models without consent.

Reports also note that an algorithm being used to rate risk levels associated with immigration detainees and concerns over immigration detainee algorithms impacting how they were managed have raised eyebrows among human rights experts.

Australian tech workers can now leverage these protections to report misconduct or improper state affairs within organizations. The authors argue that more people than ever in Australia are being exposed to the harm caused by new technologies, digital platforms, and artificial intelligence. However, they noted that the role of whistleblowers in exposing wrongdoing has been largely disregarded.

As Frances Haugen, a whistleblower who shared internal Facebook material with The Wall Street Journal, wrote in the guide’s forward, “Australia is, in many respects, a testing centre for many of the world’s incumbent tech giants and an incubator for the good, bad, and the unlawful.” With this new guide, Australian tech employees now have a comprehensive tool to speak out against harmful company practices and ensure accountability in the tech industry.

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