Jacques Jacobs

Firm/Organization: Norton Rose Fulbright

Latest Articles

OAIC releases 12-month data breach scheme report – encourages entities to move beyond compliance

By Jacques Jacobs, Matthew Ellis, Eden Winokur & James Makowiak on May 14, 2019

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) this week released its 12-month Insights Report for the Notifiable Data Breach (NDB) Scheme (Report). The Report shows trends and noteworthy statistics from 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019, reporting an uptick in notifications and identifying the most common cyber trends leading to a requirement to notify. The OAIC notes that many entities have taken a proactive approach to engage with the OAIC and it has…

Insurance law tomorrow

Privacy Shake-Up – Tougher Penalties and More Funding

By Jacques Jacobs, Matthew Ellis, Eden Winokur & James Makowiak on April 4, 2019

What’s happened? The Australian Attorney-General’s department has announced a proposed new regime that would make changes to the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Act). The proposed changes would see a significant expansion of the powers afforded to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), particularly with respect to the scope of penalties that may be handed out by the OAIC. The Attorney-General’s department states that the proposed changes are aimed at increasing online protection for…

Insurance law tomorrow

Cyber-attacks are getting more sophisticated – are you safe?

By Jacques Jacobs, Matthew Ellis, Eden Winokur & Victoria Hoon on January 30, 2019

It has become common knowledge that password protection and encryption of data are some of the most effective ways of preventing your information from ending up in the wrong hands. As cybercriminals adapt to advances in password protection and encryption technology, it is important to remember that these measures cannot completely eliminate the risk of data loss and data theft. Sometimes, malicious actors are able to access personal information by hacking into an organisation’s network…

Insurance law tomorrow

A Trend Has Emerged – Third Quarter Report on Data Breaches by the OAIC

By Jacques Jacobs, Matthew Ellis, Eden Winokur & Matthew Fonti on November 8, 2018

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) recently released its third quarterly report in relation to data breaches notified under the Notifiable Data Breach (NDB) Scheme between 1 July and 30 September 2018. For this quarter, the OAIC received 245 data breach notifications which is on par with the previous quarter. With this being the second full quarter report released by the OAIC, it is becoming easier to recognise certain trends in data breach…

Insurance law tomorrow

Cloud cover: 5 tips to mitigate the risks of cloud computing services

By Jacques Jacobs, Matthew Ellis, Eden Winokur & Matthew Fonti on September 18, 2018

In mid-2017, the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed that almost a third of sampled businesses are using commercial cloud computing services. This year, Gartner reported Australian businesses will spend $4.6 billion on cloud services (an 18.5% increase from last year). Below we highlight some of the risks for businesses associated with the use of cloud services and provide tips to mitigate some of those risks. Vendor lock-in Some cloud service providers can make it difficult…

Insurance law tomorrow

Cyber Risk for D&O – Steps to Mitigate

By Jacques Jacobs, Matthew Ellis, Eden Winokur & Sundar Odgers on September 12, 2018

Think of one of the greatest nightmares of your professional life. For the management team of a corporation and their in-house counsel, there are few more nightmarish days than when they receive a call from the IT department reporting unauthorised activity in the company’s databases. Over the next few days, the fog lifts and it becomes clear that the company has been the subject of a cyber-attack and personally identifiable data of its customers or…

Insurance law tomorrow

Shareholder Class Actions are here to stay: What this means for D&O insurers

By Jacques Jacobs & Melissa Tan on September 10, 2018

Following our previous blog article on the facts and myths surrounding class actions in Australia (you can catch up and read it here), in this second part of the two-part blog series, we discuss the implications of the growth of shareholder class actions for the local D&O market in a Q&A style. Q: Which type of class action is the most prevalent and poses the most risk? A: Although we have seen the class…

Insurance law tomorrow

Class Actions in Australia: Fact versus Fiction

By Jacques Jacobs & Melissa Tan on September 3, 2018

With the two Law Reform Commission inquiries into class actions and litigation funders, the highly publicised class actions such as GetSwift, and the growing presence of litigation funders in Australia, it’s almost impossible to avoid the discussions about Australia’s class action landscape – And you can bet that the spotlight on class actions will only grow brighter over the coming months. In this two-part blog series, we: (1) provide a Q&A to separate the facts…

Insurance law tomorrow

Fraudulent non-disclosure, avoidance and refusal to advance – Federal Court decides insurers can avoid advancing defence costs to Cranston and Onley

By Tricia Hobson, Jacques Jacobs, Andrea Garratt & Elizabeth Kordic on August 14, 2018

The Full Court of the Federal Court in the last couple of weeks considered a question that by some has been considered a “sleeper issue” which had not previously received judicial attention. The question was whether a final adjudication clause in a conduct exclusion prevents Underwriters from relying on their statutory right to avoid a policy for fraudulent non-disclosure. If the answer was “yes” Underwriters would be required to advance defence costs until a finding…

Insurance law tomorrow

Data breaches notifications are on the rise

By Jacques Jacobs, Eden Winokur & Alexander Proudford on August 2, 2018

As many readers know, the Notifiable Data Breach Scheme (NDB Scheme) came into force on 22 February 2018. It has resulted in changes to Australia’s privacy law in relation to notification obligations on individuals and organisations that experience an eligible data breach. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) recently released its second quarterly report in relation to data breaches notified under the NDB Scheme between 1 April and 30 June 2018. The OAIC…

Jacques Jacobs

OAIC releases 12-month data breach scheme report – encourages entities to move beyond compliance

Privacy Shake-Up – Tougher Penalties and More Funding

Cyber-attacks are getting more sophisticated – are you safe?

A Trend Has Emerged – Third Quarter Report on Data Breaches by the OAIC

Cloud cover: 5 tips to mitigate the risks of cloud computing services

Cyber Risk for D&O – Steps to Mitigate

Shareholder Class Actions are here to stay: What this means for D&O insurers

Class Actions in Australia: Fact versus Fiction

Fraudulent non-disclosure, avoidance and refusal to advance – Federal Court decides insurers can avoid advancing defence costs to Cranston and Onley

Data breaches notifications are on the rise

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