Not-for-profit crisis hotline Lifeline Australia offers 24/7 crisis support, mental health support and emotional assistance to everyday Australians struggling with the stresses of life. It is an organisation used by many.
On average, Lifeline receives a call every 30 seconds and is used by over one million Australians in need of crisis support every year. And with suicide being the leading cause of death amongst young Australians, organisations like Lifeline certainly make a difference.
But this is a lot of private and sensitive data being funnelled through one organisation, which should naturally raise privacy concerns over the handling of vulnerable Australians’ confidential conversations.
In light of POLITICO’s recent bombshell article, revealing that popular suicide hotline “Crisis Text Line” usurped people’s data to market customer service software back to them via their for-profit spin-off company, Loris.ai, CONTX decided to ask the question: How does Lifeline Australia use vulnerable Australians’ data?
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How does Lifeline Australia use your data?
Lifeline Australia ensures vulnerable Australians that their data is safe and not being shared with third parties. However, Lifeline does have relationships with third-party data analytics organisations. Take Australian company and Microsoft partner, Data Addiction, for example.
In late September of 2021, Lifeline Australia contracted Data Addiction to develop “a secure data platform that can act as a research hub, providing secure, controlled access to anonymised data for senior researchers at the Blackdog Institute, University of NSW and University of Canberra,” as reported by Microsoft.
This research platform helps Lifeline predict when the demand for their services is about to go gangbusters. It also helps researchers analyse trends of words and phrases associated with a person in crisis, words like “paracetamol”, “desperation” and phrases like “can’t go on.”
However, though underlying intentions for collecting this data seem amicable, questions should be raised regarding Lifeline’s handling of vulnerable Australians’ private information, given the times we live in.
Lifeline Australia’s official privacy policy does state that names and contact details are not recorded during conversations unless provided under the express consent of the vulnerable. But what about those who do provide their personal information?
To be clear: CONTX Media is not accusing Lifeline Australia, or Data Addiction of illegal, or unethical wrongdoing. But CONTX does believe it is imperative for organisations like Lifeline Australia to be held accountable, in order to ensure Australians in crisis are making the most informed decisions about their data.
Data Anonymisation
Typical data anonymisation methods involve removing pieces of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) from data sets such as names, phone numbers, and email addresses, while introducing ‘noise’ into the data, according to industry experts.
But the fact is, in an age where most online services are free, your data is the product. It has been well established that typical data anonymisation methods, used by companies and governmental organisations globally, are not as secure as they are led to be.
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In 2019, research published in Nature Communications revealed that Americans can be “correctly located in an anonymize[d] database 81% of the time” using just three pieces of basic information: zip code, gender, and date of birth.
This number can get as high as 99.98% accuracy using 15 data points. The researchers also state that typical anonymisation methods are “unlikely to satisfy the modern standards for anonymization set forth by [the] GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).”
According to Lifeline Australia’s privacy policy, your IP address, device screen size, device type, operating system, browser information, geographic location, social media interactions, chat and phone conversations are all recorded, without the need for express consent. So the question becomes: Are Australians in crisis and their data really all that anonymous?
Lifeline and Data Addiction
CONTX reached out to Lifeline Australia’s National Media Relations Manager, Richard Shute, for comment on the matter. Shute made it clear, after deliberating with Lifeline’s internal data analytics team, that the nature of its relationship with Data Addiction was “not commercial in nature.”
Shute assured CONTX not only that “clean data” is used (no names, no gender, no ISP, no postcodes, no phone numbers, or identifiable data points) but this data is only made accessible, via their secure research hub, to internal Lifeline and university researchers.
Shute was unable to answer if other third parties, similar to Data Addiction, are used by Lifeline Australia for data analysis, or platform design purposes. But Lifeline’s use of this data is “standard” in the crisis support industry and Lifeline Australia would never share data with third parties.
Data Addictions Managing Director, Ben Johnson, highlighted that “no data leaves the secure environment,” during a phone call interview. Speaking in a similar manner to Lifeline Australia’s representatives, Johnson added further that Data Addiction does not have any direct access to Lifeline’s anonymised data.
Head of Architecture and Insights at Lifeline, Mark West, told CONTX that “Data Addiction were engaged exclusively to design and build a secure environment that is owned and controlled by Lifeline for the internal purpose of better understanding our help-seekers and ensuring we provide the best service for people in crisis.”
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West added that Lifeline Australia has invested a considerable amount to put “penetration-tested security” in place to protect vulnerable Australians’ data.
Based on the evidence, it’s evident that the crisis support industry in Australia diverges from its American counterpart, which leans towards a more private and commercialised approach. Let’s aspire to maintain this distinction in the Australian industry and uphold organisations like Lifeline Australia, prioritising the safeguarding of vulnerable Australians’ data protection rights.
REMEMBER: If you, or someone you know, is going through a hard time, always reach out for help; you’re not alone.