Dr Kayleen Manwaring is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Private & Commercial Law at UNSW Law & Justice. She transferred from UNSW Business (where she had spent the previous 9 years) in 2021.
Her research concentrates on the intersection of sociotechnical change and private and commercial law. She focuses on the law of contract, consumer protection, intellectual property law and corporations law. She has previously published work on the Internet of Things, ubiquitous/pervasive computing, cyber security, ambient intelligence, consumer protection, online contracting, directors' duties, network neutrality, copyright and digital technologies, privacy, spam and communications law. Her work has been cited by the Organisation for Economic Development, the World Economic Forum, the Australian Human Rights Commission, the NSW Law Reform Commission, the Australian Council of Learned Academies, the United States Department of Commerce National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the Austrian (EU) Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology, the Consumer Policy Research Centre and the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN). She is an invited peer reviewer for the leading journals Computer Law & Security Review, the International Journal of Law & Information Technology, the Australian Business Law Review, the Competition and Consumer Law Journal and the Internet Policy Review.
Prior to becoming an academic, she spent many years working as a commercial lawyer, as inhouse counsel and in law firm knowledge management, in Sydney and London. Her work in practice primarily focused on commercial contracts in the area of technology acquisition and licensing, intellectual property, and communications.
Abstract:
Significant security vulnerabilities have been identified in Internet-connected devices as diverse as fitness trackers, medical devices such as insulin pumps, heart defibrillators and CT scanners, kettles, baby monitors, children’s toys and location trackers, security cameras, guns and cars. Australian laws concerning safety and quality need urgent examination on their adequacy to deal with these emerging security problems, and particularly their potential for physical harm. This presentation will discuss a research project examining the adequacy of existing Australian consumer law, as well as international developments in the area.