Parker chatbot can tell you if you need to report a data breach

Law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has used IBM's Watson artificial intelligence platform to create a chatbot that can help businesses work out if they need to report a data breach.

The Parker chatbot has launched in the lead-up to the go-live of Australia's new data breach notification laws on February 22 next year.

It allows users to ask preliminary questions about a potential breach to determine whether their organisation falls under the new notification regime.

A data breach has occurred, according to the new law, when there has been "unauthorised access to, or unauthorised disclosure of, personal information about one or more individuals, or where such information is lost in circumstances that are likely to give rise to unauthorised access or unauthorised disclosure".

The chatbot takes users through their organisation's obligations and the steps they should take depending on the type of breach.

The bot is still learning - for questions it cannot answer it will ask the user if they want to speak to a supervisor, and direct them to a form to fill out for a call-back from a privacy lawyer.

Parker appears to be open to all users on Norton Rose Fulbright's website.

The firm is using the chatbot to upsell users onto its privacy packages.

From February 22 next year, organisations that suffer a data breach will need to notify the Australian Information Commissioner and affected customers "as soon as practicable".

The OAIC recently published a full draft of the notification format it expects organisations to adopt in their reporting.