Transcription company VIQ causes "national security risk" in Australia. The vendor always promised security and confidentiality, and the government always believed them.
I have two different articles about this to share. Same story, different writers.
Article here may be paywalled: https://www.afr.com/companies/professional-services/court-transcription-giant-collapses-sending-lawyers-scrambling-20260604-p60436
Article here should not be paywalled: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-05/viq-solutions-australia-court-transcription-winding-down/106763466
In November 2025, lawyers and (some) judges had been complaining about the transcripts. But also some judges were creating what litigants might see as problems or inaccuracies in transcripts. It seems to me that this was doable because the contract with VIQ explicitly allowed for it rather than, you know, a single person holding the burden of accuracy. Source: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-29/family-court-transcripts-viq-solutions/105904558
But I'm not Australian. For all I know, transcripts and "the record" are thought of differently.
My main point here is that the pinky promise of confidentiality is never enough, but people making deals with these vendors pretend that it is.