The Australian government’s meta data retention bill cares more about who you connect with than what services you may use. Yet many such online services may also be out of its reach.
Questions still to be answered on what metadata is to be kept from internet connections.
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The metadata retention debate is heating up with Prime Minister Tony Abbott telling us the cost of not going ahead with compulsory retention of metadata will be incalculable and will represent a form of…
Prime Minister Tony Abbott is pushing for greater metadata retention powers.
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Tony Abbott will seek to shore up his case for the government’s controversial metadata legislation on Wednesday by highlighting its use in child sex abuse and child pornography investigations. The prime…
Bill Shorten is in a difficult situation with national security legislation.
AAP/Lukas Coch
The national security debate, involving potentially life and death issues but heavily overlaid with politics by an embattled government, is tricky ground for the Labor opposition. Opposition leader Bill…
The Australian government’s proposed data retention bill may be obsolete before it even comes into force.
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One of the many things that is troubling about the current Australian government’s metadata retention proposals is how rooted in the past they are, which could make them obsolete before they even come…
New AFP commissioner Andrew Colvin was forced to backtrack over comments suggesting metadata could be used to prevent online piracy.
AAP/Alan Porritt
People are more inclined to trust ASIO and the police than the government and communications companies to store personal data, according to a poll published this week. Following the introduction of the…
George Brandis argues that it is the government’s duty to investigate and prevent serious crimes – and that metadata can help.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Metadata, previously a word limited to the tech-savvy, is now not only a hot topic of public discussion but the focus of new national security legislation. The public discussion seems split between two…
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull outlines his metadata plans.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has finally presented proposed legislation to the Australian Parliament regarding the Abbott Government’s plans for the retention of metadata. The proposed legislation…
Malcolm Turnbull and George Brandis have unveiled the government’s proposed mandatory data retention scheme.
AAP/Alan Porritt
The government has introduced its third and most controversial tranche of legislation to strengthen Australia’s national security armoury – the requirement that telecommunications providers keep metadata…
What data from telcos and tech companies does the government want handed over?
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Governments around the world want to know a lot about who we are and what we’re doing online and they want communications companies to help them find it. We don’t know a lot about when companies hand over…
The government wants your movements online to be retained by ISPs and other companies.
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With the leaking of a discussion paper on telecommunications data retention, we are at last starting to get some clarity as to just what metadata the Abbott government is likely to ask telecommunications…
Intelligence agencies want greater access to metadata, but security wishlists must be tempered by the public interest in privacy and a balance between state power and citizens’ rights.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Privacy and individuals’ ability to remain anonymous are important protections against persecution, bullying, intimidation and retaliation. These can be perpetrated by other people, private businesses…
University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor Stephen Parker and Professorial Fellow Michelle Grattan discuss the week in politics including Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull, the mandatory metadata retention…
Prime Minister Tony Abbott is apparently ignoring or forgetting to include Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Proper “process” might sound like bureaucratic jargon but a prime minister ignores it at his or her peril. Applied to cabinet, it includes making sure ministers have all the facts. Importantly, it requires…
The Coalition’s data retention plan, if implemented, will cause headaches for the government, businesses and users.
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When it comes to metadata the federal government appears to have learnt nothing and forgotten everything. Statements this week by Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Attorney-General George Brandis display…
If there is one member of cabinet who understands the ins and outs of metadata, it’s Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Yet Turnbull has so far been nowhere to be heard as the government tries to…
Metadata – as the name suggests – is data about data. While most of it may seem innocuous, it can be highly valuable to police, investigators and others. With the proliferation of smartphones, the amount…
The move to mobile technology has opened up a wealth of metadata, but that information goes deeper than you may first think.
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Metadata related to lawful interception has been in the news a bit lately. You may have seen last week the Australian Federal Police (AFP) called for more access to electronic metadata as a Senate committee…