Labor waves through data retention
Labor today joined with the Coalition to pass the government’s amended data retention legislation in the lower house.
Labor today joined with the Coalition to pass the government’s amended data retention legislation in the lower house.
Labor MPs used the first substantive parliamentary ‘debate’ on data retention to congratulate themselves on their hard work in ensuring that the government’s legislation will be passed.
Requests from Australian police and government agencies for Facebook user data climbed in the second half of 2014, newly released data from the social network shows.
Chief executives from Australia's largest telcos have called for the government to spell out its contribution to the costs of establishing a data retention regime.
The government should delay debate on its proposed mandatory data retention legislation at least until a parliamentary committee has investigated its potential impact on journalism, Greens Senator Scott Ludlam has argued.
Vodafone has indicated it is looking at the feasibility of giving customers the ability to access the kind of metadata that telcos will be forced to keep under the government's data retention regime.
Australia's largest telco will allow its customers to access the 'metadata' they generate. Telstra said this morning that its customers will get the same access to their personal data that law enforcement organisations could request from the telco.
Hot on the heels of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security's report that endorsed the introduction of a wide-ranging mandatory data retention program, the PJCIS has launched an inquiry into the impact that the legislation will have on journalism in Australia.
Labor leader Bill Shorten today told journalists there were some issues with the government's proposed data retention legislation but none of them "are too hard to work out".
The government has agreed to set out in its data retention bill exactly what customer data telecommunications carriers and Internet service providers will need to store.
The eagerly anticipated report of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security data retention inquiry was released this afternoon.
The Internet Society of Australia has warned that the rush to implement a data retention regime could potentially damage Australia's economy.
The government's controversial data retention legislation will be debated in parliament next week, with Labor reportedly set to back the scheme to force telecommunications providers to keep customer data for 24 months.
A government review of Australia's counter-terrorism strategies claims that whistleblower Edward Snowden's efforts to expose the mass surveillance operations conducted by the US National Security Agency and its 'Five Eyes' allies, which include Australia, have made "the task of maintaining a technological ‘edge’ over terrorists more difficult".
A group that represents Australia's mobile telecommunications sector has criticised comments by Prime Minister Tony Abbott about the cost of implementing a data retention regime.