Australia's Data Retention Law Passed The Senate. It's Really Happening

Well, that’s that then. We’re getting a mandatory data retention scheme. Great.

After a marathon two days of negotiations, stalls and attempted amendments by Greens and Independent Senators, the data retention Bill passed with a landslide majority of 43 votes to 16.

All that needs to happen now is for the Bill to be formally passed into law.

From there, ISPs will have a grace period of 18 months to implement the relevant technology required to capture and process the metadata of their customers. [iTNews]

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DISCUSS

58 COMMENTS | REPLY

stendec @stendec

MARCH 26, 2015 11:22 PM

A sad day for Australia. Once more our civil liberties are eaten away at in the name of "National Security" by those least deserving of them. May all those who voted in favour of this bill come to an untimely political end.

Words can't adequately describe how enraged I am about this. I can only hope future parliaments will recognise the utter senselessness and danger of this bill and either substantial reduce its scope or preferably remove it entirely.

Reply 9
- poita @poita
  
  MARCH 27, 2015 12:24 AM
  
  I can only hope future parliaments will recognise the utter senselessness and danger of this bill and either substantial reduce its scope or preferably remove it entirely.
  
  Or perhaps instead of hoping we could get off our collective arses and do something about it.
  
  Reply 1
  - namiwakiru @namiwakiru
    
    MARCH 27, 2015 3:44 AM
    
    Easier said than done.
    
    A petition would be ignored, protesters would be given the label of whining student hippies and all the while the majority of media outlets will be singing it's praise to maintain a divided population.
    Nine news for example is already running a story on how it will enhance our security and privacy.
    
    Shit, I'm up for doing something about it, but where the hell do we realistically start?
    
    Reply 0
    - larks99 @larks99
      
      MARCH 27, 2015 8:07 AM
      
      Where we start are VPN's and international communication channels like Skype, Whatsapp etc because these websites do not have to track communications so if and/or when they claim the rights to look at your history it will simply say "John Smith 1/2/2015 was on skype, he could be a terrorist, he could be a hacker, he could be a 15 yr old girl talking with her grandma but we'll just never know"
      
      Reply 0
    - joey_jojo @joey_jojo
      
      MARCH 27, 2015 8:28 AM
      
      It's so pointless though! The scheme, I mean, not railing against it.
      
      In terms of phone data, it collects the time and date of the call. Not who you called.
      
      In terms of internet related data, the data it collects is essentially showing that a website was visited, not which website.
      
      I may be mistaken, but that's my understanding from reading the bill.
      
      Reply 0
      - Rhys @rhys
        
        MARCH 27, 2015 8:47 AM
        
        Meta data includes the ip of the service requested by and requested from (phone and modem), so I can't see how that doesn't equal the who factors?
        
        Reply 0
        
        Mgunh1 Guest
        
        MARCH 27, 2015 10:34 AM