All Australian metadata is proposed to be stored by telecommunication companies and internet service providers for two years, under the new legislation introduced to Parliament by the Australian government.
This morning, the mandatory data-retention legislation was introduced by Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull to the House of Representatives.
“Modern communications technologies have revolutionised the ability of people to communicate, collaborate and express themselves,” Turnbull told Parliament. “Sadly, however, these same technologies are routinely misused and exploited by serious criminals and people engaged in activities prejudicial to security as a core part of their modus operandi.”
Metadata is generally defined as the time, date and location of calls and emails.
Turnbull stated that metadata plays a central role to almost every counter-terrorism, counter-espionage, cyber-security and organised crime investigation. It is also used in almost all serious criminal investigations, including investigations into murder, serious sexual assaults, drug trafficking and kidnapping. The legislation will require companies to retain their customer’s metadata from phone activity and internet usage and allow an enforcement agency access to the data without a warrant.
An explanation of the bill released by Parliament also stated browsing history and mobile phone content will be excluded. The accessing of content, such as the written part of an email, the actual conversation between two parties in a phone call, the subject line of an email or a private social media post, will still require a warrant. The bill does not give security agencies new powers, but rather allows previously retained data to remain available due to a longer period of preservation. This would allow investigations to not be stifled by old data that had already been deleted. “It is not creating new classes of data to be retained, it is seeking to ensure the ability of our law enforcement agencies isn’t diminished,” Turnbull said. “There is nothing new about it.”
The bill will only allow law enforcement agencies access to the data, such as the police, customs, crime commissions and anti-corruption bodies. Any changes to this will need to be approved by the parliament. Telecommunication and internet companies have said they are concerned they will bear the brunt of the new bill, due to the cost of retaining data for a long period. This could lead to higher internet bills. The government has said it will work with organisations to implement the changes over an 18-month period after the introduction of the law.
The bill has been put to the House of Representative with just two sitting weeks of Parliament left in this session. It is expected to be pushed through the legislative process and become law this year, despite the vocal opposition.