Five things we learned about the Government’s data retention regime in 2014
By Alex Schlotzer, Board Member – Electronic Frontiers Australia Right now the Government is proposing to introduce a mandatory, society-wide regime for the retention of communications data (‘metadata’) for two years. In the latest public hearing into the Government’s proposed legislation a number of important matters were revealed by the Attorney-General and Australia’s law enforcement […]
EFA’s 2015 Wish List
As 2014 draws to a close, and EFA approaches its 21st birthday next month, we’ve been thinking about what we’d like to see happen in the year ahead. The Australian government seems intent on passing a series of laws (in addition to some they’ve already rammed through the parliament) that pose serious threats to civil […]
Carly Nyst & Julian Burnside on surveillance
On Saturday 11th October, EFA co-hosted an event in Brisbane with QCCL, which featured Carly Nyst, Legal Director of Privacy International, and leading human rights barrister, Julian Burnside AO QC, who was just yesterday awarded the Sydney Peace Prize. Listen to the audio from this event.
Secure Messaging Scorecard
Which apps and tools actually keep your messages safe? Our good friends at EFF have just published their Secure Messaging Scorecard. In the face of widespread Internet surveillance, we need a secure and practical means of talking to each other from our phones and computers. Many companies offer “secure messaging” products—but are these systems […]
The Ethics of Big Data
This article, by Angela Daly from EFA’s Policy & Research Standing Committee, was originally published on the St James Ethics Centre website. Big Data is one of the current much-hyped and much-talked-about technology trends, along with the Internet of Things, wearable devices and 3D printing. But what precisely is this ‘big data’? The term is used […]