Big data: more isn’t always better
Big data is big news these days. But most organisations just end up hoarding vast reams of data, leaving them with a massive repository of unstructured – or “dark” – data that is of little use to anyone. Given the potential benefits of big data, it’s crucial that we find better ways to gather, store […]
Government considering expansion of data retention to civil cases [Updated]
Yesterday the Attorney-General’s Department announced that they are seeking input in relation to expanding the scope of the mandatory data retention scheme to include civil cases. This could mean that retained data is made available for a range of civil matters including: copyright infringement cases family law cases employment-related cases We’ll be vigorously resisting any […]
EFA’s 2017 Wish List
As the new year approaches, it’s again time to set out our Wish List and priorities for the year ahead. This list repeats many of the same topics as last year as there has been little movement on many of these issues, partly due to the election interrupting the legislative programme, but also, we’d suggest, […]
Election 2016 Scorecard
Recently, we released our Election 2016 scorecard. We were really pleased to see a lot of substantive and thoughtful replies from the smaller parties. As in 2013, Pirate Party Australia and the Australian Greens have scored full marks. For the first time this year, the Science Party and the Liberal Democrats have also scored full […]
Clipper Chip Redux
I read the news headlines and sometimes it is hard to tell what decade we are in. Just over 20 years ago, the National Security Agency developed and tried to make standard an encryption device with a built-in backdoor called the Clipper Chip. At that point it was intended for voice communications but inevitably would […]