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 […]
Beyond the hype: The European Court’s ‘right to be forgotten’ ruling
This article, by Carly Nyst and Anna Fielder was originally published on 10th November 2014 on Privacy International’s blog. Since the European Court of Justice in May ruled in the “right to be forgotten” case, there has been a dizzying amount of debate about the decision, and its implications for privacy and free expression. A main thread […]
Panel discussion on data retention
The audio from our excellent panel discussion on data retention, held at Entry 29 in Canberra on Thursday 11th September 2014 is now available. EFA’s Jon Lawrence moderated an expert panel discussion about data retention and mass surveillance with: Kate Lundy – ACT Labor Senator Dr Roger Clarke – Chair, Australian Privacy Foundation Alastair MacGibbon – Director, Centre […]
Data Retention a boon for Copyright Trolls
As AFP Commissioner Andrew Colvin confirmed to a press conference in Canberra yesterday, mandatory data retention will include data that will enable copyright holders to chase people they believe have infringed their copyright. Communications Minister Turnbull tried to play this down, saying, “They do this pretty much in real-time, so the two year holding of data […]