Your internet privacy at risk

Your internet privacy at risk

The Attorney-General’s department is in discussions with the telecommunications industry over a plan to record and store internet users’ private web browsing histories so they can be searched by police and other security agencies.

The Rudd Government plans to base its scheme on one operating in the European Union which has been decried by civil liberties groups there.

Under the European Directive on Data Retention, communications providers retain data for up to two years to trace and identify the source of a communication, the destination of a communication, the date, time and duration of a communication, the type of communication, the communication device, and the location of mobile communication equipment.

Under the European Directive it is not necessary for a judicial warrant to be sought before data is made available to investigators.

An Attorney-General’s department spokesman confirmed the Rudd Government is considering a similar scheme.

“The Attorney-General’s department has been examining the European Directive on Data Retention to consider whether such a regime is appropriate within Australia’s law enforcement and security context,” the spokemsan said.

“The department is consulting broadly with the telecommunications industry.”

Sydney Star Observer asked the department under what criteria information gathered under its scheme would be provided to Australian authorities, and would such information be shared with foreign intelligence agencies.

However, the spokesman said it would be inappropriate to comment on such matters while consultations were continuing.

Vice-chairman of internet users rights group Electronic Frontiers Australia, Geordie Guy, said he considered the idea “a travesty”.

“It’s not something that the Australian public is going to accept,” he said.

“There is no evidence to suggest that it’s necessary for successful law enforcement. It will cost an utter fortune, put increased pressure on internet service providers to spend more money, and therefore pass on more costs to their consumers.

“From a civil liberties perspective it’s an utter disaster. This presumes everybody is guilty of something to begin with. Every internet user will be treated as a suspect from the get-go by storing this information.

“We’re told constantly that we should be very wary of our information privacy online, yet the Government is flying in the face of that by seeking to recording everybody’s information.

“It’s particularly concerning to us given that the minister for broadband, communications and digital economies, Senator Stephen Conroy has ranted and raved about the privacy breaches that he says Google is responsible for — then the Attorney-General’s department turns around to propose doing the exact same thing to everyone. Its startling.”

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8 responses to “Your internet privacy at risk”

  1. \Let’s store all politicians’ and police officers internet browsing from top to bottom to make sure all is as it should be .Too many corrupt politicians and police over too many years.Less in public.

  2. WTF is going on with the Labor Party? This is the sort of crap you’d expect from Steve Fielding and his ilk. Usually it takes a while for governments to lose touch, but it seems that Rudd was never in touch to start with. When do we vote? I can’t wait to get rid of these people.

  3. I have always said that Kevin Rudd was an extremely far-left fascist communist in drag!!!!

    He speaks mandarin, wants to filter the internet, wants to do trade deals with China – smells like a plan for communism in Australia to me!!!!

    Now for Tony Abbott he is far-right, anti-gay, anti-abortion, anti-de facto relationships, anti-sex before marriage [anti-everything like the pope] and is “threatened by homosexuals” [quote on 60 minutes] – smells like Australia will become a religiously-minded catholic fascist country and no separation between church and state under Tony Abbott. He will force us to go to church, force us to get married to the opposite sex and force children to go to bible studies in schools across Australia at taxpayer’s expense. The church will be allowed to keep and hide as much money as possible – while both gay and straight people like us are worked to death and sitting in grid-locked traffic for hours paying out ass off in tolls, mortgages, rent, food, petrol, transport, etc, etc, etc.

    The best party to vote 1 for is:

    The Greens!!!! The Greens are excellent in 2010, since they now have “reasonable, justifiable and realistic polices”!!! (Bob Brown for PM!!!)

  4. This is awesome. Not only do I have the Conroy filter to protect me from the evils of the Internet but I also have 10 years worth of my browsing history, emails and instant messages logged just in case I decide to blow something up. It doesn’t get any better than this.

    VPN and PGP here I come.

    Conroy and Rudd can stuff it where the sun don’t shine.

    Ex Labour Party voter….

  5. I believe police and government law agencies can already do this if they need to ? Its the internet filter thats going to be the real problem !

  6. We are not living in the Cold War, it is 2010. Kevin Rudd’s controlling personality has put the party on a course that will see Kevin Rudd become dictator. How long will it be before the media gets more controls placed on it? This is all he has to do as he knows how we communicate and who we communicate with.

    Kevin07 was a dream. The reality is Labor in Power is the stuff of nightmares.