The CEO of Internet Australia, Laurie Patton, said today that a statutory review of the Act, scheduled for three years after it is fully operational, should be brought forward so that problems are sorted out sooner rather than later. Patton said the process was so flawed that it “should not be allowed to go unchecked for that long”.
The act is scheduled to come into effect on Tuesday, 13 October.
“We are talking about major security issues and significant costs that need to be dealt with now,” Patton said.
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“Internet Australia told a Parliamentary inquiry that the data retention legislation was fundamentally flawed. We also passed on our concerns to the Government. Our warnings went unheeded, but have since proven prescient,” Patton says.
Patton said Internet Australia has identified a number of areas that it maintains need to be urgently revisited, including that the length of retention should be reduced from two years to six months.
“This would be more in line with other countries and would lessen the burden on ISP’s by reducing the costs of storing vast amounts of data. It would also lesson the risks of security breaches leading to unlawful disclosure of people’s personal and private information.”
Other areas IA wants revisited include:
• The level of oversight within those agencies that are able to access data under the Act needs to be reviewed to ensure proper safeguards are in place. “We are not convinced that there are processes there to restrict who can access the data, along with checks and balances to ensure that information is not misused”.
• The funding from the Government needs to be significantly increased and should reflect the actual costs of complying for the ISPs. “The Government’s budgeted amount of $128 million is clearly well below the likely total costs for the industry. This means that consumers will eventually pay more in Internet access fees. It is extraordinary that an Act of this complexity is due to come into effect before anyone knows how much they will receive to cover their costs of compliance”.
• The location and the methods of storage of data need to be reviewed to ensure maximum security. “Are we happy to allow our personal and private information to be stored just anywhere and by anyone? Should ISPs be required to store data within Australia or allowed to move it offshore?”
“As a general observation, it is clear from our dealings with the Attorney-General’s Department that despite their best endeavours they are unable to provide sufficient clarity and the level of detail required for us to be comfortable that this legislation will not create more problems than it could reasonably be expected to solve,” Patton said.
Patton again reiterated that Internet Australia had previously pointed to the lack of evidence that data retention regimes are effective.
"International experience has found that data retention is of limited, if any, value in the fight against terrorism, which was the Government expressed reason for the Act. Many European countries are struggling with or winding back their data retention schemes in the light of concerns for personal privacy rights.
“Yet we will be spending hundreds of millions of dollars on this questionable law. What's more, the costs of this exercise will eventually be passed on to consumers through increased Internet access charges," Patton concluded.
