Australia Passes 'Lite' Data Retention Laws

schliz writes "Australia's parliament has passed a bill that will allow law enforcement agencies to force internet service providers to store data on subscribers while an official warrant is sought. The changes move Australia closer to its two-year-old proposal to accede to the 2004 Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime, designed to assist with international cybercrime investigations through sharing of information on persons of interest, among other avenues."

Comments

Used to be worse

[Namarrgon]

This is much less sweeping than previous proposals. ISPs don't have to start retaining data until asked by authorities (for a specific person), and they can't actually get that data without a warrant.

OTOH, it now requires us to give foreign governments (co-signers of the Budapest Convention, including the US) the right to ask for similar access; "international cooperation to the widest extent possible" with their investigations.

Re:Used to be worse

[TapeCutter]

It's called a compromise, it may be a shock to some people but that's what politics is all about. Some people walk around on warm days wearing 'hoodies' and want no retention under any circumstances, some want everything ever written available to the police and would happily tattoo an id number on their forehead.

The previous bill called for retention on everyone's data for 2yrs, the one that passed said the police have to 'ask' the ISP to retain the data while they get a warrant and ISP's have to comply with the request. Unless you're at either end of the extremes on this issue it sounds like a very sensible compromise that retains privacy while adding extra hurdles to suspected criminals who are trying to erase their tracks. It's a minor tweak to the status-quo, a judge is still involved before anyone can rummage through your digital laundry.