Metadata Retention Laws Officially Commence But Reports Suggest Most Providers Not Ready
Thursday 15 October 2015 @ 11.57 a.m. | Legal Research
Most of the amendments from the Federal Government’s controversial metadata retention laws officially begun on Tuesday, but many telecommunications providers and ISPs are raising concerns that they have not had enough time to plan how to implement them. TimeBase has reported extensively on the controversy surrounding the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment (Data Retention) Act 2015 (Cth), including criticism of the privacy implications of the legislation and speculation that the move could increase the cost of internet connections for consumers.
In an official media release, Attorney-General George Brandis said:
“The Government welcomes the commencement of the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment (Data Retention) Act 2015 today.
Metadata is the basic building block in nearly every counter-terrorism, counter-espionage and organised and major crime investigation. It is also essential for the investigation of child abuse and child pornography offences, that are frequently carried out online, and other forms of organised crime.
With the expiry of the initial six month implementation period, telecommunications companies can apply for an extension of up to 18 months (April 2017) to comply with the legislation.
The Government continues to work constructively with the industry to achieve full compliance by April 2017.
Over $131 million has been committed by the Government to contribute to the upfront capital costs of the scheme.”
However, ABC News has reported that a survey sent to ISPs by lobby group Communications Alliance has found that 84 per cent of respondents say they are not yet ready to begin collecting the metadata, and that “two-thirds of them are still not entirely sure what type of metadata the Government wants retained.” John Stanton, the chief executive of Communications Alliance, told ABC News it was clear there was still plenty of confusion surrounding the laws:
“The way that the legislation is drafted doesn't provide us with all of the detail about what exactly is required in all of their services. There are a thousand different nuances that I've seen flying around as to what needs to be retained in respect of a particular service.
The complexity has always been part of the bedevilling aspect of this regime.
There are still many providers, as the survey highlights, that aren't certain that they've got their requirements completely figured out."
What does the legislative commencement actually mean for service providers?
As acknowledged in Brandis’ statement, service providers were officially due to commence collecting the data on Tuesday unless they had been granted an extension by the Government, through submitting something called a “Data Retention Implementation Plan” or “DRIP”. However, according to ABC News:
“getting a DRIP approved has also been difficult, meaning many ISPs are today not compliant with their data retention obligations. The survey found that while 81 per cent of ISPs say they have submitted a plan, only about 10 per cent have been approved so far.”
The Australian reported that Telstra chairman Catherine Livingstone has told shareholders that “Telstra is one of the few – if not the only one” to have their DRIP approved by the government.
ABC News also reported a spokesman for the Attorney-General’s Department told them that the focus would be on “implementation rather than enforcement” until the full compliance deadline in April 2017.
These reports seem to indicate that the majority of affected companies are still working towards developing their strategies for complying with the legislation. It is unknown exactly how many companies did comply with Tuesday’s deadline.
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