The Telecom Amendment Bill of 2015, which went into effect this past Tuesday, requires phone and internet service providers to keep a 2 year record of Australians’ metadata, including phone numbers called and texted; time, date and location of calls; and emails sent and received. This information can then be turned over to predetermined government agencies, as well as any public or private agency publicly declared by the Attorney General, without a warrant.
Sadly, the law merely codifies what has largely been in
place for years, as the Attorney General reminded us: "Data retention does not provide new powers for agencies to access metadata. It simply obliges telecommunications companies to retain and secure a limited set of records for two years."
Journalists have their own concerns to bear. A last-minute clause
was added to require a warrant prior to using metadata in identifying journalists’
sources, but has already come under criticism. All requests submitted to
telecommunications companies will look identical and all journalist warrants
will be kept secret, leaving companies to simply trust that the
behind-the-scenes warrants actually exist.
Fortunately, no one is pretending that Australians are
required to simply accept their new status quo, as the law’s passage has already
seen the internet littered with tips to avoid such data collection, as well as
reminders that doing so is perfectly legal. Senator Scott Ludlam, who has
shifted from fighting the legislation to promoting ways around it, made a point of acknowledging that “There is nothing illegal about circumventing
data retention” for all those unsure if now is the time to be proactive.
In fact, Malcolm Turnbull, journalist turned Communications
Minister turned Prime Minister, could not have agreed more in a March interview: “If you have a device, a phone, a smartphone, and if I call you through
the mobile phone network then there will be a record at my carrier. Let’s say
my phone’s with Telstra, then there’s a record with Telstra that I’ve called
your number. If on the other hand I communicate with
you via Skype for a voice call or Viber, or I send you a message on WhatsApp or
Wickr or Threema or Signal or Telegrammer — there’s a gazillion of them — or
indeed if we have a FaceTime call, then all the telco can see is that my device
has had a connection with the Skype server or the WhatsApp server. It doesn’t
see anything happening with you…There are always ways for
people to get around things, but of course a lot of people don’t.”
Turnbull’s simultaneous support of data retention
legislation and encouragement to work around it raises some significant
questions. The Australian government is moving forward with a system that it
knows is beatable. Does it hope to undermine the average citizen who does not
think to protect himself, saving his data for a rainy day when it might be
useful? Or is the next step to crack down on the secure messenger apps and VPNs
that are currently keeping communication secure?
For now, it’s best to take what precautions we can and
Senator Ludlam’s tips are a good place to start: create strong passwords, use a
secure messenger instead of texting, incorporate a VPN and Tor into regular internet
usage and stay educated about ever-evolving laws and resources. Of course,
there are certain secure messengers and VPNs we would suggest over others but ultimately,
we just want you to surf secure and stay Rando!
SumRando Cybersecurity is a South Africa-based VPN, Web Proxy and Secure Messenger provider.
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