Stop Australia's Data Retention Bill

With this particular legislation, it is very clear to me why it is bad. I am able to articulate to people that regardless of who proposed or supported the idea, it is not a good idea to keep information on my family and friends, such as where they move, who is in their social networks, what topics they search the web for in the privacy of their own home. I feel that it is empowering to explain why it is not a necessary or proportionate response to place the entire country under surveillance on the off chance one of us was to plan a terrorist related offence. I can also explain clearly why this is something which will result in all lay people being monitored, but none of the technical savvy people who actively try and circumvent the retention scheme using a mix of offshore VPS + VPN + tor + whatever other technology helps them.

As beefsac said, this is a policy which will likely have support from the two major parties. I encourage all people who oppose this particular legislation to explain to their friends, families, co-workers, etc the ramifications of mandatory data retention - without mentioning a particular party. I'm aware that discussions about legislation such as this often end up in name slanging and partisan comments. However I think it is very important to debate these things with a clear head. As much as possible when discussing politics and legislation, I try to refrain from referring to any specific party or politician. I fear that if I do, I'm allowing people to attack my argument by saying "of course you'd say that, you leftist greenie" or "of course you'd say that, you right winged conservatist". Lets play the ball, not the man.

FYI - I've already contacted my local MP - the first time I've felt the need to do so. I await his reply.

Edit: grammar

Let's not forget the new terror laws that have cleared the Senate, "enabling entire Australian web to be monitored and whistleblowers to be jailed" [1]

Even as network administrators it is not clear that if we patch our systems or report breaches, we could end up in jail if the attacks were orchestrated by the spy agency [2]

[1] http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/consumer-security/terror-...

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srk9c4rOgZ4

The Australian government is currently very busy orchestrating a national fear campaign to make its citizens believe that laws like the Data Retention law are required.

However, the Australian government wanted this law for a long time now and the whole IS/terrorist situation seems to be a great vehicle for the Australian government to bring fear into it's citizens so they'd approve of it.

Don't be fooled my fellow hackers! They don't have your best interest at heart, only their own.

Good write-up here by Australian ISP iiNet, who are strongly against the bill

http://blog.iinet.net.au/protecting-your-privacy/

Great mini site and in trying to share it I've discovered yet more bugs in the iOS 8 share button.

I'm a little disappointed though that the new laws making all Internet connected devices essentially one device when it comes to warrants isn't really shown on the site. If the site's source is available somewhere is be happy to help add more about it.

At this stage it has become apparent that opposing surveillance doesn't appear to be helping. It's pretty clear where this is headed, and it seems to me the only way out of it is through it and out the other side, whatever that might look like.

My position on surveillance is now, and has been for a few months, what Slavoj Žižek said: "Yeah but I don't care if we are watched. Here I preach arrogance. So what, let the big 'other' watch me maybe he will learn something and be less stupid, you know, this is not my problem."

If you haven't seen it this video[1] of Slavoj Žižek and Paul Holdengräber on "Surveillance and whistleblowers" at the International Authors' Stage, published earlier this year, is quite entertaining. The quote above is at 35:54.

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIPjmmmh_os

What does one do if they agree with the cause, but don't want to be associated with the people making up the majority of the movement?

For example, if you were strongly opposed to the policies or methods of The Greens then you may be turned off by the campaign in the OP as the Twitter mosaic is covered in Greens logos.

Another example, I had a friend who attended an Anti Iraq War protest back when it was all going down (the second time). The problem was, the majority of people protesting were far-left/resistance/socialists that were overtly trying to conflate the issues of boat people and I think Palestinians with the war in Iraq, two movements that my friend wanted nothing to do with.

As an Australian, I wonder if anyone could recommend a good VPN service? Or would Tor with Obfsproxy be a better option?

Wouldn't this have a technical issue anyway - the fact that all devices in your home would effectively be grouped under the single IP of your ADSL modem? They could never pinpoint something to an individual. Same problem that the movie studio litigators face going after pirates.

It's disappointing that this has had very little coverage and/or discussion in the tech community outside Australia.

I realise it's at a national level and therefore a domestic piece of legislation, but that doesn't stop internet users the world over rallying together on issues like net neutrality and SOPA.

For days, the SOPA campaign was everywhere. It too was a domestic (US) piece of legislation, but it's "forced" on other uses (through sites like Reddit, etc.) in countries where it doesn't specifically apply.

The data retention scheme proposed by the Australian Government is draconian. It has very little public oversight, it costs consumers money and inhibits the free ideal of the internet. At a basic level, the spooks want every IP address of every consumer for every connection to be kept (by the ISP) for two years.

My name, address (subscriber information) will be tied to my IP by the ISP. I connect at 5:43am to Facebook. That's logged. I leave Facebook and log onto Reddit at 5:55am, that's logged. For two years. I send an email to Activists-R-US at 6am, that's logged. Not the "content", just the fact that I did it.

And, best of all, it's all classified as "metadata", so accessing the records doesn't even need a warrant. In fact, any agency in the country with "investigative powers" can request the records from the ISP. That includes, and is not limited to, councils who are investigating lost dogs or parking infringements.

The Attorney-General in Australia, George Brandis, couldn't even describe or explain what he wanted to be retained: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbtgULCY5zk

We already have fairly tight rules when it comes to internet spying. Every ISP - to get a carrier licence - needs to submit a Interception Capability Plan (ICP) with the Government, explaining how it can - if necessary - tap that connection for spying. If you change your network and it changes the way the lines are tapped, you have to let the Government know straight away.

We also have mandatory retention orders, which can be applied to a subscriber account if a court sees fit. This orders the ISP to keep the information on the user for a limited time.

If the authorities have their suspicions, they have ample opportunity to get what they want under the current laws.

Data retention is, as I said, draconian. It turns presumption of innocence on its head, and it will be used - one day - to track down to prosecute and jail journalists and whistleblowers.

It will eventually be used to track down and prosecute copyright infringers and "trolls".

I realise that's a slippery slope argument, but legislation - once it's on the books - is often used for things it wasn't intended for.

A more powerful message would be "Stop the Abbott" campaign.