Data retention report sidesteps issue of journalists’ sources being exposed
A parliamentary advisory report into the Government’s proposed data retention bill has called for a separate review into questions around whether the bill should allow government agencies to identify journalists confidential sources.
The recommendation follows the today’s news that the bill is expected to pass through both houses of parliament after the Labor party said it would not oppose the Government on the issue.
The advisory report on the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment (Data Retention) Bill 2014 recommended that the committee investigate the issue of confidential sources separately and proposed a three month time frame to report back to parliament.
“The Committee acknowledges the importance of recognising the principle of press freedom and the protection of journalists’ sources,” the report noted.
Happily, the possible scrutiny of data will have no effect on journalists who, compelled to fill a weekly column, just make stuff up. They will be protected, and their jobs will be secure.
There’s always a plus.
As hilarious as Hans’ comment is (or not)…
The relative quiet within the media around data retention is extremely troubling. Most of the coverage seems to be around media sources (as seen in this piece), rather than the cost of data retention in both financial and societal terms.
It’s not just journalists who should be concerned. There’s two reasons for agencies and brands to be concerned from a business point of view.
Firstly – this legislation paints a huge target on the metadata being stored. It’s inevitable this data will leak, and any business operating online will have customer records (linked to their overall online behaviour) suddenly made public. Bad scenario for brands and ad-tech companies, even though it won’t be your fault.
Secondly – this legislation will have a significant impact on the use of VPN’s and browser-based privacy tools such as Privacy Badger. These tools will render digital marketing tactics such as retargeting and remarketing completely useless – decreasing effectiveness of online campaigns, and significantly impacting publisher yields.
If you care (you probably should), it’s worth having a look at the EFA’s ‘Citizens Not Suspects’ site – https://www.citizensnotsuspects.org.au/learn-more/