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14 Mar, 2015

Metadata retention laws will pass as Labor folds – Sydney Morning Herald

Australia’s corporate watchdogs will have wide-reaching power to crawl through email, telephone and internet records under a last-minute deal between Labor and the government to enact a controversial data-retention law.

The deal will outrage civil libertarian groups, and internet service providers say the $400 million plan could lead to higher prices for customers, after Labor backed down from its opposition.

The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security on Friday recommended additional safeguards be added to the law including oversight by the Commonwealth Ombudsman, a mandatory breach-notification scheme for privacy and data breaches, protections for journalists’ sources and a “substantial contribution” by the government to the telecommunications sector to implement the changes.

Read the rest: Metadata retention laws will pass as Labor folds.