Australia has passed a controversial security law that will require its internet and mobile phone providers to store customer data for two years. This much contested government bill got Senate approval by 43 votes to 16, with the support of the opposition Labor party. BBC brought this much-talked about news to our attention in their article, “Australia passes controversial new metadata law.”
It is important to remember that though Internet providers and and mobile phone networks will now be required to store customers’ metadata – the sender, recipient, and time of emails and calls – that it doesn’t include the content of an email or telephone call.
Many worry that this law will set a precedent that will be replicated in other parts of the world. Others wonder how this will be implemented and what measures are already being taken to circumvent the process. And the ultimate question – will the risk to privacy and the cost of implementing this scheme make us safer?
Melody K. Smith
Sponsored by Access Innovations, the world leader in taxonomies, metadata, and semantic enrichment to make your content findable.
