New Territory for Privacy Laws

May 8, 2015 / Melody Smith / Comments Off on New Territory for Privacy Laws

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

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Melody Smith

Melody K. Smith has provided organizational, social media and digital communication services to a large non-profit for the past twenty years. Prior to that she championed employee engagement and communications in the healthcare field. She holds a Bachelors degree in Marketing. When not wrangling and writing TaxoDiary content for your reading pleasure, Melody writes fiction, rescues dogs and throws legendary dinner parties.