Today (13th of April 2017) the national Metadata retention laws come in to place, which require Australian ISP’s and Australian service hosting providers to retain all metadata for 2 years, accessible by various approved (seemingly randomly) departments without a warrant.
I say it seems random as the approved list has included various (but not all) local councils. What would they need ISP metadata for?
Any government organisation or council group can just enact their own bylaws approving metadata access, and the federal government will grant free access too (which completely flies in the face of the approval process and what was being said when these laws were announced).
It’s a complete clusterf^%$ and effectively free access to anyone’s metadata for any reason. This includes when you connect, what websites you visit, ALL header information in emails.
This is why Digital Rights Watch have declared today National Get A VPN day. So #GetaVPN. I’ve been running one for two years on all devices, including my phone.
It’s not about doing illegal activities, it’s about personal privacy – akin to closing your blinds at night. Or as another person once put it “Everyone knows what you do in the bathroom, but you still close the door”.
Bastard Sheep 