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Vague data retention proposal draws IIA ire and friendly fire - On Call

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Mon, 2012-09-17 22:25 — ptt.nguyen

Vague data retention proposal draws IIA ire and friendly fire
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/09/17/data_retention_scrutiny_faulkner/ 

We recently listened to a guest speaker in 205 who was working on privacy rights in Australia. I was interested in his work, so I researched "metadata" and found an article about "vague data retention" proposals in Australia. In short, the Australian government is currently (as of the 17th) conducting hearings about data retention and privacy. This particularly pertains to "metadata," which is information associated with information-- data about data.

What is being organized?

In this article, the information being organized is "metadata" about users, businesses, companies, telecommunications, etc.. They are having trouble defining "the types of data sets that would be required to be collected and retained," though, because metadata they speak of is very vague. This could lead to "lopsided data retention" in the future because it does not specify the types of metadata being collected. This information is being collected from the telecommunications community and intelligence community.

Why it is being organized?

"Metadata," or information about information, is being organized. The type of metadata has not been clearly defined, though, causing many to fear the information could hinder business growth if too extensive or time consuming. The metadata is being collected for "telecommunications interception reform, telecommunications sector security reform, and Australian intelligence community legislation reform." Collection of metadata from these institutions should mean better national security, benefitting citizens of Australia. The users of this information would be the government.

How much is it being organized?

The problem with the previous proposal is that the amount of metadata being organized is not specified. This means it could range from small bits of user metadata to large amounts from telecommunications companies. What is mentioned is how it will be used-- for surveillance, data access, and crime-fighting.

When is it being organized?

The metadata previously mentioned is not being organized as of yet. However, it would be from a database or video surveillance cache. This type of information would be instantaneously generated and organized by time. Messages from telecommunications services will be organized into users as well.

By whom (or by what computational processes) it is being organized?

From the paper, it appears that computational processes and automated methods will be used to collect this data. There will also be professionals involved to determine the nature of the metadata being collected. This information will be used to help strengthen the government's intelligence against cyber-crime, terrorism, and so forth.