[AusNOG] "All your router devices are belong to us"

[Geoff Huston]

On 30/06/2012, at 9:29 PM, Bevan Slattery wrote:

> 
> No - Society hasn't yet woken from the sleep walk into privacy
> obliteration through the use of bubble-wrapped user agreements providing
> corporations with all the rights, including washing away consumer
> protection laws in the name of progress.  I am saying this is a bad thing.
> 


I agree this is a bad thing. Seriously bad.

However, I believe the law as it relates to carriers such as Telstra is
perfectly clear. This is not sanctioned by the provisions of the
Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act as far as I 
understand the situation.

But having said that, I suspect that the change of leadership at Telstra
and their acquiescence with the provisions of the NBN arrangements has
given the company a certain level of  "mate" status with the current
incumbents in political power in Canberra, which in turn may well have 
created the impression that the company enjoys a certain amount of
immunity from federal prosecution over such mundane matters as a breach
of federal laws relating to individual users' expectations and rights
to privacy of communication. (!)

Right now it appears to me that, sadly, no federal agency is willing to
initiate a prosecution of Telstra and those employees and agents of the
carrier who initiated this  web stalking program, under the terms of
Section 7 of the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act, despite
what appears to be a clear recounting of events that indicate that such
a breach of the provisions of this Act has taken place here.

So where does ISOC stand on this? Narelle?

EFA?

Anybody?

Why does it appear that Telstra is allowed to flaunt our privacy laws with
such arrogant impunity?

Regards,

  Geoff Huston

(I wrote some some further personal opinions at http://www.potaroo.net/ispcol/2012-07/allyourpackets.html
if anyone is interested in this.)

[And yes, I am a former employee of Telstra, and yes, at the time I joined them I had
to sign a document indicating that I was fully aware of the provisions of the Telecommunications
Act and I was fully aware of my own personal liability were I to breach those provisions
in the course of my employment.]