[AusNOG] Commsday: Brandis: Metadata Retention Not Against Global Trend

[Skeeve Stevens]

Brandis: Metadata Retention Not Against Global Trend

Attorney-general George Brandis has spoken out in defence of the proposed
mandatory metadata legislation introduced to Parliament last week –
rejecting suggestions that the measures are out of step with global
directions.

Appearing on the ABC’s “Q&A” program, Brandis “fundamentally disagreed”
with an audience suggestion that the proposed regime was “against a global
trend,” particularly given comments earlier this year from the European
Court of Justice criticising metadata retention. “Although it is true that
the European Court of Justice, in April, struck down the European Data
Directive... in the same decision in which it struck the European Data
Directive down, it also said that laws mandating the retention of metadata
were consistent with the right to privacy and were consistent with a
person's right to their personal data, both rights recognised by the
European Human Rights Charter,” argued Brandis. “They struck that
particular data directive down on the grounds of proportionality – that the
particular data directive was too sweeping.”

“Now, since that decision was made, all but four of the European nations
whose metadata retention laws were struck down have enacted new metadata
retention laws consistent with the guidance of the European Court of
Justice and one of the four that hasn't yet, Czechoslovakia, is in the
process of legislating at the moment,” continued the attorney-general. He
later added that in a major child exploitation investigation in Europe, the
UK’s metadata retention laws had helped ensure much higher prosecution
rates than in Germany, which lacks such legislation.

Brandis also spoke to a recent backflip by Australian federal police
commission Andrew Colvin, who’d originally suggested that metadata
retention might be used to fight online copyright infringement – but
subsequently revised his statement, saying that “copyright breaches are
civil wrongs and that’s not what we’re interested in.” “The mandatory
metadata retention regime applies only to the most serious crime, to
terrorism, to international and transnational organised crime, to
pedophilia, where the use of metadata has been particularly useful as an
investigative tool,” said Brandis. “Breach of copyright is a civil wrong.
Civil wrongs have nothing to do with this scheme.”

Petroc Wilton

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...Skeeve

*Skeeve Stevens - *eintellego Networks Pty Ltd
skeeve at eintellegonetworks.com ; www.eintellegonetworks.com

Phone: 1300 239 038; Cell +61 (0)414 753 383 ; skype://skeeve

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