[AusNOG] LAW REVIEW - Data Retention for Content Service, Providers and Hosting Service Providers

[Mark Newton]

On Aug 27, 2015, at 12:53 PM, Chad Kelly <chad at cpkws.com.au> wrote:
> 
> On 8/27/2015 11:25 AM, ausnog-request at lists.ausnog.net wrote:
>> Data Retention Issues
>> We are confident that Intervolve will not presently be caught by the legislation as drafted.  We have also had a look around for any hints as to future declarations. Estimating costs is extremely difficult should such a declaration ever be made.  We have used the estimate from PwC that were given to the government to give some sort of guidance. We have also included guidance on creating a data retention plan.
>> Do the metadata retention laws apply to Intervolve?
> Have you spoken to the AGD directly?
> Your advice in this review is similar to the advice i've been given by a few other hosting providers. But the advice through the AGD and the CAC varies considerably.

It doesn’t matter what AGD and CAC thinks, it matters what the legislation says.

> Long story short, the latest FAQ doesn't  seam to exclude hosting providers at all, in fact it seams to include both hosts and resellers of infrastructure and both providers with and without their own networks.

That’s because we’re eight years into this process and AGD still doesn’t clearly distinguish the difference between (a) an ISP, (b) a hosting provider, and (c) an ISP who provides hosting services.

Data retention affects (a) and (c), not (b). As Sir Humphrey said, “It’s a question of hats."

I’ve just expressed that in two sentences, an ability which appears to elude the rocket scientists at AGD.

> Most of the concern with people who rent infrastructure appears to be around the storage of email data.

You don’t have to store email data unless you’re an ISP who happens to operate an email service.

Hosting providers who aren’t ISPs should perhaps spend less time getting energized about this, and more time exploiting their competitive advantage. :-)

  - mark