ASIC chimes in on data retention, seeks more intercept powers
Carriers fight rearguard action on cost
Ensure Ease of Recovery with Asigra’s Agentless Software
The Australian Securities and Investment Commission has dropped a stink-bomb into the data retention debate, asking the government to give it intercept powers covering e-mail, social media, text messages and phone calls.
In hearings of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Intelligence and Security in Sydney on Thursday September 27, ASIC commissioner Greg Tanzer complained about the body’s “inability to access lawfully intercepted information” to investigate white-collar crime.
The ASIC request does not, however, appear to be a demand that the proposed universal data retention be extended to communications content – rather, it wants the right to access information gathered under warrant by other agencies.
ASIC’s appearance before the committee echoes a similar piece of wish-listing by the Australian Tax Office in August.
Carriers iiNet and Telstra also appeared before the committee yesterday, highlighting both the cost and technical challenges of implementing data retention. iiNet believes it would have to recover at least $AU60 million in set-up costs alone, according to its chief regulatory officer Steve Dalby, resulting in a pass-on to its customers of around $AU5 per month.
Dalby also said iiNet handles more than a million URLs per second, all of which would have to be retained. Extrapolating this across the industry, he said the total setup cost could be as much as $AU400 million, and the monthly cost to iiNet alone would be $AU3 million.
Telstra said the size of its network means merely scoping the implementation of a data retention regime would cost millions, and the attempt to retain data might fail because over-the-top services like Skype wouldn’t yield the information the government hopes to capture.
NSW Police chief Andrew Scipioni had earlier told the same committee that police didn’t want a time limit on data retention, but had “accepted” a two-year period as a compromise. ®
COMMENTS
Why?
Why on earth does ASIC need this ability other than to embark on fishing expeditions?
If they are undertaking an investigation worthy of requiring intercepts, why can't they get a warrant from "one of the other agencies"?
That would be "interception" powers, Richard.
You're welcome.
Re: Why?
They can get a warrant but the whole purpose is after they get the warrant, they have access to everything you have ever done.
Current they can only see what you do after the warrent. They just want to see everything you did before the warrant you know incase their charges don't pan out, they can charge you for visitng the pirate bay or such years ago.
IT infrastructure monitoring strategies
Agentless Backup is Not a Myth
Steps to Take Before Choosing a Business Continuity Partner
Enabling efficient data center monitoring
Requirements Checklist for Choosing a Cloud Backup and Recovery Service Provider
