[LINK] Will they or won't they?

[Jan Whitaker]

Govt elusive on web history collection

June 21, 2010 - 9:39PM

The federal government has refused to make clear whether it will 
force internet service providers (ISPs) to record the websites 
accessed by their customers.

Australian Greens senator Scott Ludlam asked Labor frontbench senator 
Penny Wong in question time on Monday whether ISPs would be required 
to record the web browsing histories of every internet user in the country.

Senator Wong said the attorney-general's department had been 
discussing telecommunications data access for law enforcement and 
national security purposes with industry groups.

"This data collection is a valuable tool which has occasionally, 
under both sides of politics, been used by law enforcement agencies 
to identify participants in criminal networks and terrorist 
organisations," she told parliament.

Senator Wong said data might include information which could identify 
people involved in a communication, when and where the communication 
took place, and its duration.

"But I understand it would not extend to the content of the 
communication," she said.

Senator Wong stressed that any data collection scheme had to strike 
the balance between preserving individual privacy, recognising 
commercial realities and upholding the community's expectation that 
crimes are investigated and prosecuted.

After question time, Senator Ludlam presented a petition to the 
chamber from almost 20,000 people calling for the upper house to 
reject any internet filtering plan.

The government wants to introduce a mandatory internet filter aimed 
at blocking access to illegal online material such as child pornography.

This story was found at: 
http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-national/govt-elusive-on-web-history-collection-20100621-ysbk.html 




Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jwhit at janwhitaker.com
blog: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/
business: http://www.janwhitaker.com

Our truest response to the irrationality of the world is to paint or 
sing or write, for only in such response do we find truth.
~Madeline L'Engle, writer

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