(Transcript from World News Radio)
Australia's intelligence agencies and the Federal Police have dismissed security and privacy concerns about proposed data-retention laws.
The laws, the third tranche of the Government's tough new anti-terrorism legislation, would force telecommunications companies to store metadata for two years.
The laws are designed to give the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, ASIO, and other agencies more scope to identify terrorism.
But a number of groups, including the body overseeing the agencies' performance, say serious questions must be answered about how the data is used and kept.
Amanda Cavill reports.
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The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security says she is concerned ASIO may already be holding onto electronic data it should be destroying.
Vivienne Thom has told a parliamentary inquiry into the Government's proposed data-retention laws there are provisions requiring ASIO to destroy non-relevant data within five years.
Ms Thom says that needs to be investigated as part of the Government's review of the guidelines governing ASIO.
The guidelines require the agency to intrude into individual privacy as little as possible and collect only intelligence relevant to an investigation.
Ms Thom has told the inquiry the general public has a right to expect material found not to be relevant to security would be deleted after a period of time.
"I think that needs to be balanced against what I would consider to be the general public expectation that, if matter is found to be not relevant to security or no longer relevant to security, that it should be deleted. I'm not sure that balance is correct at the moment."
The Law Council says it fears privileged information could be at risk and people's privacy rights could be breached by the new laws.
ASIO Chief Duncan Lewis says his organisation is mindful of the sensitivities involved in collecting the data.
Mr Lewis says ASIO operates strictly within the bounds of the law and is already highly accountable for its actions.
"This data that we are talking about is collected lawfully in all cases. I, as well as my officers, understand the sensitivity of these holdings. They're strictly controlled ... the holdings are strictly controlled. They're well-managed, and access is highly accountable. In my organisation, we strictly adhere to the need-to-know principle. And, in addition, we have numerous accountability mechanisms to ensure the protection of the data."
He says, besides internal accountability, ASIO is also accountable to the Senate committee process, Senate estimates hearings and the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security.
Meanwhile, Telstra has warned the inquiry vast quantities of telecommunications data stored in a central system would be a real target for hackers, including foreign spy agencies.
Chief security officer Michael Burgess says such a store would be a "pot of gold" for intruders who would otherwise have to work through Telstra's complex I-T system.
"If I were in a foreign intelligence service wanting to hack Telstra's network, this new proposed system would be where I would go. Because you would tell the computer you compromise the account of the user that has access to the system to provide the answer to law enforcement, and you type in the subscriber information, and, presto, there's your answer."
But Assistant Commissioner Graham Ashton, for the Federal Police, says, without new data-collection laws, enforcement agencies will not be able to do their jobs in a rapidly changing digital world.
He says it is not possible to stress too much the vital role data collection plays in keeping Australia and Australians safe from terrorism and major crime.
"Metadata is often at the very early stages of an investigative process. And it often forms, if you like, the mortar that sits between the bricks of investigations. Without that mortar, often you can't build a case in which to prosecute. It is hard often to quantify the role that it plays. It plays a critical role, and it plays it in partnership with a whole range of other technologies and a whole other range of powers and investigative techniques."
The committee is expected to table its report at the end of February.
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