Attorney General’s Department consultation into access to telecommunications data in civil proceedings

The Attorney-General’s Department invited submissions to support a review by the Minister for Communications and the Attorney-General into access to telecommunications data in civil proceedings.

The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security Advisory report on the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment (Data Retention) Bill 2014, recommended that civil litigants be prohibited from being able to access telecommunications data held by a service provider solely for the purpose of complying with the mandatory data retention regime.

Digital Rights Watch is urging the Australian Government to not abuse the trust of the Australian people through the use of broad declaratory powers being handed to the executive. The current data retention regime is highly invasive of the privacy of Australian citizens, and a breach of international human rights obligations including the right to privacy.

We are therefore urging the Government to apply a human rights lens first and foremost to any legal framework such as the current data retention scheme, to ensure that Australian citizens’ privacy is protected.

Read our full submission to the review here.