Australian Data Retention Law to take effect today!
It all started two years ago when the Federal Government of Australia introduced a number of highly controversial data retention laws in 2015. These laws required telecommunications companies in the country to store critical metadata of customers for two years and hand it over to the government.
However, due to some legal impediments, telecommunications giants like Vodafone, Optus and Telstra were not required to collect and retain their customers’ metadata. That is, until now!
When the law was passed two years ago, the Federal Government granted all Australian telecommunication companies a timeframe of 18 months to design an effective metadata retention strategy. But that deadline expires tomorrow, Apr 13, 2017!
So, as of this Thursday, your telecom company now has the legal right to retain all your metadata without your consent. And there is every chance that the exhausting list of people who can access that data will expand exponentially.
In fact, the Federal government is already seeking approval to expand metadata access to resolve employment, business and child custody disputes and divorce proceedings.
However, considering how crucial the data can be for digital marketers, it is only a matter of time before they too will get unrestricted access to a massive pool of customers’ metadata. This would help them tremendously when it comes to designing targeted ads based on the profile, preferences and location of potential customers.
This country’s entire communications industry will be turned into a surveillance and monitoring arm of at least 21 agencies of executive government. Intelligence and law enforcement agencies will have immediate, warrantless and accumulating access to all telephone and internet metadata required by law, with a $2 million penalty for telcos and ISPs that don’t comply. – Quentin Dempster
How Do I Protect My Metadata?
As a counter-measure to increased government intrusion and surveillance, Digital Right Watch, one of the leading digital advocacy groups in Australia, has declared Apr 13, 2017 “National Get A VPN Day“. The group has called upon all Australian internet users to thwart government surveillance by using a VPN.
A VPN masks your IP address, giving you complete online anonymity and shielding you from the prying eyes of your ISP, government agencies, hackers and spammers. So you can still go your daily routine online without any fear that your metadata will be compromised or may fall into the wrong hands.
Celebrate “National Get A VPN Day” with Ivacy
Ivacy uses advanced 256-bit encryption to give you foolproof data security and online privacy. With advanced encryption protocols like PPTP, SSTP, L2TP, OpenVPN and IKEv2, you no longer have to worry about your crucial and sensitive metadata falling into the wrong hands.
Another great feature of Ivacy is that it gives you IPv6 Leak Protection, protecting you from IPv6 vulnerabilities by forcing all IPv6 traffic into the VPN. And since Ivacy has a strict “no logs” policy, you can browse, stream and download all you want without worrying that your activity is being logged.
If you value your online privacy and are concerned about your sensitive metadata falling into the wrong hands, join millions of Australian netizens who already protect themselves with a VPN!
Get Ivacy VPN now and have the last laugh!
