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posted by janrinok on Tuesday September 20 2016, @11:58PM   Printer-friendly
from the unwanted-side-effects dept.

When Australia's federal government finally revealed who had been given money to help pay for metadata retention efforts The Register was surprised to see eight Universities on the list.

So we've asked around and figured out why.

Universities have a metadata retention obligation thanks to the Section 187B(a) of the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment (Data Retention) Act 2015 which explains that service providers other than carriers and ISPs don't have to retain metadata the comms service they provide: (i)  is provided only to a person's immediate circle (within the meaning of section 23 of the Telecommunications Act 1997); or (ii)  is provided only to places that, under section 36 of that Act, are all in the same area; and

"Immediate circle" includes staff and students, so WiFi for students doesn't create a metadata retention obligation for the university, although of course the University's internet service provider does have that obligation.

Anne Kealley, CEO of the Council of Australian University Directors of Information Technology (CAUDIT), told The Register that entities like a campus bookstore or privately-funded research outfit with on-campus offices fall outside the immediate circle. That kind of outfit often resides in university buildings and has little alternative other than to use university-provided telephony services. Contractors and charities are also beyond the immediate circle. And so are services like email accounts provided to alumni.

Hence Universities' metadata retention obligations.

[...] Australia has 43 accredited universities. It is unclear how many had no metadata retention obligations and how many found ways to avoid those obligations.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 21 2016, @12:41AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 21 2016, @12:41AM (#404593)

    Getting bigger every day.

  • (Score: 2) by MostCynical on Wednesday September 21 2016, @05:53AM

    by MostCynical (2589) on Wednesday September 21 2016, @05:53AM (#404673) Journal

    it seems that the definition of an ISP in the legislation *could* include anyone offering "ISP-like" services: through-connection to the internet for money (or, possibly, equivalent trade)

    Some Australian universities have had direct fibre connections for a long time (eg, Macquarie University, which helps explain why a new "technology precinct" popped up nearby.)

    These connections are, effectively, part of the package of setting-up research centres on the Uni campus.

    This may well make universities like Macquarie an ISP, but they are not on the list.

    Not suprisingly, VPN use in Australia is increasing.. http://www.cnet.com/au/news/vpn-use-increases-in-australia-amid-data-retention-and-piracy-concerns/ [cnet.com]

    --
    "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
  • (Score: 1) by Frosty Piss on Wednesday September 21 2016, @05:53AM

    by Frosty Piss (4971) on Wednesday September 21 2016, @05:53AM (#404674)

    It's interesting that everyone goes on and on about the domestic spying in the United States, but for convenient political reasons fails to mention that both the Australians and the Brits are far far ahead of the USA in terms of spying on their citizens. I'm not an apologist, but good grief, look around you! Australia is a Police State compared to the USA.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 21 2016, @09:42AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 21 2016, @09:42AM (#404720)

      Not to mention the situation in North Korea.

      You don't really want to claim that people should not complain about something just because there are areas in the world where it is worse, do you?

      • (Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Wednesday September 21 2016, @04:53PM

        by Grishnakh (2831) on Wednesday September 21 2016, @04:53PM (#404840)

        No one really gives a shit about North Korea, except when they're worried that NK might lob weapons at them or something. Otherwise, the world does its best to ignore what happens within NK's borders. And more importantly, NK is not a modern, western, developed nation comparable to the US in any way.

        Australia and the UK, OTOH, are direct peers to the US: they're all part of the "five eyes", and they're all strongly allied to each other, and nominally share a language and culture too. Of all the countries in the world to compare the US to, Australia and the UK are easily the closest "siblings". So the parent poster has a good point. This doesn't mean we should ignore anything wrong that's happening here just because AUS and UK might be even worse, but it is important for keeping things in perspective.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 21 2016, @02:24PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 21 2016, @02:24PM (#404785)

      But hardly anyone lives there.

  • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Wednesday September 21 2016, @07:38AM

    by aristarchus (2645) on Wednesday September 21 2016, @07:38AM (#404691) Journal

    But she's a good sheila!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f_p0CgPeyA [youtube.com]

    Pomey bastards! Hegelian philosophy! Sheep dip.