Abstract
The Telco has both the legal duty and the discretion to disclose location information. Although there are types of location information the Telco is not required to retain, but may do so voluntarily, the Telco is still required to disclose these types of location information, if authorised and notified by the Agencies to do so, and without any prior judicial participation. The Agencies use a self-certification process to collect location information, without any third oversight body vetting the authorisations. The Agencies also use a pre-check process, that is not provided for in the guidelines on how to exercise their collection powers. The warrant processes to collect the location information of journalist sources has been undermined by the broad powers of the Agencies, and the ambiguity in the language of the law, giving rise to interpretations that benefit the Agencies and thereby defeating the intended public interest and the privacy protections. In this manner press freedom is not adequately protected.
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Notes
- 1.
The Home Affairs Minister may issue additional acts or things to be done, but in a legislative instrument (see section 317T(5) – (6)).
- 2.
- 3.
- 4.
- 5.
Note that the journalist’s source is also not directly protected by the JIW process, it only applies to and offers direct protection to the journalist; see discussion below at ‘3 The Ambiguity of the JIW Process’.
See Revised Explanatory Memorandum, Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment (Data Retention) Bill 2015 (Cth), 6–7 [31].
- 6.
Section 6DC was added by the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment (Data Retention) Act 2015 (Cth) (Data Retention Act 2015) on 13 April 2015. TIA Act 1979 s 6DC.
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Shanapinda, S. (2020). The Legal Framework for Mobile Telecommunications Companies and Social Media Platforms to Disclose Location Information. In: Advance Metadata Fair. Law, Governance and Technology Series, vol 44. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50255-3_3
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