61 agencies after warrantless access to Australian telecommunications metadata
Australia Post, the RSPCA of Victoria, and the Victorian Taxi Services Commission are among 61 agencies in Australia seeking warrantless access to metadata stored by telcos.
The names of 57 agencies that are seeking to gain access to telecommunications metadata stored on Australian residents without a warrant have been released under a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.
The names of four agencies have been redacted, with the Attorney-General's Department (AGD) previously saying that disclosing the names of these agencies would be contrary to the public interest.
The FOI request originally asked for correspondence from organisations seeking to gain access to stored telecommunications metadata. The department denied this request on practical grounds, stating that 2,661 pages spread across 288 documents were related to such a request, and that 45 third parties needed to be consulted before the information could be released.
Eventually, the request was narrowed down to merely a list of agencies looking to be declared as an enforcement agency as defined under the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act.
"Agencies objected to disclosure on the basis that it would compromise the trust they place in the Commonwealth," AGD said last week. "During consultation, these four agencies clearly indicated that disclosure of this information would damage the relationship between the department and the relevant agencies, and could affect any future cooperation with the department."
The full list of agencies is as follows:
Australian Financial Security Authority
Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency
Australian Postal Corporation
Australian Taxation Office
Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre
Civil Aviation Safety Authority
Clean Energy Regulator
Department of Agriculture
Department of Defence
Department of the Environment
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Department of Health
Department of Human Services
Department of Social Services
Fair Work Building and Construction
National Measurement Institute
ACT Revenue Office
Access Canberra (Department of Treasury and Economic Development)
Bankstown City Council
Consumer Affairs - Victoria
Consumer, Building and Occupational Services - Tasmania
Consumer and Business Services - SA
[redacted]
[redacted]
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry - Queensland
Department of Commerce - WA
Department of Corrective Services - WA
Department of Environment and Heritage Protection - Queensland
Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources - Victoria
Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning - Victoria
Department of Environment Regulation - WA
Department of Fisheries - WA
Department of Justice and Regulation (Consumer Affairs) - Victoria
Department of Justice and Regulation (Sheriff of Victoria)
Department of Mines and Petroleum - WA
[redacted]
Department of Primary Industries (Fisheries) - NSW
Environment Protection Authority - SA
Greyhound Racing Victoria
Harness Racing New South Wales
Health Care Complaints Commission - NSW
Legal Services Board - Victoria
NSW Environment Protection Authority
NSW Fair Trading
Office of Environment and Heritage - NSW
Office of Fair Trading - Queensland
Office of State Revenue - NSW
Office of State Revenue - Queensland
Office of the Racing Integrity Commissioner - Vic
Primary Industries and Regions South Australia
Queensland Building and Construction Commission
Racing and Wagering Western Australia
Racing NSW
Racing Queensland
Roads and Maritime Service NSW
Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) - Victoria
State Revenue Office - Victoria
Taxi Services Commission - Victoria
[redacted]
Revenue SA
Victorian WorkSafe Authority
The Australian data-retention laws allow the nation's approved law-enforcement agencies to warrantlessly access two years' worth of customers' call records, location information, IP addresses, billing information, and other data stored by telcos.
(Image: Screenshot by Chris Duckett)
Also contained within the FOI documents was a list of agencies that previously had access to telecommunications data. The list was sorted alphabetically along with redactions in place.
Access Canberra (Department of Treasury and Economic Development)
ACT Revenue Office
Australian Financial Security Authority
[redacted]
Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency
Australian Postal Corporation
Australian Taxation Office
Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre
Bankstown City Council
[redacted]
[redacted]
[redacted]
Civil Aviation Safety Authority
Clean Energy Regulator
[redacted]
[redacted]
Consumer and Business Services - SA
Consumer, Building and Occupational Services
[redacted]
[redacted]
Department of Agriculture
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (Queensland)
Department of Commerce - WA
Department of Corrective Services - WA
Department of Defence
Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources (Fisheries) - Victoria
Department of Environment and Heritage Protection - Queensland
Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning - Victoria
Department of Fisheries - WA
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Department of Health
Department of Human Services
Department of Mines and Petroleum - WA
[redacted]
Department of Primary Industries (Fisheries) - NSW
Department of Social Services
Department of the Environment
[redacted]
[redacted]
[redacted]
Environment Protection Authority - SA
Fair Work Building and Construction
Greyhound Racing Victoria
Harness Racing New South Wales
[redacted]
Health Care Complaints Commission - NSW
Legal Services Board - Victoria
[redacted]
National Measurement Institute
NSW Environment Protection Authority
NSW Fair Trading
[redacted]
Office of Environment and Heritage - NSW
Office of Fair Trading - Queensland
[redacted]
Office of State Revenue - NSW
Office of State Revenue - Queensland
Office of the Racing Integrity Commissioner - Vic
[redacted]
[redacted]
Primary Industries and Regions South Australia
Queensland Building and Construction Commission
Racing and Wagering Western Australia
Racing NSW
Racing Queensland
Roads and Maritime Service NSW
[redacted]
Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) - Victoria
[redacted]
[redacted]
State Revenue Office - Victoria
[redacted]
[redacted]
Taxi Services Commission - Victoria
[redacted]
[redacted]
[redacted]
Victorian WorkSafe Authority
[redacted]
Of those listed, it appears that South Australia's Consumer and Business Services is the only agency to not reapply for access.
Of the agencies and departments given access to existing information or documents to enforce a criminal law over the 12-month period, and not included on either list released by AGD, or known to be an enforcement agency already, are: the Australian Fisheries Management Authority; the Department of the Environment; SA Consumer and Business Services; Corrective Services NSW; the WA Department of Environmental Regulation; Corrections Victoria; RSPCA Queensland; RSPCA Tasmania; The Hills Shire Council; the Vic Transport Accident Commission; and Workcover NSW.
A similar request was made by privacy advocate Geordie Guy, for which the department requested a fee of AU$424 to complete the request -- a fee that Guy was able to raise through crowdfunding.
On appeal from ZDNet on its separate request, the department reduced the charges by 75 percent and said the release of such documents was in the public interest as it would provide background on how the metadata legislation is operating.