'metadata' disclosed under the TIA
Dear Attorney-General's Department,
I am seeking details of the telecommunications data ('metadata') disclosed to enforcement agencies under the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979.
The specific information I require is sources of data (e.g. "Telstra"), types of data (e.g. "email") and entities of data (e.g. "recipient", "date sent", etc).
Yours faithfully,
G King
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Dear FOI Requests,
To clarify: this is an application for the purposes of the FOI Act.
Yours sincerely,
G King
UNCLASSIFIED
Good afternoon Mr King
Referring to your FOI request of 2 July 2013 with this Department, the FOI
decision maker's determination is attached.
Kind Regards
FOI Contact Officer
Freedom of Information and Privacy Section | Office of Corporate Counsel
Attorney-General's Department
3 - 5 National Circuit, Barton ACT 2600
A: [AGD request email]
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Dear Attorney-General's Department,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Attorney-General's Department's handling of my FOI request ''metadata' disclosed under the TIA'.
The FOI request has been refused on the grounds that the Attorney-General's Department has no documents that fall within the scope of the request.
I believe this to be false given that under Part 2-4 of the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 the Department is tasked with processing all applications relating to "interception of communications passing over a telecommunications system" for the purpose of "developing and testing interception capabilities".
This clearly indicates the Department does have documents relating to 'metadata' interception options available at the behest of security authority requests.
Given the current, high level of public interest in data privacy policy and widespread use of telecommunication intercepts (including local council employees: http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/co...) I urge you to make available more detailed information on the mechanics of this Act so that the community may more effectively participate in the nation's democratic processes.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/me...
Yours faithfully,
G King
UNCLASSIFIED
Good morning Mr King
I hereby acknowledge your request for Internal Review under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) dated 22 July 2013.
The review will be conducted as quickly as possible.
Kind Regards
FOI Contact Officer
Freedom of Information and Privacy Section | Office of Corporate Counsel Attorney-General's Department | 3 - 5 National Circuit, Barton ACT 2600
Email: [AGD request email]
-----Original Message-----
From: G King [mailto:[FOI #278 email]]
Sent: Monday, 22 July 2013 12:28 PM
To: FOI Requests
Subject: Internal review of Freedom of Information request - 'metadata' disclosed under the TIA
Dear Attorney-General's Department,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of
Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Attorney-General's
Department's handling of my FOI request ''metadata' disclosed under
the TIA'.
The FOI request has been refused on the grounds that the
Attorney-General's Department has no documents that fall within the
scope of the request.
I believe this to be false given that under Part 2-4 of the
Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 the
Department is tasked with processing all applications relating to
"interception of communications passing over a telecommunications
system" for the purpose of "developing and testing interception
capabilities".
This clearly indicates the Department does have documents relating
to 'metadata' interception options available at the behest of
security authority requests.
Given the current, high level of public interest in data privacy
policy and widespread use of telecommunication intercepts
(including local council employees:
http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/co...)
I urge you to make available more detailed information on the
mechanics of this Act so that the community may more effectively
participate in the nation's democratic processes.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is
available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/me...
Yours faithfully,
G King
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[FOI #278 email]
Write your response as plain text. Only send PDF documents as a
last resort. Government guidelines make it clear that PDF is not an
acceptable format for you to use in the delivery of government
information.
http://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offic...
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UNCLASSIFIED
Dear G King,
I refer to your request dated 22 July 2013 for an internal review of your FOI request. Please find attached decision letter of 7 August 2013 in response to your request.
Kind Regards
FOI Contact Officer
Freedom of Information and Privacy Section | Office of Corporate Counsel Attorney-General's Department | 3 - 5 National Circuit, Barton ACT 2600
Email: [AGD request email]
-----Original Message-----
From: G King [mailto:[FOI #278 email]]
Sent: Monday, 22 July 2013 12:28 PM
To: FOI Requests
Subject: Internal review of Freedom of Information request - 'metadata' disclosed under the TIA
Dear Attorney-General's Department,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of
Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Attorney-General's
Department's handling of my FOI request ''metadata' disclosed under
the TIA'.
The FOI request has been refused on the grounds that the
Attorney-General's Department has no documents that fall within the
scope of the request.
I believe this to be false given that under Part 2-4 of the
Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 the
Department is tasked with processing all applications relating to
"interception of communications passing over a telecommunications
system" for the purpose of "developing and testing interception
capabilities".
This clearly indicates the Department does have documents relating
to 'metadata' interception options available at the behest of
security authority requests.
Given the current, high level of public interest in data privacy
policy and widespread use of telecommunication intercepts
(including local council employees:
http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/co...)
I urge you to make available more detailed information on the
mechanics of this Act so that the community may more effectively
participate in the nation's democratic processes.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is
available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/me...
Yours faithfully,
G King
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #278 email]
Write your response as plain text. Only send PDF documents as a
last resort. Government guidelines make it clear that PDF is not an
acceptable format for you to use in the delivery of government
information.
http://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offic...
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be
published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
http://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offic...
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your
web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
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If you have received this transmission in error please
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to you in error, that error does not constitute waiver
of any confidentiality, privilege or copyright in respect
of information in the e-mail or attachments.
Dear Attorney-General's Department,
I am writing in response to an internal review of Attorney-General's Department's handling of my FOI request ''metadata' disclosed under the TIA'.
While I appreciate the clarification of terminology within the response, I respectfully request a further review of the available documents given "Section 81A of the TIA Act requires the Secretary of the Attorney-General's Department to maintain a General Register which includes particulars of all telecommunications interception warrants".
Does this 'General Register' contain particulars relating to the nature or type of 'communication data' disclosed to authorised officers of enforcement agencies? If so, I believe this document(s) would fulfil my original request and should be disclosed.
Yours faithfully,
G King
UNCLASSIFIED
Dear Mr King,
Thank you for your email to the Department dated 12 August 2013.
2. You have referred to particular provisions of the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 (the TIA Act), stating:
While I appreciate the clarification of terminology within the response, I respectfully request a further review of the available documents given “Section 81A of the TIA Act requires the Secretary of the Attorney-General’s Department to maintain a General Register which includes particulars of all telecommunications interception warrants”
3. You further stated:
Does this ‘General Register’ contain particulars relating to the nature or type of ‘communication data’ disclosed to authorised officers of enforcement agencies? If so, I believe this document(s) would fulfil my original request and should be disclosed.
4. The TIA Act does require the Secretary of the Department to cause a General Register of Warrants to be kept: see subsection 81A(1) of the TIA Act. You have asked:
Does this ‘General Register’ contain particulars relating to the nature or type of ‘communication data’ disclosed to authorised officers of enforcement agencies?
The General Register of Warrants maintained under section 81A of the TIA Act does not ‘contain particulars relating to the nature or type of communication data disclosed to authorised officers of enforcement agencies’.
5. The ‘particulars’ required to be kept in the General Register of Warrants is provided for in subsection 81A(2) of the TIA Act. The provision requires certain information to be included in the Register, such as the date of the issue of the warrant and the agency to which the warrant was issued. However, the provision does not require the General Register of Warrants to contain particulars of the ‘nature or type of communication data disclosed to authorised officers of enforcement agencies’. As the Department’s internal review decision letter of 7 August 2013 stated, at paragraph 8:
The Attorney-General’s Department does not receive specific details of the telecommunications data that is disclosed to enforcement agencies under the (TIA Act).
Further, at paragraph 14, the letter notes:
… the Department does not receive details of telecommunications data that is disclosed to an enforcement agency in response to an authorisation issued by the enforcement agency.
6. I hope the above information clarifies the position. If you wish to discuss this information, please contact the Department by email at [AGD request email].
Yours sincerely
FOI Case Officer
FOI & Privacy Section
Attorney-General’s Department
-----Original Message-----
From: G King [mailto:[FOI #278 email]]
Sent: Monday, 12 August 2013 2:39 PM
To: FOI Requests
Subject: Internal review of Freedom of Information request - 'metadata' disclosed under the TIA
Dear Attorney-General's Department,
I am writing in response to an internal review of
Attorney-General's Department's handling of my FOI request
''metadata' disclosed under the TIA'.
While I appreciate the clarification of terminology within the
response, I respectfully request a further review of the available
documents given "Section 81A of the TIA Act requires the Secretary
of the Attorney-General's Department to maintain a General Register
which includes particulars of all telecommunications interception
warrants".
Does this 'General Register' contain particulars relating to the
nature or type of 'communication data' disclosed to authorised
officers of enforcement agencies? If so, I believe this document(s)
would fulfil my original request and should be disclosed.
Yours faithfully,
G King
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #278 email]
Write your response as plain text. Only send PDF documents as a
last resort. Government guidelines make it clear that PDF is not an
acceptable format for you to use in the delivery of government
information.
http://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offic...
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be
published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
http://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offic...
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your
web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
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If you have received this transmission in error please
notify us immediately by return e-mail and delete all
copies. If this e-mail or any attachments have been sent
to you in error, that error does not constitute waiver
of any confidentiality, privilege or copyright in respect
of information in the e-mail or attachments.