A former police employee who has worked extensively with metadata has told Download this Show that the government's proposed mandatory data retention regime is open for abuse and may one day be used against Australians who download music and TV shows.
The Australian people are being sleep walked into a system the attorney general cannot even articulate.
Under the proposed regime, telecommunications companies would be required to keep their customers' metadata for two years.
The laws are yet to pass either house of parliament, but the government is stepping up pressure on Labor to support the bill.
'If we don't keep this data, our crime fighting agencies and the police are flying blind,' Tony Abbott said on Wednesday.
The former police source approached Download This Show in order to correct what he perceives as widespread ignorance of what metadata is and how it used.
So just what is metadata and why have the government and law enforcement officials had such a difficult time explaining why they need it?
'I'm so disappointed that we never just come out and talk through the issues,' said the insider. 'The only talking heads [you see on TV] have never even seen the [metadata] requests. Mobiles weren't invented when they walked the beat.
'A good analogy is asking a library to keep a history on their systems of who borrowed a book. [The library] don't care. They want to know who HAS a book; but that information is only required until it's returned. Data retention would force them to keep that info for two years.'
Related: What metadata retention looks like
The source said that even under the existing regime, he never saw a request for metadata from law enforcement denied on the basis of legitimacy—only on cost. It would be simple, he said, for a law enforcement officer to use the system to check up on their ex-girlfriend, for example.
'No one would pick it up because there is no detail. It's the process that is more decaying than the legislation.'
The insider is also concerned that future legal changes could see metadata used against people who break copyright by downloading movies, music or TV shows.
'[All it would take is ] simple lobbying by a financial backer of political parties to make copyright seen as theft and bang so many Aussies caught up criminally,' he said. 'Who's to say access wouldn't be back-dated?
'[The vague definition of metadata in the legislation] largely comes from the number of agencies who use the data. Everyone has a wish list they are trying to get included. If given the choice most would want content held for two years too.'
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