New Data Retention Laws Implementation Deadline
By Cameron Abbott and Melanie Long
From 13 October 2015, telecommunications service providers that use communications infrastructure in Australia to provide any of their services may be required to retain and secure certain data for two years. The new obligations under the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment (Data Retention) Act 2015 (Cth) apply to licensed carriers, carriage service providers and internet service providers. However, some services are specifically excluded including, for example, broadcasting services. The data retention obligations will apply regardless of the size of the company and/or its customer base.
Broadly, the type of data that must be retained includes:
- the source and destination of a communication
- the date, time and duration of a communication
- communication type
- location of communications equipment.