Data retention proposal pinned on VoIP

The Attorney-General's Department has fingered the shift from landline telephones to IP telephony as the trigger for its secretive data retention proposal.

The department's telecommunications

Representatives from the department's telecommunications and surveillance law branch told a senate committee hearing Friday that it intended to develop a "national, systemic approach" as technology evolved.

Describing the "good old days" of landline telephones, Assistant Secretary Catherine Smith noted that IP telephony providers would no longer store users' phone records for billing purposes.

"Over time, as telecommunications services such as voice telephony migrate to voice over internet services, less and less information will be stored."

The department had consulted widely with ISPs

She said the department had consulted widely with ISPs, carriers, State and Commonwealth agencies, the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, and industry associations such as the Communications Alliance.