Bait and Switch

Remember how I told you not to trust government promises about data collection? That, according to the iron law of data collection, the data will always be used for other purposes even if the government promises otherwise?

Not that you need it but here is another example of the iron law. Australia is trying to pass a data retention law that will require ISPs to maintain connection logs. The government vehemently denied that the law would allow the data to be used to prosecute, say, file sharers or offenses other than major crimes such as terrorism.

Now in an unusual act of candor—what we in the U.S. have taken to calling a Gruberism—the Minister of Communication has admitted that once the data is collected there is nothing to prevent a civil action from gaining access to it. In other words, a suit from a Movie Studio against an accused file sharer would be enough to get access to the accused’s communication history.

The lesson is clear: never believe the government’s promises about limited use and demand that such data not be collected in the first place. The only way to prevent data abuse is to insist that it not be collected.

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