Law Council calls for better foreign data access
The Law Council of Australia has called for better safeguards to help law enforcement agencies obtain crucial data from foreign countries — as part of the inquiry into the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (International Production Orders) Bill 2020.
Agencies currently face significant hurdles in securing overseas data and there have been calls to expedite an agreement with the US government — under the US CLOUD Act — to improve efficiency and rights protection on this front.
However, to be effective these agreements need a domestic framework, said the Council.
Appearing this week before the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, Law Council President Pauline Wright acknowledged the existing support, but said there are still major concerns about the lack of adequate safeguards.
These affect nearly all aspects of the proposed International Production of Orders (IPO) scheme, she said.
“While the Law Council is happy with the intent of the Bill, there are significant procedural issues that need to be addressed,” Wright said.
“A lack of protection may impede Australia’s ability to make an agreement with the US.
“The amendments we have recommended are targeted and pragmatic, and we believe that if adopted they will achieve an appropriate balance,” Wright said.
In total, the Law Council has made more than 30 Bill amendment suggestions in its submission to the inquiry. Each of these are intended to improve efficiency and rights protection, Wright said.
“Entering into an executive agreement with the US would ensure, among other things, that the protections of the CLOUD Act would be enlivened, enabling an order for the production to US authorities of data held by an Australian arm of a US company […] to be quashed via a prescribed statutory process,” she said.
“But it is important that we ensure that any limitations on human rights go no further than is necessary, reasonable and proportionate.
“Once framework is in place at Australia’s end with our recommended amendments, we will have the added bonus of accessing the strongest possible protective arrangements in relation to Australian data that is managed by a US company, as is the case with COVIDSafe app data.”
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