The latest development of the situation in Australia doesn’t seem to be especially good for their internet users. The government has decided that their citizens aren’t in need of their privacy anymore, so Australian telcos and ISPs got 18 months to make necessary changes and start collecting pretty much all the data they can get their hands on. This is the deadline that ran out almost an entire month ago, which makes ISPs and telcos store all of the data for at least next two years.
Many were outraged by this since they felt that it clearly violates the security, as well as the privacy of every internet and mobile phone user on the continent.
These companies now have not only the right but the obligation to store the users’ metadata. The metadata consists of information like conversations, browsing history, personal info, IP logs, location information, and all the rest similar pieces of data.
So, with the situation like that on their hands, the Australian citizens, naturally, decided to try and fight back. We’re here to assist them in doing so, which is why we’ve created a guide on how to protect themselves and their private info. One of the best ways for doing so is to get a Virtual Private Network, also known as a VPN.
What is Metadata Retention Law?
The Australian act from 1979 called Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act states that ISPs and telcos are required to keep some of the user data for at least two years. This issue was once again raised in October 2014, by the Australian Parliament.
It took many debates, and the bill was finally passed in March. This is described as necessary to the national security, but the users are aware of the fact that it’ in fact used for monitoring their online activities. This can be used for many different things, for example, selling the users’ data to advertising companies, as well as tracking down those who download things illegally from the internet.
Impact of the Data Retention Law on users’ privacy
This kind of decision from the government shows us that Australian users aren’t going to have an especially good time. Here are only some of the consequences of this law, and how it impacts your privacy:
- The telcos will get info about your calls, which includes: phone numbers of both persons, the information about when the call was made and how long did it last, the phone tower used for receiving and sending signals to the phone
- ISPs will keep the email addresses of users, as well as those who they’re in contact with. This is expected to help with creating a certain pattern. Fortunately, the content of the emails themselves won’t be recorded, nor monitored.
- Your IP address will be recorded and regularly checked so that it would be obvious if you’re connected to any sort of online activities that the Australian law forbids. This means that your browsing search isn’t only your information anymore.
- ISPs can now track you and know your location at any time. They’ll also have the information of the device that you use as well.
- Your download habits, as well as the type of content, will also be closely monitored.
How to bypass this retention via VPN
Fortunately for everyone who doesn’t enjoy being spied on, there’s already a perfect technology for this sort of thing. VPNs are extremely useful for situations like this when you need an online mask in order to simply go through your normal online browsing session undisturbed.
They can hide your identities, as well as encrypt your data traffic by creating a secure tunnel through which your data can safely flow through. Your ISPs won’t be able to see what you’re doing online even if they tried. Of course, there’s also the question of which VPN to use. Our recommendation is to try out TorGuard, IPVanish, PIA, and GhostVPN.
These ones have proven to be the best by some of the most experienced internet users, and you should give them a try. Of course, there are many more of them out there, and if these ones aren’t good for you, you can always explore on your own. There’s only one thing that you need to remember, and that’s this:
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Never use a VPN that’s based in Australia
When you’re trying to select the best VPN for yourself, there are many different factors that need to be considered. Depending on what you need them from, you might want to check on their speed, a number of servers, the quality of the customer support, performance and protocols, and so on. These factors are what separates good VPNs from the bad ones. Still, there’s one factor that should be put above the rest, and that’s the VPN provider’s region.
Despite the fact that the VPN is made so that they can give you online privacy if they’re located in Australia, chances are that they’ll be obligated to log your activity and present it if asked as well. This would make them pretty pointless, and they wouldn’t be of much use to you. Instead, try and find one that’s located in countries that allow more flexible laws when it comes to this problem. The VPNs that we previously mentioned are a good example of those VPNs.
Other security options for avoiding data collection
VPNs are said to be the best way to avoid the efforts of your ISPs, but they’re not the only way of doing it. There are several more methods, and they include:
Tor: Tor is an anonymous web browser that’s specially made so that your sessions and online activities wouldn’t be traced back to you. It sends your traffic through different nodes until the data can’t be connected to you anymore. This is a good concept, but it slows you down significantly.
HTTPS Everywhere: This is a useful little add-on that will help you use the internet in a bit safer way. It switches HTTP websites to HTTPS mode, but the downside is that many websites still aren’t included, and those will be displayed as regular HTTP.
Ad Blockers: This is an extension that helps with ads a lot, and we recommend using it. After some time, you’ll forget how it is to have annoying ads popping up all the time.
Script Blockers: You probably know that there are many technologies on the internet that are trying to get as much info about you as they can so that it can be sold to advertisers. Extensions like Privacy Badger or Ghostery are here to help you shake them off.
PGP: Also known as Pretty Good Privacy, and it’ll encrypt your email content, just to be sure.
Signal: This is the app used for Android and iOS devices. It’ll encrypt your phone calls, as well as text messages that you send.
Conclusion
Since the data storing will cost the Australian government about AU$400 million every year, the citizens of Australia can be sure that the storing of data, as well as checking on it, will be used to its limits. You would be better off expecting a full surveillance, and you should start acting like you’re already being spied on since you are. For almost a month, at the time of writing.
If you don’t prepare yourself and hide your info, there are several consequences that you might face. Also, your data will be stored and inspected for two whole years, which is something that might not pose a problem to the citizens of the countries like the US, who are familiar with the feeling of surveillance.
However, it would probably not be as accepted in Australia. Telstra’s officials have stated that they’ll encrypt all of the data that they collect, but there’s no guarantee that anyone else will do the same, so we recommend that you encrypt your own data, and take steps to protect yourself.
