Data retention: Wizardry or Incompetence.

Firstly, let's define what's happening here in 25 words or less... You might have got to the term 'data retention' and already tuned out... I don't blame you. It sounds boring, it is boring, and it is an incredibly and fundamentally important issue.

So what is it: The proposed Data Retention Legislation will require service providers i.e. private companies (like Telstra or your local ISP) to retain, for up to two years, 'metadata' (we will get to what that is) that tracks your telecommunications use. That is tracking and recording every phone call, location of, website use, and tracking of emails to and from every man, woman and child in the nation.This information is purported to be essential to stopping a future impending wave of crime or terrorism.

Tony Abbot said this: "If we don't keep this data, our crime fighting agencies and the police are flying blind." Certainly a great message of fear from our illustrious leader and his party.

What is it really about though? Let's start with METADATA. The word is thrown around a lot and our revered attorney general George Brandis recently told parliament that "this is a term that does not have a precise definition. It is a description rather than a definition.". No George, it actually does have a precise meaning, and let's hope you understand that BEFORE drafting legislation. Laws tend to be defined by precise definitions

So here it is: METADATA is DATA that describes OTHER DATA. Not that hard was it George?

So in the case of tracking a phone call for example: What you say on the call would be classed as PRIMARY DATA and everything else about the phone call: the time of the call; who you called; where you were when making the call; how long the call lasted; how much it cost; who paid for it; who owns the account; where the account holder lives; who they are married to; where they work; and so on and so forth... you get the idea: ALL THAT IS METADATA.

So in no particular order let's discuss the advantages and disadvantages:

No one would deny that increased foresight and awareness of criminal terrorist behavior would be a good thing for law enforcement. Advantage.

Achieving this increased awareness is dependent on one overriding principle. THE EFFECTIVENESS OF DATA RETENTION IS CONTINGENT ON ENSURING THAT 100% OF EVERY PIECE OF DATA TRANSMITTED IN AND OUT AND AROUND THE COUNTRY IS RETAINED AND ANALYSED.
Here's where it all falls apart. The legislation describes 'in scope' and 'out of scope' data.

No self respecting terrorist or criminal organisation is going to use a channel of communication that falls inside the scope of the data retention legislation. They are going to use methods outside the scope the legislation therefore rendering the purpose of the legislation inert.

The scheme describes that if you have an email account with say, BIGPOND then your metadata and activity will be tracked. If you opt to use an international email provider then it won't? What sort of incompetence is this? Yes, MR TERRORIST I know which one I will use.

...and then there is ENCRYPTION: technology available to every user on the internet. Available to encrypt data to and from internet connected devices so you have no idea what activity if any is being conducted. So, MR TERRORIST could conceivably create an encrypted 'tunnel' that connects to an endpoint outside the country, browse the web, make phone calls, send emails while all the time being outside the scope of the data retention legislation.

If that's not enough it's going to cost you and I around half a billion dollars to implement for little or no real benefit to national security. It is also going to significantly increase the operating costs of service providers, who will ultimately pass those costs onto you, the consumer, or fold as a number of providers are already doing because of compliance barriers.

Finally, there are the philosophical principles of privacy. In a world where our whole lives are on display people tend to treat this as nebulous, but privacy is a very real human need. It goes a long way to making us feel secure and safe, something every individual has a right to. People who dismiss this concern with the adage 'if you aren't doing something wrong you have no need to fear' need to reassess their idea that boundaries for human behaviour are fixed... They aren't. What is legal and acceptable now only changes because someone makes a law. It is law that shapes our social and national identity and our perception of who we are in the context of the greater international community.

In the end this story looks like legislation that is designed to surveil free citizens of Australia for little or no benefit to national security. A conspiracy theory might undertake that this is already known by the government and that national security is not the point. The alternative is even more preposterous, that the people designing the legislation have such a limited understanding of the implications and technological restrictions that they verge on incompetent. ( I personally think this is more likely) There is so much wrong with this idea we don't need any conspiracies to prove the point.

I can't stand politics and I don't know how to vote.

So a number of people in the past few weeks have expressed to me these sentiments.
"I can't stand politics" : What you really mean is you can't stand the hype, the lies, the lack of integrity, the puffery and possibly even you can't see that it is relevant to your life.
"I don't know how to vote" or ("I just draw a cock and balls on it") :). So you turn up cast a vote (based on the best looking tie or hairstyle), you cast a donkey vote (put numbers in boxes according to any random method other than what policy they represent) or do an informal vote (get your name ticked off and ... draw a cock and balls).

So why is politics important to you. Voting age or not. Politics are important because other people are making decisions about your life without asking you. They make decisions on how much money you make (and how much they take off you), whether you can get welfare, who you can marry, how much things cost, whether you can get education, training or a job, when you can drink and have sex (and who you are allowed to do that with)... they are even making laws on how you are allowed to dress and what you are allowed to say. You may not like politics but you need to be involved. If you choose not to then you give permission for others to do what they like with your life without complaint. Don't vote effectively and you permit the same thing. I find it ironic when I see a Facebook complaint about the government.. but in the next breath they admit to not voting.

"My votes doesn't count." Especially true when you don't cast one. The media and the party based governments LOVE to try to control your vote but it's the only thing they can't control fully. Don't for a second believe that when you hear phrases like "A vote for an independent is a wasted vote" or "Putting independents in parliament means ineffective government" that these sayings are not created for a specific purpose. Translated in big party speak "A vote for an independent means we don't have control over that persons opinions in parliament, an independent is likely to form their opinions by representing their constituents at a grassroots level instead of mirroring the party line." I don't know about you but I can see clearly how damaging it would be to the major parties if parliament has a high number of independents. Don't be manipulated.  A conscientious vote regardless of who you vote for ALP, LNP, Greens etc or an independent is never wasted, it is in fact your very important obligation. Individually we might all be worker bees... but imagine if each worker bee had the opinion that they didn't count. No honey for anyone.

Your vote is protected by the constitution. It cannot be taken away from you ... though some actions by political parties might seem to indicate otherwise. Political parties WANT you to vote... for THEM. They spend millions of dollars persuading you. They manipulate the media, online stories and use a lot of clever and subtle psychology to do so. The average person is unaware of just how much their opinions are being manipulated.

So bottom line: Make sure you make an informed vote!

No matter what party or candidate you vote for there is no wrong answer. This is the basis of democracy. Represent the majority opinion by the casting of an informed anonymous, uninfluenced votes. The only wrong answer is not to vote, and not to be informed.

If you got this far you are already probably tired of thinking about it. I encourage you to hang in there.

So you "don't know how to vote". Well it doesn't have to be a chore.
First find out who your local candidates are. For the upcoming Queensland State election you can go here: http://www.abc.net.au/news/qld-election-2015/guide/

Find your electorate, then your list of candidates. Get a feel for who they are, their history and the platforms they stand for. Most candidates have a webpage or facebook page that outlines what is important to them or what they consider a priority for the electorate or the State. A quick look will give you a good feel for each of the candidates. Each of the major parties also have web pages that outline their policies (whether they can be believed or not is another matter).

Of course you can read for hours... if you want to. However look how far you have come. You now know the electorate you live in, the parties that have candidates standing for election, and depending how much reading you did, you probably know what's important to them and what they promote as a priority for your area.

Here's the kicker: "How do I choose?". I am a big believer in voting with your own conscience. You need to vote for those policies that you feel are important. Whether they be important to you personally or in a broader community context. It's up to you. I once voted ALP because they had a better arts policy than LNP, that's all it took. I am here to reassure you that whatever your rationalisation, as long as it represents your thinking then that is ok. There is no right answer, this is about creating a representative government that reflects the needs and wishes of the people of which you are one, and an important one.

On voting day:
So in the upcoming State Election (31 January 2015) you will go to your local polling booth and get your name checked off on the register (you will need to be enrolled and have ID). You will then receive a ballot paper for the House of Representatives.

The House of Representatives:
This is the house of government that contains your locally elected representatives, they vote on laws, policy, how to spend state money and reforms. This affects you.
The ballot form will have the names of all the candidates in your local area listed randomly. The candidate name will also identify their affiliated party. You can vote in three ways: primary preference, partial preferential and full preferential.

• If you wish to cast a single vote for one candidate only you put a '1' against the candidate name, leave all other boxes empty. Your vote will be counted as a primary vote with no preferences.
• Alternatively, you can number "1,2 and 3" against the names of the top 3 candidates and leave all other boxes empty. 
• Finally you can also choose to put a preference against every name in order of first to last preference. 
• Voting in any other way will make you vote informal and it will not be counted.

Seems a bit confusing doesn't it? Which option to choose? Well let me encourage you to cast a a full preferential vote. It is important for you to vote for WHO you want elected, but under our preferential voting system it is also important for you to vote for who you DON'T want elected. Let me explain:

For example, if you were to vote for the Greens Candidate, but really didn't want your preferences to go to the LNP or ALP candidate then you would number your ballot paper in preference of the Green's candidate as number '1' and number all other candidates, leaving the ALP and LNP candidates last.

Alternatively if you like the LNP candidate and the Green's candidate you might number the Green's first, LNP second, and then ALP last with all other candidates being numbered in between. Don't waste the power of your preferences.

Finally, your vote is anonymous. Don't write abusive comments on it. No one who matters will ever read it. If you obscure the voting boxes your vote won't count. So as much as you want to, please resist the urge to draw a ' dick and balls' and enjoy exercising your constitutional power. Happy voting!