Peter McGauran (Gippsland, National Party, Deputy Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

The Telecommunications Amendment (Integrated Public Number Database) Bill 2006 amends the Telecommunications Act 1997 to provide for information contained in the integrated public number database (IPND) to be used to assist in conducting research that is considered to be in the public interest, while at the same time providing additional safeguards to ensure that IPND information is only disclosed and used for purposes specified in part 13 of the Telecommunications Act.

The IPND is an industry-wide database of all residential and business phone numbers, both listed and unlisted and associated customer information, including name and address information. It was established, and is maintained, by Telstra as a condition of its carrier licence. Carriage service providers are required to provide Telstra with customer information for inclusion in the IPND and do so on a daily basis.

In recent years the government has become aware of reports of customer information contained in the IPND being used for inappropriate purposes such as the compilation of marketing databases and debt collection. Concerns about the inappropriate use of the IPND were first raised in the former Australian Communications Authority discussion paper Who’s got your number: regulating the use of telecommunications customer information. This paper received over 50 submissions on issues relating to access to the IPND.

Use of IPND information for these purposes is currently not authorised by the Telecommunications Act and raises privacy concerns, as consumers of telecommunications services are unlikely to be aware of, or to have consented to, the use of their personal information for purposes beyond the existing public interest uses currently permitted by the Telecommunications Act such as emergency services and law enforcement.

At the same time, a number of research organisations have also expressed an interest in accessing information contained in the IPND to conduct research.

The bill before the House is intended to strengthen the privacy protections for telephone subscribers in relation to use of their personal information in connection with the publication and maintenance of public number directories while permitting disclosure and use of IPND information for some limited public interest research purposes that have been specified by the minister.

Outline of the bill

The bill defines the term ‘public number directory’. The definition exhaustively specifies what information a public number directory can contain and gives the minister the ability, through a legislative instrument, to specify additional requirements to be met in order for a record to be a public number directory. For example, the minister might specify additional requirements relating to the format in which public number directories are prepared.

Introducing a definition of public number directory into the Telecommunications Act is intended to prevent IPND information from being directly used for inappropriate purposes such as marketing, data cleansing and appending, debt collection and credit checking. The intention is to limit the use of IPND information to the production of genuine telephone directories similar to the white and yellow pages, whether these are in electronic or hardcopy form.

The definition would allow use of IPND information to produce residential and business directories while protecting the privacy of individuals by permitting only their name, public number and, optionally, address to be included in a directory.

Such additional contact information as specified by the minister in a legislative instrument could be included in a public number directory if it is in relation to persons or bodies carrying on a business, government organisations, charities, religious or educational institutions and any other category of persons or bodies specified by the minister. Such additional information could include website addresses, email addresses, maps and advertisements.

The bill also permits access to IPND information for the first time to assist with the conduct of some specified research purposes that the minister considers to be in the public interest. These research purposes will be specified by the minister in a legislative instrument.

The legislative instrument will list specific types of research that the minister considers to be in the public interest, for example, health and medical research.

By permitting access to IPND information for some limited research purposes, the bill recognises the value of the IPND as an accurate and up-to-date source of information that may assist researchers in producing quality research that will be of benefit to the public.

As is currently the case, public number directory producers and the new research users will not be permitted to use unlisted customer information, including silent number information, to produce their public number directories or conduct their research.

Also, use of IPND information for commercial purposes will continue to be limited. At present, only carriage service providers and public number directory producers have access to the IPND to provide commercial products and services, and then only in limited circumstances. This will continue to be the case.

The bill gives ACMA a gatekeeper role in deciding applications for access to IPND information by public number directory producers and researchers. Under the existing arrangements Telstra, as the IPND manager, is responsible for deciding applications for access to the IPND for all users. Giving the key authorisation role to ACMA will enable greater scrutiny of persons seeking access to the IPND for these purposes and the way in which IPND information is used. Scrutiny by ACMA is intended as an additional safeguard for preventing misuse of IPND information by both public number directory producers and the new research users.

Giving ACMA the key role in authorising access to the IPND is also intended to remove the existing potential conflict of interest whereby Telstra is responsible for authorising access to the IPND for persons seeking to produce public number directories that compete with Telstra’s white pages and yellow pages directories.

The bill will require ACMA, by legislative instrument, to establish a scheme for the granting of authorisations permitting persons to use and disclose IPND information. The bill requires that ACMA consult with the Privacy Commissioner and the Secretary of the Attorney-General’s Department on development of the scheme. ACMA will be limited in its discretion by the framework for the scheme as set out in the bill. ACMA will also be required to have regard to criteria specified by the minister when considering an application for access.

Persons seeking access to IPND information to produce public number directories or to conduct specified research will be required to apply to ACMA for an authorisation. Telstra will not be able to disclose IPND information for such purposes unless the user holds the appropriate authorisation from ACMA.

ACMA will be able to grant authorisations subject to conditions. The minister will also be able, by legislative instrument, to specify conditions of authorisation. The minister intends to specify a condition restricting the transfer of IPND information outside of Australia and a condition requiring the destruction or secure disposal of IPND information once an authorisation ceases. The Privacy Commissioner and the Attorney-General will be consulted during the development of the legislative instrument regarding other privacy related conditions that may be appropriate.

When considering authorisation decisions, ACMA may consult with persons it considers appropriate, including relevant experts in the area of the research for which an authorisation is being sought and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.

Key ACMA decisions will be reviewable by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. These decisions include decisions to refuse or grant an authorisation, impose conditions on the grant of an authorisation and vary or revoke an authorisation. The minister will be able to specify in a legislative instrument additional reviewable decisions.

ACMA will be required to report annually to the minister on compliance with authorisations and on any other matter related to the operation of the scheme that ACMA considers appropriate. This report will be tabled in parliament.

The bill empowers ACMA to undertake administrative decision making in relation to the scheme and enables it to vary or revoke authorisations in the event of a user breaching an authorisation requirement. The bill also provides ACMA with a range of options to enforce compliance with conditions applying to authorisations, including the ability to issue remedial directions or formal warnings where ACMA is satisfied that a person has contravened or is contravening a condition of an authorisation.

The bill also includes new criminal offences and penalties where a person breaches a condition of an authorisation or discloses or uses IPND information other than for the authorised purpose, whether that be for the production of a public number directory or the conduct of specified research, and for disclosing and using data if an authorisation is no longer in force.

Persons who currently have access to IPND information to produce public number directories will need to apply to ACMA for an authorisation to receive IPND information. The authorisation could only be granted where the use for which IPND information is proposed would meet the new definition of public number directory. To the extent that existing users’ products meet the new definition, they will be permitted to continue using the IPND to produce these products. Assessment of products against the definition will be on a case-by-case basis.

The bill contains transitional arrangements to assist current users to manage the process of achieving compliance with the new definition and applying to ACMA for an authorisation to access the IPND. The transitional arrangements require persons currently using IPND information to make arrangements to apply for an authorisation within 28 days of the commencement of the transitional provision. Existing users will be deemed to hold an authorisation during the 28-day period and, provided that an application is made to ACMA within that period, until such time as ACMA decides their application for authorisation.

The bill sets out a comprehensive approach to balancing the privacy needs of Australian telecommunications subscribers, in relation to the use of their personal information to produce commercial directory products, with the needs of the research community to conduct social research of benefit to the public.

I commend the bill to the House.

Debate (on motion by Mr Garrett) adjourned.