ICAC labels telco metadata warrants 'unnecessary'

The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) is backing its Victorian counterpart in opposing a Greens plan to require warrants to access telecommunications metadata.

Solicitor to the Commission, Roy Waldon, said in a brief submission (pdf) to a Senate Committee examining the plan that the 'Get a Warrant' bill was "unnecessary".

Waldon also said the bill, if enacted, "would impose significant and unnecessary burdens on the Commission's ability to effectively and efficiently conduct its investigations".

The ICAC's submission comes after Victoria's Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) raised concerns that valuable telecommunications metadata might be deleted by telcos before investigators received a warrant to access it.

Submissions to the Senate inquiry close at the end of today.

So far, it has received only three submissions— two against the plan, and one that did not provide a view.

The bill is a response by the Greens to the increasing amount of telecommunications metadata being accessed by law enforcement agencies.