http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/7742044/Aust-govt-body-seeks-power-to-read-emails
Aust govt body seeks power to read emails
The Australian Securities and Investment Commission has called for sweeping powers so it can access phone call and internet data for its war on white-collar crime.
Not only does the authority want the powers to intercept the times, dates and details of telecommunications information; it also wants to access the contents of emails, social media chats and text messages.
This is more power than the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation have sought to assist the crime agencies in investigating terrorism and murder suspects.
A parliamentary inquiry has been set up to examine controversial proposals to force telecommunication companies to store details about every Australian's phone and internet use for up to two years.
With access to the website URL a person had visited, she said, it was possible to in some cases access their login details and passwords, and information about where people had been on the web, for how long, and the contents of the web page visited.