Telco Interception Bill To Be Debated

The Government is planning to make progress on more controversial spying legislation when Parliament resumes this afternoon

After Question Time, MPs are scheduled to debate the second reading of Telecommunications (Interception Capability and Security) Bill

This Government says the bill seeks to repeal and replace the Telecommunications (Interception Capability) Act 2004 in order to ensure that interception obligations applying to the telecommunications industry are clear, do not impose unnecessary compliance costs, and are sufficiently flexible to respond to current and future operational needs and technological developments.

The bill is opposed by Labour and the Greens who say it oversteps the mark and is an intrusion of privacy beyond what is needed to protect national security.

A number of minor changes were made in select committee, but these did not satisfy a number of those opposed to many provisions in the bill.

Local telecommunication and internet companies have issues with the requirements on them to comply with Government instructions on network requirements.

Internet giants such as Facebook, Google, Microsoft and others also say the bill is onerous and out of step with similar legislation in other jurisdictions.

The responsible minister Amy Adams is introducing further amendments in the committee stage.

This will be followed by the third readings of the Maritime Transport Amendment Bill, split into two bills, Copyright (Parallel Importing of Films) Amendment Bill and the Local Government (Auckland Council) Amendment Bill (No 2).

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