When can law enforcement access your private data? Both Federal and NSW law enforcement have extensive powers to access data, search premises and seize computers as part of a criminal investigation, if they obtain a search warrant.
Data retention laws: Ambiguity allows police to view full web browsing history.
This means certain government agencies, such as the Australian Federal Police, Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, can access metadata – without a warrant.
The Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 requires telecommunications companies to retain a particular set of telecommunications data for at least 2 years. These obligations ensure Australia's law enforcement and security agencies are lawfully able to access data, subject to strict controls.
Law enforcement agencies are being provided with the web browsing histories of people under investigation using mandatory data retention powers, despite the federal government specifically excluding that practice in the legislation, the commonwealth ombudsman has warned.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has the power to enforce content restrictions on Internet content hosted within Australia, and maintain a blocklist of overseas websites which is then provided for use in filtering software.
Can the police browse through your phone? Under section 30 of the LEPRA a police officer in conducting a search can examine anything in the possession of a person, including a phone.
No. Wi-Fi bills only show the devices that accessed the internet and how much data they used, not the websites that were visited.
Emails, Internet Histories & Other Virtual Assets
Although security clearance background checks can be intensely thorough, the government can't view your emails, Internet browsing history, hard drive data, and other virtual assets without a subpoena or warrant.
This includes your browsing history, the videos you watch, and the websites you visit – even in private browsing mode. In most countries, ISPs can track and store this information for up to two years.
Is Incognito/Private Mode Really Private? Incognito or private mode will keep your local browsing private, but it won't stop your ISP, school, or employer from seeing where you've been online. In fact, your ISP has access to all your browsing activity pretty much no matter what you do.
Deleting and disabling your history does NOT make you invisible to Google. If you delete and disable your search history, you are not invisible to Google—especially if you maintain an account for using various Google apps and services, such as Gmail and YouTube.
When you browse privately, other people who use the device won't see your history. Chrome doesn't save your browsing history or information entered in forms. Cookies and site data are remembered while you're browsing, but deleted when you exit Incognito mode.
Can incognito mode be tracked? Incognito mode doesn't stop web tracking. Your ISP, your employer, the websites you visit, search engines, the government, and other third-party snoopers can still track your browsing even if you use incognito mode.
Recover deleted internet history through System Restore
The easiest method is to do a system restore. If the internet history was deleted recently, then system restore will recover it.
Under the scheme, all telcos will be required to collect and store a significant amount of customer metadata for two years and make it available upon lawful request to certain law enforcement and national security agencies.
A police check will display all disclosable court outcomes. All criminal charges will be displayed, including suspended sentences, any findings of guilt, pending court charges, convictions that led to served sentences, and all other criminal convictions that are not classified as 'spent convictions'.
The Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act) is the principal piece of Australian legislation protecting the handling of personal information about individuals. This includes the collection, use, storage and disclosure of personal information in the federal public sector and in the private sector.
These include checks that investigate an individual's criminal history, citizenship status, qualifications, references, previous employment, professional memberships, security clearance, working with children, and more.
It has proposed telcos retain customers' metadata for up to two years for investigation. Telstra says it has divulged customers' web browsing histories without a warrant.
Check your router and its manual to see how long the default setting is for storing system logs or IP addresses. It can range from hours to weeks or even months, depending on how frequently you use it.
Almost every Wi-Fi router keeps logs of the websites the connected devices are visiting. Only the Wi-Fi owner has the permission to check out the logs of the Wi-Fi router to understand which connected user visited which websites. Therefore, when you are connected to someone's Wi-Fi, he can see your browsing history.
Law enforcement may also tap your phone using “tap and traces” or “pen registers,” which don't require a wiretap order. These methods don't record actual conversations, only the phone numbers associated with the line. Tap and traces record the phone numbers calling a specific phone line.
Thanks to the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act (TIA Act), law enforcement and other agencies can access stored communications with a warrant. This can include "email, SMS or voice messages stored on a carrier's network". In other words, the contents of any communication not encoded via encryption.
Do police need a warrant to search my phone? Unless you give voluntary consent, police will need to obtain a search warrant in order to go through the contents of your phone.