back to article Your metadata and the cost of collecting it belong on your phone and internet bill

When Australia's federal government legislated a carbon tax, some electricity companies tweaked their bills so that customers could see it as a line item. The motivation was purely political: companies that did so were owned by States of Australia whose governments were of a different political hue to the Federal government of …

  1. petur

    what about a line that says

    "Last month your metadata was viewed by police n times, including your location and who you called. Have a nice day"

    1. Number6

      Re: what about a line that says

      They might need an extra line occasionally:

      "Last month your metadata was also viewed by three hackers who successfully gained access to the server"

      Even if it's harmless, it highlights the danger of collecting information without proper care.

    2. Thorne

      Re: what about a line that says

      That would be releasing police operations matters and would land you in jail quick smart cause nobody likes a dobber.

  2. PushF12
    Thumb Up

    A Good Thing, despite the politics

    "The tactic certainly helped to make the tax a stinker and therefore contributed to the last Federal government's electoral demise."

    Transparency is always a good thing and should happen more often because it keeps people aware and interested. It reminds people that they are being used like, well, taxpayers.

    In some American jurisdictions, things like "garbage pickup", "public library services", and "road painting" appear as line items on municipal tax statements. An electric bill might have ten such things showing where the money goes.

    1. LaeMing

      Re: A Good Thing, despite the politics

      My last Aus tax notice did contain a paper with an annotated pie chart depicting the gross areas+portions in which the income tax money gets spent.

  3. Nicholas Roberts

    Y U mad Bro?

    "So if the telcos are really mad about their new role, they'll have to do the job themselves."

    But they aren't mad about it. It's just another regulation to them. If you watch the parliamentary hearings or read the Hansard, they went out of their way to be neutral when asked questions about the schemes impacts. They had no commentary about the validity of the changes to the regulations at all.

    Most likely a line item on a bill would cost them more again to implement, and hence the change wouldn't see the light of day.

    1. Charles Osborne

      Up here in 'Murica...

      the telcos were given blanket immunity from lawsuits. I believe they will be polite to their benefactors.

  4. Awil Onmearse

    Works both ways

    Environmental externalities: Dumping toxic waste in river rebate: - $2.55

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