The Australian Federal Police have admitted for the first time they requested to access a journalist’s metadata, according to a report in The Guardian.
The report states the police were attempting to track down the confidential sources of the publication’s journalist Paul Farrell.
The request for Farrell’s metadata was revealed when the AFP admitted to the privacy commissioner it had requested “subscriber checks” — access to telecommunications account details — and email records, according the The Guardian.
Farrell had put in a request for his police files, as every Australian has the right to do, and received his file in February. The 200-page documents he received showed the Australian Federal Police had launched an investigation into one of his stories. Read more…
