❓ A WA parliamentary question seeks information on whether government departments monitor third-party WiFi/Bluetooth addresses, including location, software/hardware used, costs, reasons for monitoring, data harvested, storage, retention, and user awareness/opt-out options. The response indicates MAC addresses are collected for operational monitoring but not actively monitored beyond that.
AnsweredQoN 2663Legislative Assembly
Asked
13 March 2018
Member
Portfolio
Child Protection; Women's Interests; Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence; Community Services
QuestionView source ↗
Does any department, agency and Government Trading Enterprise under the Minister's control maintain any wireless network that monitors a third-party's WiFi MAC (Media Access Control) or bluetooth address and if so: (a) Where is the wireless network located and who is being monitored; (b) What company supplies the software and/or hardware to monitor the addresses, what was the upfront and ongoing annual cost; (c) Why was the decision made to monitor the addresses; (d) What information is harvested as part of this monitoring, how is it stored and how long is it retained; and (e) Are the third-party's aware of the monitoring and do they have any way to opt-out?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
8 May 2018
Responded by
Minister for Child Protection; Women's Interests; Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence; Community Services
Response time
9 days
(a) The Department of Communities provides Wi-Fi access at a limited number of its offices for visitors: • 189 Royal Street, East Perth; • Child Protection and Family Support District offices; • 8 Bennett Street, East Perth; and • Housing offices. MAC addresses are collected when a device connects to a wireless network. While the wireless networks are monitored to ensure that they are operational, the MAC addresses connected to network are not monitored. The Department of Communities also has guest Wi-Fi provided by the Government Corporate Network (GCN) service at the following offices: • 151 Royal Street, East Perth; • 140 William Street, Perth; and • The Quarter, 24 Sharpe Ave, Karratha.
(a) The Department of Communities provides Wi-Fi access at a limited number of its offices for visitors: • 189 Royal Street, East Perth; • Child Protection and Family Support District offices; • 8 Bennett Street, East Perth; and • Housing offices. MAC addresses are collected when a device connects to a wireless network. While the wireless networks are monitored to ensure that they are operational, the MAC addresses connected to network are not monitored. The Department of Communities also has guest Wi-Fi provided by the Government Corporate Network (GCN) service at the following offices: • 151 Royal Street, East Perth; • 140 William Street, Perth; and • The Quarter, 24 Sharpe Ave, Karratha.
The GCN service is provided by the Department of Finance.
(b) - (e) Not applicable
(a) The Department of Communities provides Wi-Fi access at a limited number of its offices for visitors: • 189 Royal Street, East Perth; • Child Protection and Family Support District offices; • 8 Bennett Street, East Perth; and • Housing offices. MAC addresses are collected when a device connects to a wireless network. While the wireless networks are monitored to ensure that they are operational, the MAC addresses connected to network are not monitored. The Department of Communities also has guest Wi-Fi provided by the Government Corporate Network (GCN) service at the following offices: • 151 Royal Street, East Perth; • 140 William Street, Perth; and • The Quarter, 24 Sharpe Ave, Karratha.
The GCN service is provided by the Department of Finance.
(b) - (e) Not applicable
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