Australians could have their private phone and email records used against them in civil litigation cases, with the federal government considering relaxing data retention laws.

Critics say it would pave the way for phone and email records to be mined for material to be used in legal action following marriage breakdowns and business disputes.

Many experts have warned that personal phone data could be mined for civil lawsuits. Credit:SeongJoon Cho

The Communications and Attorney-General's departments quietly announced they were conducting a review of national data retention laws five days before Christmas.

As part of the review, the departments are seeking feedback on whether there are particular kinds of civil proceedings, or other circumstances, in which prohibitions on metadata being released could be relaxed.