NSW Council for Civil Liberties spokesman Stephen Blanks said that there was "probably more than 100 agencies that have law enforcement powers" to request access to Opal records, including local councils and even animal protection agencies. Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione has defended access to Opal card data by police. Credit:Jonathan Carroll Transport for NSW said it would take requests from state, territory and federal police, the NSW Crime Commission, Australian Crime Commission, the Office of the Sheriff of NSW and other state and federal agencies. However, the NSW Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act potentially allows the list to grow even further if other entities applied to become law enforcement agencies under the act. To date, no law enforcement agency has asked for data from the operation of the Opal card, which is still being rolled out.

Commissioner Scipione said accessing Opal records without a warrant for legitimate and lawful purposes was acceptable if a crime was prevented or a criminal caught, adding that police used many other databases for their work. "I make no apologies for actually saying we would access lawfully anything that we could get that would assist my force and this organisation from either stopping a crime from happening, catching somebody that's committed a crime or looking at adding to the safety and security of a community," he said. “For the NSW Police force to go to the point where we seek information in regards to travel movements we would only do it if it was for a legitimate, law enforcement purpose, no other reason." Whether police would access records of potential witnesses to crime, like in Queensland, where more than 10,000 data requests have been made, remained unanswered. On Tuesday morning, NSW Greens MP and justice spokesman David Shoebridge lodged a formal complaint with the NSW Information and Privacy Commissioner over the sharing of Opal card information.

He said urgent intervention was required "to prevent people across NSW being forced to choose between travelling on public transport and preserving their privacy". Despite "anonymous" Opal cards becoming available in coming months as some paper tickets are phased out, Mr Shoebridge said the cards would not really be anonymous as the Opal privacy policy states law enforcement could use other methods, such as surveillance cameras, to match up unregistered cards to identities. "The Opal card sign-up process requires the giving of what is called a 'bundled consent', which commits users of the card to the broad disclosure of their information under the Opal privacy policy," Mr Shoebridge said. “Given the Opal card is increasingly the only practical public transport ticketing option, and there is no ability to opt-out of this privacy requirement, this consent can’t be seen as voluntary.” Mr Shoebridge said making Opal information available without a warrant was “an unacceptable infringement of the privacy of members of the community”. Because of this, he said he was hoping the Opal policy would be amended to allow people to opt out of having their information shared.

Commissioner Scipione said he could understand people’s concerns about privacy but said it was important to look at the context of why the records would be accessed in the first place. NSW Privacy Commissioner Dr Elizabeth Coomb said Mr Shoebridge's complaint would be assessed impartially and independently like any other complaint. She added that NSW police and Transport for NSW were in discussion "about the governance arrangements that will be established" for access to users' Opal data. Transport for NSW also defended sharing of data on Tuesday, releasing a statement saying that it had "a responsibility" to share data with authorities in some situations. Information would only be disclosed "under certain strict rules", a Transport for NSW spokesperson said.

"This is consistent with other electronic ticketing systems." NSW Police Association President Scott Weber said he didn’t see what the fuss was all about. “Probably the best way to chase someone up these days is through social media,” Mr Weber said. “I think you can get more information off Google or Facebook than you’ll get off the Opal passes.” Access to public transport smartcards in other states: