Australians are being urged to petition against the Abbott government's plan to force telcos to store internet and phone logs of all Australians for up to two years for warrantless access by law-enforcement and spy agencies.

A campaign dubbed "Citizens, not suspects" was launched by digital rights group Electronic Frontiers Australia and political activist group GetUp! on Tuesday calling on the federal government to drop its mandatory data retention regime, due to be introduced via a bill into Parliament later this year.

Critics of the mandatory data retention proposal say consumers will end up paying for it. Credit:Illustration: Mayu Kanamori

The scheme would require all telcos to store an undefined amount of telecommunications data, or “metadata”, about their customers for a period of two years, regardless of whether the company needs it for business or billing purposes.

Exactly what data would be included is yet to be clarified, although web browsing histories have been ruled out even though the Attorney-General George Brandis and Prime Minister Tony Abbott ruled them in last week.