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Australian
surveillance ‘out of control’: 20% increase in 1 year
The data includes
phone and internet account information, the details of out and
inbound calls, telephone and internet access location data, as well
as everything related to the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses
visited, the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) reports.
Australian media report that every government agency and organization use the gathered telecommunications data, and those include the Australian Crime Commission, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, the Australian Tax Office, Medicare and Australia Post.
New South Wales (NSW) Police became the biggest users of the private data, with 103,824 access authorizations during the last year – a third of all information accessed by the security forces.
The news triggered massive public outrage, with Australian Greens Senator Scott Ludlam telling SMH, ‘‘This is the personal data of hundreds of thousands, indeed millions of Australians, and it seems that just about anyone in government can get it.”
He said the move demonstrated the current data access regime was “out of control” and amounted to the framework for a “surveillance state”.
The reports come as the federal government proposes even wider surveillance powers, including a minimum two-year standard for telephone and web providers – a measure causing public controversy.
The president for the local NSW Council for Civil Liberties, Cameron Murphy, told the Australian Financial Review that, according to the statistics, recent proposals to step up police surveillance powers and keep internet and phone data for two years or more was little more than a “fishing expedition”.
“It’s stunning and completely outrageous that so much interception is going on,” Murphy said. “What seems to be happening now is this is being done as a matter of first course and not as a matter of last resort.”
The statistics gathered by the council demonstrate that Australians are 26 times more likely to be placed under surveillance than in comparable countries.
However, a spokesperson for Attorney-General Nicola Roxon indicated that “these new statistics show telephone interception and surveillance powers are playing an even greater role for police so they can successfully pursue kidnappers, murderers and organized criminals.”
Ludlam, on the other hand, detailed what the expansion should be accompanied by.
“It’s incumbent on the parliament’s national security inquiry to recommend some form of warrant authorization be introduced, and that there be a review and reduction of the government agencies that can access the personal communications data of millions of Australians,” he said.
Access
to private data has increased by 20 per cent by Australia’s law
enforcement and government agencies – and with no warrant.
Australians are 26 times more prone to be placed under surveillance
than people in other countries, local media report.
RT,
3
December, 2012
In
such a way, state structures accessed private information over
300,000 times last year – or 5,800 times every week, figures from
the federal Attorney General’s Department showcase.
Australian media report that every government agency and organization use the gathered telecommunications data, and those include the Australian Crime Commission, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, the Australian Tax Office, Medicare and Australia Post.
New South Wales (NSW) Police became the biggest users of the private data, with 103,824 access authorizations during the last year – a third of all information accessed by the security forces.
The news triggered massive public outrage, with Australian Greens Senator Scott Ludlam telling SMH, ‘‘This is the personal data of hundreds of thousands, indeed millions of Australians, and it seems that just about anyone in government can get it.”
He said the move demonstrated the current data access regime was “out of control” and amounted to the framework for a “surveillance state”.
The reports come as the federal government proposes even wider surveillance powers, including a minimum two-year standard for telephone and web providers – a measure causing public controversy.
The president for the local NSW Council for Civil Liberties, Cameron Murphy, told the Australian Financial Review that, according to the statistics, recent proposals to step up police surveillance powers and keep internet and phone data for two years or more was little more than a “fishing expedition”.
“It’s stunning and completely outrageous that so much interception is going on,” Murphy said. “What seems to be happening now is this is being done as a matter of first course and not as a matter of last resort.”
The statistics gathered by the council demonstrate that Australians are 26 times more likely to be placed under surveillance than in comparable countries.
However, a spokesperson for Attorney-General Nicola Roxon indicated that “these new statistics show telephone interception and surveillance powers are playing an even greater role for police so they can successfully pursue kidnappers, murderers and organized criminals.”
Ludlam, on the other hand, detailed what the expansion should be accompanied by.
“It’s incumbent on the parliament’s national security inquiry to recommend some form of warrant authorization be introduced, and that there be a review and reduction of the government agencies that can access the personal communications data of millions of Australians,” he said.
Australian
governments step up snooping on citizens' internet usage, says Google
AUSTRALIAN
governments have increased their surveillance of citizens' internet
usage over the past six months, according to new figures released by
Google
3
December, 2012
In
the first six months of 2012, governments and their agencies made 523
requests to access Google users' data, including information
contained in Gmail and YouTube accounts.
That
was the ninth highest number of requests in the world over the same
period, with the US recording the most (7969), India second with 2319
requests and Brazil third with 1566.
The
figures, contained in Google's latest Transparency
Report, show
a steady rise in the number of requests for access from Australian
governments since it first began publishing the data in July 2009.
Most
of the requests in 2012 were from law enforcement agencies for use in
criminal investigations, Google said.
Source:
Google
The
company complied with 64 per cent of the requests, a one per cent
fall in compliance from the previous six months.
"The
number of requests that we receive for user account information as
part of criminal investigations has increased year on year,'' Google
said in a blog posting.
"The
increase isn't surprising, since each year we offer more products and
services, and we have a larger number of users.''
Globally,
there were 20,938 requests from governments to hand over data - a big
rise on the 12,539 requests recorded in July 2009.
Australian
governments also made 92 requests to remove items from Google
websites, including YouTube and search engine results.
Most
of the requests were made for ""privacy and security''
reasons, or over defamation and copyright issues.
A
small number were removed for reasons of "government
criticism''.
Google
highlighted one instance where a state government, which it did not
name, asked to remove a YouTube video of "statements made
against police officers''.
Federal
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has been asked to comment.
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