[LINK] New Spy laws track mobile phones
Kim Holburn
kim at holburn.net
Mon Sep 17 06:27:15 AEST 2007
<http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/spy-powers-keep-tabs-on-your-
mobile/2007/09/16/1189881342905.html>
> Spy laws track mobile phones
>
> Tom Allard National Security Editor
> September 17, 2007
>
> SECURITY agencies would be able to secretly track people via their
> mobile phones and monitor their internet browsing for up to three
> months without obtaining a warrant under new laws due to go before
> the Senate this week.
>
> The powers could be used in a range of even relatively minor
> criminal investigations, not just terrorism cases.
>
> They would allow ASIO and federal and state police forces to demand
> that phone companies and internet service providers stream
> information to them in "near real-time" - just a few minutes after
> calls are made or websites visited. The information would have to
> be provided for up to 90 days for ASIO investigations, and 45 days
> if state or federal police are involved.
>
> Justified as a counter-terrorism measure, the legislation has
> already been passed by government and Labor members of the lower
> house. But it remains deeply unpopular with legal experts and
> privacy advocates.
>
> As well as not requiring a warrant signed by a judicial officer,
> the powers could be used in any criminal investigation into a
> suspected offence that carries a jail term of three years or more.
>
> The regime applies to all "telecommunications data", including the
> time and destination of phone calls made and received, the duration
> of the calls and the location of the callers.
>
> For computers, security agencies would be told what website
> addresses and chat rooms the user has visited and what files have
> been downloaded. The laws would also enable authorities to track
> internet conversations.
>
> Security agencies would still need a judicial warrant to listen in
> on phone calls, or peruse emails.
>
> The Greens senator Kerry Nettle said the powers would allow
> authorities to glean huge amounts of information. Every mobile
> phone could potentially become a tracking device for police and ASIO.
>
> The bill "is more like something from East Germany than a party
> claiming to support liberal principles", she said. "There is no
> judicial oversight. Police and ASIO should have to get a warrant to
> track and tap people's mobile phones or web browsing."
>
> The Attorney-General, Philip Ruddock, was unavailable for comment
> yesterday. He has previously said the laws do not constitute new
> powers for security agencies, but a "more systematic and
> appropriate controls over the existing access framework".
>
> But the legislation's own explanatory memorandum says the regime
> for "prospective" telecommunications data - the streaming of near
> real-time information for up to 90 days - is new.
>
> The Law Council of Australia argues that technological advances
> mean the powers pose new dangers to privacy. Tracking someone with
> a mobile phone was far easier than secretly affixing a listening
> device without breaking and entering, it said. Therefore the
> proposed powers were "far more amenable to misuse or over-use by
> law enforcement agencies".
A terrorist is someone who has a bomb but can’t afford an air force.
~ William Blum
--
Kim Holburn
IT Network & Security Consultant
Ph: +39 06 855 4294 M: +39 3494957443
mailto:kim at holburn.net aim://kimholburn
skype://kholburn - PGP Public Key on request
Democracy imposed from without is the severest form of tyranny.
-- Lloyd Biggle, Jr. Analog, Apr 1961
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