[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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