[LINK] Inquiry to examine Australian internet, phone surveillance

[Roger Clarke]

At 4:10 +0000 13/12/13, stephen at melbpc.org.au wrote:
>Sigh ..
>"Warrantless Aussie surveillance requests were nearly 300,000 last year"
>For 20 million of us that's *one person in every 66 spied on* and without
>a warrant. One in 66 equals six Linkers. What a bunch of privacy perverts.

'Internet surveillance' may involve a single individual (person 
fetches content from a source not under suspicion) or two people. 
'Telephone surveillance' involves two.

Let's average it out and say that there are 1.5 individuals per linkage.

(And let's assume a 'surveillance request' involves a single target. 
Although my memory is that circumstances exist in which n > 1).

So, conservatively, we're up to 9 linkers.

I think that's far too few, given the stirrers that float around this space!

____________________________________________________________________________

>Inquiry to Examine Australian Internet, Phone Surveillance
>
>By Ben Grubb December 13, 2013
><http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/government-it/inquiry-to-examine-australian-
>internet-phone-surveillance-20131212-hv5j8.html>
>
>
>A Senate committee will examine internet and telephone surveillance by law
>enforcement and security agencies after Labor backed a Greens motion for an
>inquiry on Thursday.
>
>The motion was passed after several recent unsuccessful attempts to launch
>similar inquiries.
>
>It was not supported by the government.
>
>Greens communications spokesman Scott Ludlam said the inquiry would break
>"the complicity of silence about surveillance in Australia".
>
>It would also open up an opportunity for Australian experts, agencies and
>individuals to participate in "a conversation of what surveillance is
>necessary and proportionate".
>
>The committee will be charged with a comprehensive review of the
>Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 in reference to
>recommendations of a 2008 report conducted by the Australian Law Reform
>Commission titled "For Your Information: Australian Privacy Law and
>Practice". Ref: <http://www.alrc.gov.au/publications/report-108>
>
>It will also examine recommendations from a report tabled earlier this year
>by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security. That
>inquiry was tasked with examining more than 40 potential reforms of
>Australia's national security legislation.
>
>Ref<http://www.aph.gov.au/parliamentary_business/committees/house_of_repres
>entatives_committees?url=pjcis/nsl2012/report.htm>
>
>"A review of the deeply flawed Telecommunications (Interception and Access)
>Act is well overdue," Senator Ludlam said.
>
>"Amended no less than 45 times since the events of 11 September 2001, it is
>the tool used to bug and snoop on Australians."
>
>Senator Ludlam noted that since 2007, warrantless surveillance of
>Australians through access to telecommunications data has been possible,
>with requests of nearly 300,000 in the past financial year.
>
>Ref: <http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/access-to-private-
>net-phone-use-up-by-20--without-warrants-20121130-2amwp.html>
>
>"Since the revelations of Edward Snowden, the Senate has repeatedly voted
>to avoid knowing what is going on until today, failing in its primary duty
>as a parliament."
>
>Cheers,
>Stephen
>
>Message sent using MelbPC WebMail Server
>
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Link mailing list
>Link at mailman.anu.edu.au
>http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link

-- 
Roger Clarke                                 http://www.rogerclarke.com/

Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
Tel: +61 2 6288 6916                        http://about.me/roger.clarke
mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au                http://www.xamax.com.au/

Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law            University of N.S.W.
Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University