Surveillance & the Right to Privacy within Australia Words by Isabelle Lange For many of us, the value of privacy can be construed as a fundamental right. It is something meant to be preserved and protected so as to ensure its longevity. Yet increasingly our right to privacy is being overwhelmed as the rise of surveillance methods is exposed. With the advent of the global ‘online’ phenomenon, Australians are challenged with combatting this strong presence.
of an exception to the prohibition based on judgements of terrorism and extreme violence - grounds which although of importance, were never originally intended as concrete concessions. Perhaps as a direct result of this, the increasing calls from the left by those such as the WikiLeaks Party and Greens’ senator Scott Ludlum for greater government transparency has resulted in a senate committee inquiry into surveillance being granted. This investigation is currently seeking to enlist the testimony of notorious ‘haktivist’ (online activist) and WikiLeaks Party founder Julian Assange; best known for his leaking of sensitive Australian federal government information regarding the phone tapping of the Indonesian Prime Minister and his fellows. Although this act itself is evidence enough to be dubious as to the trustworthiness of whatever Assange’s claims may be.
Despite the desire for online anonymity and privacy, the internet is one of the most attractive mediums for surveillance. The seemingly endless supply of data from a vast amount of people provides organisations and individuals with a new method for gathering information – dubbed e-surveillance. It is this large data supply which fuels the current controversy surrounding the power of intelligence organisations to affect the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979; An Act dedicated to protecting the rights of individuals by prohibiting access to their stored communications (sms, email, voice mail).
Whether or not the inquiry proves to be of any real use in the sense of policy reform may be considered of the least importance – especially considering the Liberal and Labor parties’ reluctance to alter our current protection laws. Perhaps most importantly, the ability to not only be able to put forth a proposal of this level of scrutiny to government but also maintain open communication channels with the public (in regards to privacy) signifies an interesting deviation from the mandate of secrecy usually penetrating surveillance discourse.
Recent amendments made in 2006 and again in 2007 allow warrantless e-surveillance of Australians through access to telecommunications data, an expansive power considering there were nearly 300,000 requests in 2012. This stunning information has arisen amid fears not only of widespread abuse by our federal intelligence organisations to undermine individual autonomy, but also the creation
Comic by Krause Komics
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