Creeping Government Surveillance Now Without Warrants

CuteSteveJobs writes "The Age reports on creeping Australian government surveillance, beginning with the first operation launched on a baseless rumor. Six decades later the still-unaware victim read five months of transcripts with deep distress. Two decades ago few Australians would have consented to carrying a government-accessible tracking device, but phone and tablet data accessible without a warrant includes historic and real-time location data. In 2010-2011 there were 250,000 warrantless accesses by Federal agencies including ASIO, AFP, the Tax Office, Defence, Immigration, Citizenship, Health, Ageing, and Medicare. This is 18 times the rate of similar requests in the U.S."

Comments

I'm guessing the US hides the request better.

[pecosdave]

I seriously doubt we're actually being snooped on any less. When the watching is constant by certain agencies it no longer shows up as a separate look.

Re:I'm guessing the US hides the request better.

[Anarchduke]

Yeah, no kidding. Vegemite is inexcusable.

One network

[ugen]

Conveniently, they are building out a single universal high speed network - so surveillance would be a lot easier. No more pesky multiple providers to monitor, multiple data centers to maintain, disparate protocols to support.
Sounds like Woz found a perfect place to move to. (Of course he could not just move to a house with broadband in US, that would..what, make sense? :) )

Decline of a civilization

[oldhack]

This is how the West is receding from the forefront of the human history and affairs of the world, through internal rot.

Well, I suppose we had a good run.