Aussie Telco Telstra Agreed To Spy For America

An anonymous reader writes "Australian telecommunications giant Telstra has for a decade been storing huge volumes of electronic communications carried between Asia and America for surveillance by U.S. intelligence agencies. This includes not just the metadata, but the actual content of emails, online messages and phone calls. With the blessing of the Australian government Telstra agreed to route data through a 'U.S. point of contact through a secure storage facility on U.S. soil that was staffed exclusively by U.S. citizens.' The contract was prompted by Telstra's decision to expand its business in Asia by taking control of hundreds of kilometers of undersea telecommunications cables. The deal started under the Liberal Party and continued under Labor. The Greens have demanded an explanation."

Comments

Re:I'm not an expert

[nickmh]

Treason? It'd be fair guess. But the greens demanding an explanation? If they were in power we'd all be living, surrounded by the sound of green jack boots, with the internet so slow it'd be rendered useless from their surveillance and censoring. That's if they cold keep the country solvent enough to be able to have the internet. Gimme a break!