Drawing upon interviews with 19 journalists and 2 media lawyers, Dr Diarmaid Harkin and Dr Monique Mann report on how whistle-blowers and sources are more reluctant to cooperate with journalists. Journalists also express “very low confidence” that they are prepared for the threats of electronic surveillance and experience a general lack of support on crucial matters of cyber-security. The implications for press freedom, democracy, and law reform will be explored. Read More
MEDIA RELEASE: Civil Society Submission to Surveillance Law Reform
The Australian Privacy Foundation, Queensland Council of Civil Liberties and Liberty Victoria have made a detailed submission to the Reform of Australia’s electronic surveillance framework discussion paper.
We recognise the importance of ensuring security of Australians’ and their freedoms. The rationale for national security law comes from the importance of ensuring that freedoms are protected. We are concerned to ensure that the ‘forest isn’t lost for the trees’ in this reform process and that the guiding and predominant principle in this reform is that our national security framework serves to protect the freedoms that ought to be enjoyed by all Australians. Read More
Regulatory arbitrage and transnational surveillance: Australia’s extraterritorial assistance to access encrypted communications
This article examines developments regarding encryption law and policy within ‘Five Eyes’ (FVEY) countries by focussing on the recently enacted Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Act 2018 (Cth) in Australia. The legislation is significant both domestically and internationally because of its extraterritorial reach, allowing the development of new ways for Australian law enforcement and security agencies to access encrypted telecommunications via transnational designated communications providers, and allowing for Australian authorities to assist foreign counterparts in both enforcing and potentially circumventing their domestic laws. We argue that Australia is the ‘weak link’ in the FVEY alliance as – unlike other FVEY members – has no comprehensive enforceable human rights protections. Given this, there is a possibility for regulatory arbitrage in exploiting these new surveillance powers to undermine encryption via Australia. Read More
How [NOT] to earn public trust for the Contact Tracing App?
“This public health crisis is too important to risk a repeat of recent personal data disasters that undermined community trust in governments’ use of IT. The last Census, council exploitation of metadata retention, ‘Robodebt’, laws undermining encryption, and compulsory registration for an empty My Health Record loom large in public memory. The way this app… Read More
MEDIA RELEASE: How to earn public trust before the Contact Tracing App
The Australian public is attracted by the idea of using technology to assist tracing contacts of people diagnosed with COVID-19. A proximity logging app is proposed.The Australian public, along with scientists and researchers around the world, are also very concerned about gifting future governments the power to impose contact tracing on the populace through the… Read More
Report on the International Implications of the Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Act 2018
The Australian Privacy Foundation (“APF”), have prepared a report in response to the Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment Act (Assistance and Access) Act 2018 (Cth) (‘AA Act’), which amends the Telecommunications Act 1997 (‘TA’). In this report, we provide an analysis of the international ramifications of the AA Act, evaluating the legal obligations that could… Read More
Submission in response to the Human Rights and Technology Issues Paper
The Australian Privacy Foundation (“APF”), along with the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties (“QCCL”) and Electronic Frontiers Australia (“EFA”) have made a submission in response to the Human Rights and Technology Issues Paper released in July 2018. The rapid development of technology in the Australia human rights context requires careful consideration as technology can be… Read More
The devil is in the detail of government bill to enable access to communications data
Monique Mann, Queensland University of Technology The Australian government has released a draft of its long awaited bill to provide law enforcement and security agencies with new powers to respond to the challenges posed by encryption. According to the Department of Home Affairs, encryption already impacts 90% of Australian Security Intelligence Organisation’s (ASIO) priority cases,… Read More
Australian Privacy Foundation provides background brief on all the privacy omnishambles to UN Special Rapporteur on Privacy
The Australian Privacy Foundation has prepared a background brief on all the privacy omnishambles at the request of the UN Special Rapporteur on Privacy Professor Joseph Cannataci. This request arose following a meeting of civil society representatives in Sydney in late July 2018, where issues of privacy in Australia were discussed. In the brief, we… Read More
APF joins a coalition of human rights groups and experts in calling on the Australian government to protect encryption
Today, the Australian Privacy Foundation joins with Electronic Frontiers Australia, Digital Rights Watch, Future Wise, and other domestic and international human rights organisations in asking the Australian government to not pursue legislation undermining encryption, and other tools, policies and technologies critical to protecting individual rights. The 76 organisations, companies, and individuals signatory to this open letter call on government officials to become proponents of digital security and work collaboratively to help law enforcement adapt to the digital era.
This letter was been initiated by global digital rights organisation Access Now. “Australia is facing a choice on cybersecurity and encryption: real security or false,” said Nathan White, Senior Legislative Manager at Access Now. “The country can either be the testing ground for policies that undermine privacy and security in the digital era, or it can be a champion for human rights, leveraging its relationships to raise cybersecurity standards for the next generation. The world is watching.” Read More