APF Vice Chair / Co-Chair of Surveillance Committee Dr Adam Molnar, and Co-Chair Surveillance Committee Dr Monique Mann recently gave evidence at the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Law Enforcement Inquiry on the impact of new and emerging information and communications technology. They emphasized the importance of not undermining or weakening encryption, and you can sign… Read More
APF response to statement from QLD Police Minister
In response to QLD Police Minister’s media release made to the ABC on 15/03/18 and yet to be made available on line, the APF would like to respond: The APF are disappointed that the QLD Police Minister chose not to respond to Dr Mann’s comments in person and take up the substance of the issues… Read More
MEDIA RELEASE: Who is photographing your kids?
Do you want your kids to be stopped, questioned and photographed by the police? Do you know what happens to such photos? Can you be sure that such photos will be safeguarded? And if your kids can be stopped, questioned and photographed at whim like this, can the same be done to you as well… Read More
MEDIA RELEASE: Big Brother Arrives By Public Transport
Are you going to kiss goodbye to your privacy every time you use a bus, train, or City Cat in Brisbane?
The Australian Privacy Foundation, the nation’s civil society organisation concerned with privacy, today strongly condemned proposals for biometric scanning of people using public transport in Brisbane.
Foundation spokesperson Dr Monique Mann said “comprehensive scanning will not work. It is not necessary. It is contrary to the right to privacy expected by all Australians”. Read More
Upcoming Event in Brisbane – Attacks on Encryption: Privacy, Civil Society and the Surveillance State
Join the Australian Privacy Foundation, Digital Rights Watch Australia, Future Wise, and the QUT Crime and Justice Research Centre at ThoughtWorks Brisbane office for a critical conversation about surveillance politics, international dimensions of privacy law, the contested moral legitimacy of encryption backdoors, encryption for journalists and current civil society campaigns in this area. Read More
Police want to read encrypted messages, but they already have significant power to access our data
Many Australians are unaware of current police and intelligence powers when it comes to accessing our data. As the government lobbies for new levels of access, that needs to change. Read More
Poisoned water holes: the legal dangers of dark web policing
As police operations move into online environments, new rules for digital evidence collection and exchange must be developed to assist prosecutions while preserving due process and human rights. Without proper checks, police could have significantly expanded scope to search homes and computers around the world. Read More
Privacy and the postal plebiscite: Can the Australian Bureau of Statistics be trusted with voters’ data?
On 9 August it was announced that the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) would run a non-binding and voluntary postal survey on the issue of same-sex marriage. By putting the Australian Bureau of Statistics in charge of the upcoming same-sex marriage postal survey, the Australian Government is failing to learn from its previous privacy blunders. Read More
The Australian government is importing spyware – Is that legal?
An Australian Tax Office (ATO) staffer recently leaked on LinkedIn a step-by-step guide to hacking a smartphone.
The documents, which have since been removed, indicate that the ATO has access to Universal Forensic Extraction software made by the Israeli company Cellebrite. This technology is part of a commercial industry that profits from bypassing the security features of devices to gain access to private data. Read More