Abbott's counter terrorism measures

[Julia]

It's a bit difficult to provide examples of abuse of a system that has not been implemented yet, but the following details what corrupt police are willing to do with information already existing in supposedly confidential databases:-

Aren't we already well and truly aware of the level of corruption in Victoria police?
One would assume the culprits have been appropriately dealt with. I don't have much sympathy for the thugs in the outlaw motor cycle gangs, and don't see any relationship between this incident and my need to feel fearful if my ISP holds data as the government wishes them to do.

I would also note that the adult guardian case you quoted does not affect you or me personally

I don't expect Mary ever thought she would be affected either. Neither do you have any right to assume anything about anyone's personal circumstances.

,

yet you are upset by it, justifiably. If we have to wait until we are personally affected by something that the government does, then it's too late. They have the power and it's been used against us.

I don't know how many times I have made clear that I do not feel threatened by what the government wants to do here, just as I have made it clear I respect your right to believe your personal freedom is at stake, even though you can't give me an example of what you believe could happen to me.
Please stop telling me what I should think, believe or feel, Rumpole. I'm quite capable of deciding for myself, thanks.

 

[SirRumpole]

Aren't we already well and truly aware of the level of corruption in Victoria police?
One would assume the culprits have been appropriately dealt with. I don't have much sympathy for the thugs in the outlaw motor cycle gangs, and don't see any relationship between this incident and my need to feel fearful if my ISP holds data as the government wishes them to do.


I don't expect Mary ever thought she would be affected either.

,
I don't know how many times I have made clear that I do not feel threatened by what the government wants to do here,

OK, so someone who did not feel threatened by a quasi government agency she never knew existed suddenly found herself threatened by one. That's the point, you never feel threatened until something happens to you or someone you know.

As to how your information could be used against you (maybe not you personally but anyone in the general population, because these proposals are not just about you), the possibilities are endless.

Man wants to spy on his wife, has a friend in the police force who gets details of who the wife has been emailing, maybe that she has been on "men for hire" web sites, etc etc.

Political parties want dirt on their opponents, again through corrupt police get access to details of web and email metadata, employers want details on their employees social media activities- are the employees bitching about the boss after hours ?, a policeman takes a liking to a young girl he met and gets access to her likes, dislikes, friends, boyfriends (potential competition who he proceeds to frighten off)...

Just because some of us don't have any imagination, doesn't mean the crooks don't. The fact that warrants are not required to access this data is an open gate for any corrupt cop to dive in and get what they want.

Please stop telling me what I should think, believe or feel, Rumpole. I'm quite capable of deciding for myself, thanks.

Not trying to do that at all. If you want to live in a nice sheltered world unaware of the dangers, go right ahead, but you are not the only person in this country and a lot of us don't like being spied on for no good reason.

I heard a report on TV today where the head of ASIO said that terrorist plots have been foiled by access to metadata. This indicates that they already have enough powers to do their job and they don't need any more.

 

[noco]

OK, so someone who did not feel threatened by a quasi government agency she never knew existed suddenly found herself threatened by one. That's the point, you never feel threatened until something happens to you or someone you know.

As to how your information could be used against you (maybe not you personally but anyone in the general population, because these proposals are not just about you), the possibilities are endless.

Man wants to spy on his wife, has a friend in the police force who gets details of who the wife has been emailing, maybe that she has been on "men for hire" web sites, etc etc.

Political parties want dirt on their opponents, again through corrupt police get access to details of web and email metadata, employers want details on their employees social media activities- are the employees bitching about the boss after hours ?, a policeman takes a liking to a young girl he met and gets access to her likes, dislikes, friends, boyfriends (potential competition who he proceeds to frighten off)...

Just because some of us don't have any imagination, doesn't mean the crooks don't. The fact that warrants are not required to access this data is an open gate for any corrupt cop to dive in and get what they want.



Not trying to do that at all. If you want to live in a nice sheltered world unaware of the dangers, go right ahead, but you are not the only person in this country and a lot of us don't like being spied on for no good reason.

I heard a report on TV today where the head of ASIO said that terrorist plots have been foiled by access to metadata. This indicates that they already have enough powers to do their job and they don't need any more.

If you keep your nose clean and don't mess up, you don't have to worry about ASIO of the AFP.

 

[Calliope]

Poor ole Rumpy;

What'cha gonna do when they come for you?

 

[SirRumpole]

If you keep your nose clean and don't mess up, you don't have to worry about ASIO of the AFP.

How naively trusting of you. A lot of people don't break the law but have things they would rather not be made public.

Also it's not only the law we have to worry about, presumably employees of the ISP would have access to the data and can we guarantee all of them are incorruptible ?

 

[Craton]

As Geordie right points out here: http://www.theguardian.com/commenti...want-my-metadata-george-brandis-get-a-warrant

My point exactly, if the security agencies need to act further, get a warrant not give them free, unfetted rein.

Geordie Guy

theguardian.com, Wednesday 6 August 2014 12.48 AEST

If the authorities want to invade your privacy, they should get a warrant. If the federal police want to know what you’re up to, or Asio suspect you’re a terrorist, they should go to a judge, and convince them that their hunch is reasonable. In other words, if they want to exercise powers normal folks can’t, they should get a warrant.

But not every intrusion currently requires a warrant. “Metadata” is a newish term that describes information the authorities say is too trivial to require a warrant, because it’s not the contents of a communication itself but peripheral information about that communication – such as the time and date an email was sent, who to and whether it was received. Tony Abbott likens it to the information on the “front of an envelope”.

To give you an idea of how fatuous this distinction is, the embarrassing contents of your medical records are “data” and require a warrant, but the fact that you placed a call to a GP clinic on Monday, were emailed by a pathology lab on Wednesday, Googled for pharmacies near work, and then spent the next three days trying to Skype ex-girlfriends, is metadata – and doesn’t need a warrant.

Government authorities can’t trawl through your computer speculatively for correspondence in which you reveal you are dealing with a mental health matter, because that’s none of their business without judicial authorisation. But it’s perfectly acceptable for them to access records showing you called Lifeline at 3am from a seaside lookout point, after recording five hours of transactions at a nearby bar, and repeatedly texting your ex-wife – all without a warrant.

Metadata is, of course, just data. And the authorities want more of it.


The only thing more awkward for the AFP and Asio than the increasing public realisation that the data/metadata distinction is nothing more than a sales pitch, is that there isn’t as much metadata lying around as there was. When the hallway telephone was the way everyone communicated, the phone company generated logs of who called whom and for how long in order to send out the bills. The police could access this metadata with gleeful, unregulated abandon, because there was heaps of it around for a commercial purpose.

Today the situation is different. Internet service providers, who provide the infrastructure for interactions online, don’t need to record and store metadata because they sell data by volume and bandwidth. The fact you visit one website or another is immaterial to an ISP, regardless of how exciting it might be for the police.

Rather than allow the commercial realities of modern telco billing systems to get in the way of a panopticon, George Brandis, the attorney-general, has announced that the government will require ISPs to create and maintain vast warehouses of commercially pointless metadata anyway, so the spooks and plods can browse through it at their leisure.

The cost of your Internet provider creating and storing metadata about every click you make and every selfie you fake is astonishing – that data needs to be stored on servers, in buildings, with people to look after it all. Those costs will be passed on to consumers. It’s worse when you consider that ISPs have no business use for all this information, and are storing it for the government-mandated two years just in case Agent Smith wants to flick through it.

This commercial impracticality, along with the fact it’s a bit pervy, are parts of the reason the Court of Justice of the European Union overturned data retention in Europe as contrary to the “right of respect for private life” and the “fundamental right to the protection of personal data”.

They might have been less enthusiastic about junking the idea if it could be proved to be useful to actual law enforcement, and not just a tool for speculatively checking people out. But consider that whenever our law enforcement and intelligence communities have ever got the job done, it’s been in the absence of these powers.

It seems that where folks are up to no good the Commonwealth tends to be able to apprehend them. The Benbrika group was probably the highest profile terrorist case on Australian soil. For what it’s worth (very little, those convicted were planning to blow up a football game or a train station, and hadn’t even made a decision) they were arrested, convicted and jailed without the far-reaching powers Brandis has just announced.

It also seems where no crime was committed we tend to fail to secure convictions, regardless of the powers wielded and the ethical issues involved in their application. Muhamed Haneef, for example, was accused of engaging in terrorist activities, the evidence of which the Clarke Inquiry found to be “completely deficient”.


Hundreds of dollars per month in passed-on costs for Australian internet users. An unacceptable civil liberties violation, for the authorities to know everything about us – and that’s even before they accidentally out every gay guy in the country, in the inevitable leak of the database containing the date that every Australian Grindr user signed up. This proposal needs to be put away, forever, and quickly.

Hear, hear!

 

[SirRumpole]

As Geordie right points out here: http://www.theguardian.com/commenti...want-my-metadata-george-brandis-get-a-warrant

My point exactly, if the security agencies need to act further, get a warrant not give them free, unfetted rein.



Hear, hear!

+1

;

 

[SirRumpole]

I don't have much sympathy for the thugs in the outlaw motor cycle gangs,

Neither do I , but some of the information was stolen by corrupt cops working FOR the bikie gangs and contained details of informers etc.

Just shows the lengths to which some of our agencies have been infiltrated by crims. We don't know whether the AFP and ASIO have been similarly affected.

 

[noco]

Perhaps we should take a lot more notice of retired General Peter Leahy with what we may face in the not so distant future.

With the influx of Muslims between 2008 and 2013, thanks to the Green/Labor left wing socialist Fabians, we now have ghettos in Western Sydney growing at an alarming rate particularly in Tony Burke's seat of Watson where 20% of the population in that electorate are Muslims.....Burke will protect these Muslims down to the last and the reason why he does not not want to agree to Abbotts counter terrorism measures is the for fear of losing votes.

Well Mr Burke, wake up to yourself before it comes back to bite you on the bum.

We need to take action now before these radicals grow in numbers.


http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nat...head-peter-leahy/story-e6frg8yo-1227018630297

AUSTRALIA needs to prepare for an increasingly savage, 100-year war against radical Islam that will be fought on home soil as well as foreign lands, the former head of the army, Peter Leahy, has warned.

Professor Leahy, a leading defence and strategic analyst, told The Weekend Australian the country was ill-prepared for the high cost of fighting a war that would be paid in “blood and treasure” and would require pre-emptive as well as reactive action.

“Australia is involved in the early stages of a war which is likely to last for the rest of the century,” he said. “We must be ready to protect ourselves and, where necessary, act pre-emptively to neutralise the evident threat. Get ready for a long war.”

Senior intelligence officials have moved to shore up public support for the Abbott government’s tough new security laws, including enhanced data-retention capabilities enabling agencies to track suspect computer usage.

Australian Security Intelligence Organisation director-general David Irvine said the proposed data laws, which require phone and internet companies to retain records for two years, were “absolutely crucial” to counter the jihadist terror threat.

Labor is softer on travelers in Jihadist areas because they fear the loss of votes......Labor is not concerned about the security of Australia and the threat of terrorists.......only about their self preservation.

http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/...ihadist_areas_than_it_was_on_bosses_back_hom/

 

[DB008]

Just use a VPN.

Five Best VPN Service Providers

A VPN (virtual private network) is a great tool to protect your privacy and security while you use the internet, as well as a nifty means of working around geo-blocking. Whether you’re at home or using public Wi-Fi while travelling, the best combine great pricing with security features and privacy guarantees that make them worth your trust. This week, we’re looking at five of the best VPN providers, based on your nominations.

The best VPN services don’t keep logs, protect your anonymity, don’t discriminate against traffic or protocol types, offer exit servers to help you get around location-restricted content blocks, and deliver the best bang for your buck. It takes a lot to make a VPN service worth your trust, but there are some good choices out there. Here are some of the optionsyou thought were the best, in no specific order:

http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2014/03/five-best-vpn-service-providers-3/

Still paranoid, use a VPN not located in Australia.

WHICH VPN SERVICES TAKE YOUR ANONYMITY SERIOUSLY? 2014 EDITION

Millions of people use a VPN service to protect their privacy, but not all VPNs are as anonymous as one might hope. In fact, some VPN services log users' IP-addresses for weeks. To find out how secure VPNs really are TorrentFreak asked the leading providers about their logging policies, and more.

By now most Internet users are well aware of the fact that pretty much every step they take on the Internet is logged or monitored.

To prevent their IP-addresses from being visible to the rest of the Internet, millions of people have signed up to a VPN service. Using a VPN allows users to use the Internet anonymously and prevent snooping.

Unfortunately, not all VPN services are as anonymous as they claim.

Following a high-profile case of an individual using an ‘anonymous’ VPN service that turned out to be not so private, TorrentFreak decided to ask a selection of VPN services some tough questions.

By popular demand we now present the third iteration of our VPN services “logging” review. In addition to questions about logging policies we also asked VPN providers about their stance towards file-sharing traffic, and what they believe the most secure VPN is.

http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/

 

[sydboy007]

Just use a VPN.

Still paranoid, use a VPN not located in Australia.

No need to be paranoid. Anyone accessing the internet outside their home should have a VPN provider. It's roughly 40 USD a year for the peace of mind it brings. Free public wifi can as often be a way to tempt people to allow someone to monitor all their traffic in the hopes of getting some personal information or even access onto your device if it's securty is not up to scratch - even then it might still get infected.

As I said earlier, the Government is looking to bring in legislation to force you to hand over VPN encryption keys. Hopefully this will get more air time if they become serious about it.

 

[Julia]

OK, so someone who did not feel threatened by a quasi government agency she never knew existed suddenly found herself threatened by one.

She could have precluded such a situation simply by previously recognising the need to appoint someone with Enduring Power of Attorney.

She could further have avoided being slugged with a potent antipsychotic drug by completing an Advance Health Directive, a legally binding document, making clear that she refused any such drug, giving the person with EPOA a legal basis on which to advocate on her behalf.

 

[SirRumpole]

She could have precluded such a situation simply by previously recognising the need to appoint someone with Enduring Power of Attorney.

She could further have avoided being slugged with a potent antipsychotic drug by completing an Advance Health Directive, a legally binding document, making clear that she refused any such drug, giving the person with EPOA a legal basis on which to advocate on her behalf.

Both of these suggestions are good to know, and would slip by a lot of people.

Googling for "Advance Health Directive" seems to indicate that they vary from State to State. I suppose the solicitor who makes out a EPOA would know the details.

 

[Craton]

Just use a VPN.




Still paranoid, use a VPN not located in Australia.

The use of TOR has been mentioned elsewhere: https://www.torproject.org but a caveat, even TOR hasn't been excempt from cyber attack. Any guess as to whom and why?
Hint, Naughty Spy Agencies...

From here: https://blog.torproject.org/blog/tor-security-advisory-relay-early-traffic-confirmation-attack

In part reads;

SUMMARY:

On July 4 2014 we found a group of relays that we assume were trying to deanonymize users. They appear to have been targeting people who operate or access Tor hidden services. The attack involved modifying Tor protocol headers to do traffic confirmation attacks.

The attacking relays joined the network on January 30 2014, and we removed them from the network on July 4. While we don't know when they started doing the attack, users who operated or accessed hidden services from early February through July 4 should assume they were affected.

Privacy and corruption aside, data is power and power is money. Anyone know what the price of a legit email address is on the black market or legit credit card details including number, expiry, name and security code?

A vast array of personal details already attracts a price within this black market. Why even the s/ware designed to steal your details, Trojans, key loggers for example, can be bought too. The honey pot of data that our security agencies want is only going to attract the best hackers coz there is money, and lots of it to be had.

Think we'll be safe? Am I taking this too far?
Perhaps but I've lived too long to ignore the foibles and failings of human nature especially when it comes to fear and greed.

 

[Julia]

Both of these suggestions are good to know, and would slip by a lot of people.

Googling for "Advance Health Directive" seems to indicate that they vary from State to State. I suppose the solicitor who makes out a EPOA would know the details.

The Advance Health Directive is known as a Living Will in some States, probably different names in most states.
AHD is the Qld version.
You do not need a solicitor. Go to the State Justice Department website. At least in Qld and presumably it will be similar elsewhere, there will be a choice which will include both Enduring Power of Attorney and AHD or its equivalent. Simply download the forms and complete. Make sure you use the Enduring POA, not the basic POA form which not appropriate. The AHD needs to be completed in conjunction with your doctor who attests to your capacity to make the decisions therein. Both documents need to be properly witnessed by a JP, solicitor or equivalent.
Imo everyone should have these documents.

I believe, also at least in Qld, you can buy the forms from a newsagent.

 

[SirRumpole]

The Advance Health Directive is known as a Living Will in some States, probably different names in most states.
AHD is the Qld version.
You do not need a solicitor. Go to the State Justice Department website. At least in Qld and presumably it will be similar elsewhere, there will be a choice which will include both Enduring Power of Attorney and AHD or its equivalent. Simply download the forms and complete. Make sure you use the Enduring POA, not the basic POA form which not appropriate. The AHD needs to be completed in conjunction with your doctor who attests to your capacity to make the decisions therein. Both documents need to be properly witnessed by a JP, solicitor or equivalent.
Imo everyone should have these documents.

I believe, also at least in Qld, you can buy the forms from a newsagent.

Good advice Julia, thank you.

 

[Craton]

The Advance Health Directive is known as a Living Will in some States, probably different names in most states.
AHD is the Qld version.
You do not need a solicitor. Go to the State Justice Department website. At least in Qld and presumably it will be similar elsewhere, there will be a choice which will include both Enduring Power of Attorney and AHD or its equivalent. Simply download the forms and complete. Make sure you use the Enduring POA, not the basic POA form which not appropriate. The AHD needs to be completed in conjunction with your doctor who attests to your capacity to make the decisions therein. Both documents need to be properly witnessed by a JP, solicitor or equivalent.
Imo everyone should have these documents.

I believe, also at least in Qld, you can buy the forms from a newsagent.

My bolds and absolutely agree 100% Julia.
I too highly recommend having one in place as it takes a lot of pressure off the family (and/or friends) should the worst occur.

In NSW its called Enduring Guardianship, http://www.publicguardian.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/publicguardian/pg_planning/pg_enduring.html

I was Enduring Guardian for my dearly departed and for my Dad, still am for my Mom.

Amongst other directives, should I become brain dead I don't want to be kept on life support so, the kids, jointly, are my Enduring Guardians. Set up via our lawyers.

 

[Calliope]

If Abbott expects the "moderate" Australian Muslims to protest against this shocking behaviour in Syria and Iraq then he is away with the fairies. Callous brutality and disregard for human life is inbred in them.

"That's my boy'' says proud dad.

The young son of an Australian jihadist has been photographed gripping the severed head of a slain Syrian soldier.
Khaled Sharrouf's son, believed to be aged seven, used both hands to hoist the decapitated head up as he posed for a chilling photo.
His proud father, one of Australia's most-wanted terrorists and a suspected war criminal, posted the photo to Twitter on August 8 with the caption: 'Thats my boy!'.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...itated-head-Syrian-solider.html#ixzz3A2F8RDfa
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

 

[Craton]

That is so sad and very disturbing to see children brain washed like that Calliope. As you say, inbred into them. No amount of data storing will break that cycle.

 

[sydboy007]

If Abbott expects the "moderate" Australian Muslims to protest against this shocking behaviour in Syria and Iraq then he is away with the fairies. Callous brutality and disregard for human life is inbred in them.

"That's my boy'' says proud dad.

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=...Ld8AWa1IKQDA&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ&biw=1203&bih=749

Plenty of fair skinned blue eyed kids in there.

In no way justifying what's going on, but just highlighting that this issue is fairly wide spread.

Just have to look at the ideas in some of the militias in the USA - they'd be more upset about it being about being Muslims than about the children per se.