tip off

Attorney-General’s Department: hiding a data retention gargoyle?

Questions continue to grow about the extent of the Attorney-General Department’s work on data retention, and whether it is hiding it from scrutiny. Is AGD quietly developing legislation on data retention?

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Australia’s supine reaction to our surveillance planet

While other US allies demand answers on the Edward Snowden revelations about mass US surveillance of private citizens, the Australian government wants the whole thing to go away and tells us there’s nothing to worry about. Fail.

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Surveillance, secrecy and the cost of intelligence outsourcing

A culture of secrecy, unaccountability and outsourcing created the conditions for the Obama administration’s mass internet surveillance programs.

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The greatest threat to our rights is the Attorney-General’s Department

The record of the Attorney-General’s Department shows that, on national security, the department is the greatest threat to Australians’ rights.

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Tony Abbott’s uncomfortable resemblance to Labor

Tony Abbott occasionally shows signs that he’s not as different from Labor as he claims — in ways that don’t augur well for his government. Can Joe Hockey assert some influence?

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Revealed: Australian spies seek power to break into Tor

The Attorney-General’s Department has admitted data retention will be “trivially easy” to avoid and that intelligence services want to be able to break into encrypted internet systems like Tor.

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Reporters as ‘co-conspirators’ in Obama’s war on journalism

The Obama administration is engaged in a war on investigative journalism, backed by national security laws. The internet may free up information, but it also aids government surveillance.

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The new ACSC: a ‘reasonable illustration’ of a cybersecurity hub?

The government’s much-vaunted new “Cyber Security Centre” will have no legislation, no central leadership and no money. But it will have “unclassified areas”.

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Danby and Sheridan hammer home an own-goal for data retention

A national security committee member’s poor judgment has inflicted serious damage on the push for data retention by Australia’s security agencies.

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Data definitions in the spotlight as A-G dept fronts inquiry

There is still confusion about what data would be retained under the federal government’s highly contentious data retention proposals — and it arises from the government itself.

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National security laws: the ‘balance’ that only ever tips one way

The concept of “balance” repeatedly invoked by politicians on national security — while extending the powers of law enforcement and intelligence agencies, curbing the rights of Australians — is flawed.

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National security hysteria, the fastest-growing crime in Aust

Wild claims about cybercrime are a key tool in inflating spending on cybersecurity and expanding the powers of governments, like the latest proposal for two-year data retention.

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Essential: WorkChoices, data retention, will life be better under Abbott?

There is rising concern about the return of Workchoices, today’s Essential Report finds, and voters don’t believe workers will be better off under an Abbott government.

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Hypothetical: news from a national security future

We already know what could happen if proposals to dramatically extend surveillance and intelligence-gathering powers are allowed to proceed.

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Paper reveals govt’s national security
crackdown

After more than two months of behind-the-scenes negotiations, the high-powered Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security has agreed to a government reference on a major national security review.

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Busy times in national security as the DHS comes to town

The government has moved to expand national security powers as we integrate further into America’s War on Terror.

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The $28m pantomime of airport body scanners

Airport body scanners have no demonstrated value, but the government is spending $28 million on them.

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Flawed cybercrime bill begs for attention

A wide-ranging bill aimed at enabling foreign governments to access Australians’ online and telecommunications data is expected to emerge from committee this week.

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ASIO: fishers of men

The Attorney-General’s department, struggling to explain why ASIO needs wider powers, chooses the fish.

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War on the internet 2: those who Get It, and those who don’t

A closer look at government attacks on the internet shows some are far more effective and targeted than others. Many are driven by the interests of powerful stakeholders able to influence policy makers in preserving pre-digital sources of revenue or authority.

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Border security gets a billion

The government has put its money where its mouth is when it comes to backing its increasingly hardline rhetoric on border security, flagging $1.2 billion Australia’s borders.

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New York Times | LINKS|

How to stop terrorist attacks in crowded places

Times Square is a tourist destination for thousands of people, how can you possibly keep it safe? NY Times asks security experts for advice, who say cameras and training help but sometimes not much can be done.

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The Australian | FEDERAL|

Sheridan: We need more people so we can afford more bombs

Australia’s population is too small for adequate national security. We need to grow so we can adequately protect ourselves from enemies without outside help, writes Greg Sheridan.

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Pentagon: Climate change threat to national security

The Pentagon is set to tell Congress that climate change is a real and present threat to national security. It is a sign of these strange times when the US military’s stance on climate change is closer to Bob Brown’s than that of any major Australian party.

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Crikey Blogs | FEDERAL|

The ALP’s poorest polling in three years

The ALP may be winning the battle for voter numbers, but it is losing the ideological war, reports Possum Comitatus: the latest Essential Report finds the Government is now trailing the Coalition on issues like the economy, national security and interest rates.

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