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Australian Govt Releases Censored Web Spying Document
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by Jordan Yerman | July 23, 2010 at 10:40 am
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Government FoI Letter on Internet Spying is 90% Censored
The Australian government released its plan on Internet spying, but the document itself, released under FoI (Freedom of Information law), is censored to the point of uselessness.
Currently, Canberra is in the process of trying to force Australian ISPs to accept a plan wherein they would store user data for the purposes of enforcing what amounts to a web censorship law. What is not clarified is precisely what data the government wants, how it intends to store and secure that data, or how the data will be used.
So far, the government has displayed a worrying lack of understanding of not only the nature of the Internet (evidenced by using "the Web" and "the Internet" interchangeably), but how the public would respond to being spied upon.
Claudia Hernandez, speaking for the Attorney General's Department, basically tells Australians not to worry their little heads about it, and that debating the issue would not be productive.
In the decision to censor the document, Hernandez writes that its release would be "contrary to the public interest", while evidently not understanding that a document resembling a child's art project is even more contrary to the public interest.
The Attorney-General's Department legal officer, FoI and Privacy Section, Claudia Hernandez, wrote in her decision in releasing the highly censored document that the release of some sections of it "may lead to premature unnecessary debate and could potentially prejudice and impede government decision making".
What is Canberra Hiding?
Meanwhile, opponents of the ISP plan are wondering aloud what the government is hiding. Clearly, they're hiding something behind all that black ink: nobody blacks out that much text unless there's something they know will enrage the public.
Here is the FoI letter in pdf form: its 18 pages will take under one minute to read, as there is hardly any visible text.
Colin Jacobs, speaking for Electronic Frontiers Australia, said, "We have to assume the worst, and that is that the government has been badgering the telcos with very aggressive demands that should worry everybody." Jacobs outlines the three things that the government needs to explain three main things in order to move the debate forward:
- What ISP data they really want
- Why that data is needed
- Why the debate process is closed
"We have to turn the age-old question back on the government: if you don’t have anything to hide, then you shouldn't be worried about people having insight into the consultation."
The Labour Party was likely hoping to avoid torpedoing its chances at reelection following the ouster of Kevin Rudd, but the opposing Coalition has siezed on this latest misstep:
Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, George Brandis, said the government’s decision to censor the documents showed ‘‘how truly Orwellian this government has become".
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (2)
at 01:52 on July 24th, 2010
The internet is the collective consciousness of the world. Anybody that censors or stands in the way of it, is an enemy of the world.
at 16:55 on July 25th, 2010
The Australian government obviously doesn't understand democracy.
We need to flush out all the dusty old vampires from our political system and replace them with people who actually understand the modern world and respect our basic human right to privacy.