Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

SecurityWeekSecurityWeek

Privacy

Australia Spy Agency Offered to Share Data on Citizens: Report

SYDNEY – Australia’s spy agency offered to share information about its own citizens with foreign intelligence partners, according to leaked documents published Monday, sparking calls for an inquiry.

SYDNEY – Australia’s spy agency offered to share information about its own citizens with foreign intelligence partners, according to leaked documents published Monday, sparking calls for an inquiry.

The latest revelations by US intelligence fugitive Edward Snowden, reported by The Guardian Australia, show that the Defence Signals Directorate (DSD) discussed the option of sharing “medical, legal or religious information”.

The partners included the United States, Britain, Canada and New Zealand, collectively known as 5-Eyes, with the document, marked secret, based on notes from a conference hosted by Britain in 2008.

It follows a Snowden release last month showing Australian spy agencies tried to listen to the phone calls of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as well as his wife and inner circle, sparking a diplomatic crisis.

According to the report, the DSD, now known as the Australian Signals Directorate, told its global partners it could share “bulk, unselected, unminimised metadata as long as there is no intent to target an Australian national”.

“Unintentional collection is not viewed as a significant issue,” notes from the conference said, although the agency acknowledged that more substantial interrogation of the material would require a warrant.

The Guardian said the document shed new light on “the extent to which intelligence agencies at that time were considering sharing information with foreign surveillance partners”.

“It provides further confirmation that, to some extent at least, there is warrantless surveillance of Australians’ personal metadata.”

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

Metadata refers to the information people generate when they use technology such as phones and computers.

Related Reading: How Metadata Reveals More About You Than You Think

The newspaper cited top human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson as saying the latest revelations increased concerns that the agency could be operating outside its legal mandate.

Greens Senator Scott Ludlum also said the document “implies that the agency may have been breaching Australian law for five years”, demanding an inquiry.

“The government can no longer avoid the issues and hide behind platitudes that everything is done in accordance with the law,” Ludlam told parliament.

“It is the job of this parliament to conduct a full inquiry, as is happening in many other countries around the world.”

But Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he had no reason to believe any laws had been broken.

“Intelligence gathering is subject to supervision by the joint parliamentary committee. It’s also subject to supervision, very close supervision, from the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security,” Abbott told reporters.

“I’m confident that we’ve got all the relevant safeguards in place and I have no reason to think that any Australian intelligence organisation has not acted in accordance with Australian law.”

Former US National Security Agency contractor Snowden was granted asylum in Russia in August, to the fury of the United States where he is wanted on espionage charges following disclosures that have provoked international uproar and strained ties with allies. 

Written By

AFP 2023

Click to comment

Trending

Daily Briefing Newsletter

Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing to stay informed on the latest threats, trends, and technology, along with insightful columns from industry experts.

Join the session as we discuss the challenges and best practices for cybersecurity leaders managing cloud identities.

Register

SecurityWeek’s Ransomware Resilience and Recovery Summit helps businesses to plan, prepare, and recover from a ransomware incident.

Register

Expert Insights

Related Content

Malware & Threats

The NSA and FBI warn that a Chinese state-sponsored APT called BlackTech is hacking into network edge devices and using firmware implants to silently...

Artificial Intelligence

Two of humanity’s greatest drivers, greed and curiosity, will push AI development forward. Our only hope is that we can control it.

Cybercrime

Daniel Kelley was just 18 years old when he was arrested and charged on thirty counts – most infamously for the 2015 hack of...

Cybercrime

No one combatting cybercrime knows everything, but everyone in the battle has some intelligence to contribute to the larger knowledge base.

Cybercrime

The FBI dismantled the network of the prolific Hive ransomware gang and seized infrastructure in Los Angeles that was used for the operation.

Cybersecurity Funding

Los Gatos, Calif-based data protection and privacy firm Titaniam has raised $6 million seed funding from Refinery Ventures, with participation from Fusion Fund, Shasta...

Ransomware

The Hive ransomware website has been seized as part of an operation that involved law enforcement in 10 countries.

Security Infrastructure

Security vendor consolidation is picking up steam with good reason. Everyone wants to improve security efficiency and effectiveness while paying for less.