The Australian government passed a new surveillance bill in both houses of Parliament last week that gives law enforcement agencies unprecedented powers to tackle cyber crimes, child exploitation, and terrorism. The move has legal bodies and civil liberties groups worried about the extent of its capabilities and state surveillance.
The Surveillance Legislation Amendment (Identity and Disrupt) Bill 2020, passed on August 25, endows the Australian Federal Police and Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission with new and intrusive powers to combat cybercrimes through three ways:
- Network activity warrants that allow intelligence collection on criminal networks, including the dark web and anonymising technologies.
- Data disruption warrants that will enable the enforcement agencies to disrupt illegal online activities and modify the data belonging to suspects.
- An account takeover warrant will allow the agencies to control online accounts to gather evidence of criminal activity to support an investigation.
If presented with a warrant, Australian companies must comply with it and actively aid the police in modifying, editing, copying, or deleting the data of a person under investigation. Failure to abide by the warrant could result in a jail term of up to ten years.
Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said the bill would “bolster authorities’ ability to keep up with evolving technologies to protect Australians.” The Minister promoted the legislation, saying that the arrests made earlier as part of Operation Ironside confirmed the consistent and evolving threat of organised crime and its reliance on the dark web and anonymising technology. “In Operation Ironside, ingenuity and world-class capability gave our law enforcement an edge. This bill is just one more step the government is taking to ensure our agencies maintain that edge,” she said.
However, legal bodies and civil liberties groups have raised concerns over the passage of the bill, saying it lacks judicial oversight. They also accused the government, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, of not considering the recommendations of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS).
President of the Law Council Jacoba Brasch QC said, “It was particularly disappointing to see judicial issuing of the new, extraordinary warrants were not put in place.” “These warrants have the potential to cause significant loss, damage or disruption to lawful computer users who are not suspected of any wrongdoing,” she added.
Furthermore, the Human Rights Law Centre raised concerns over the use of unprecedented powers against journalists and whistleblowers. A senior lawyer with the Centre, Kieran Pender, noted the democratic cost with increased state surveillance. He said, “Given the powers are unprecedented and extraordinarily intrusive, they should have been narrowed to what is strictly necessary and subject to robust safeguards.”
Angus Murray, the Chair of Electronic Frontiers Australia’s Policy Team, also acknowledged that hacking powers threaten citizens’ civil liberties. He said, “Australia doesn’t have constitutionally enshrined rights to political speech and other human rights, but if we’re going to give law enforcement these powers, that should be checked and balanced against a human rights instrument at Federal level.”
The bill now awaits Royal Assent. Moreover, to ensure the legislation’s appropriate use, the Commonwealth Ombudsman and Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security will monitor its implementation.