Australian government has passed a bill which allows police to spy on online activities of citizens. The police can now interpret, alter and delete data as well as take over accounts passwords without their knowledge.
The controversial act passed both houses of Australian parliament within 24 hours on 25 August 2021 under the name of Surveillance Legislation Amendment Bill 2020. The rushed-through legislation grants power to law enforcement agencies to tamper with suspected activities on internet.
The bill is said to be designed with intention of countering terrorism, child exploitation, serious Commonwealth offence or serious State offence. This also covers a broad range of offences including acts of violence, piracy, bankruptcy, company violations and tax evasion.
The new legislation provides the Australian Federal Police and the Criminal Intelligence Commission with unprecedented power through three new warrants: data disruption warrants, network activity warrants, and account takeover warrants.
The new law also bounds everyone to assist the government in hacking process. The accomplices will be protected from civil liability but on refusal, could face up to 10 years of imprisonment.
Australia’s Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC) has secured specific safeguards to prevent police from using the law against journalists and whistleblowers. However, the bill has sparked nation-wide controversy and attracted huge criticism for empowering police with boundless might.
Activists are worried about the low bar for who can issue a warrant and the government’s failure to adopt the proposed protections for civilians. Human Rights activists are calling out the bill for being the “end of respect for Human Rights in Australia.”
HRLC senior lawyer Kieran Pender said that by enacting the secrecy laws in the absence of federal human rights laws, successive governments have put the cart before the horse.
“It is alarming that, instead of accepting the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security’s recommendations and allowing time for scrutiny of subsequent amendments, the Morrison Government rushed these laws through Parliament in less than 24 hours,” Kieran Pender said.
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