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GLOBAL NEWS BIG BROTHER AUSTRALIA IS LOOKING TO MONITOR FULL-SPECTRUM COMMUNICATIONS Tr most expansive set of surveillance powers since the attacks of 2001 are set to be rolled out in Australia unless there is overwhelming public resistance. Dylan Welch, national security correspondent for the Age, reports: "Revealed in a discussion paper released by the Attorney- General's Department, the more than 40 proposals form a massive ambit claim from the intelligence agencies. If passed, they would be the most significant expansion of the Australian intelligence community's powers since the Howard-era reforms following the terrorist attacks of 2011." In tandem with data collection and storage, Australia's intelligence community wants more access to social media in a sweeping overhaul to current restrictions that is reminiscent of America’s move under its own comprehensive media-monitoring initiative. There are currently at least 10 locations around the world that have proposed data collection and retention initiatives, while Germany, Italy, Denmark, UK, Slovakia and Serbia have officially implemented programs which include but are not limited to: ¢ tracing and identifying the source, destination and duration of communication ¢ identifying the type of communication ¢ identifying the communication device ¢ identifying the location of mobile communication equipment ¢ retaining collected data for six months to two years ¢ voluntary retention by ISPs, landline and mobile phone providers ¢ storing subscriber details ¢ storing customer account numbers ¢ recording content ¢ identifying location of a mobile phone ¢ remotely activating built-in microphone systems ¢ retaining email data and web activity ¢ retaining physical mail, including online tracking of postal items, even special delivery items ¢ retaining banking data for an extended period of time ¢ recording vehicle movement data with licence-plate recognition cameras. According to the Melbourne Age: "Also among the proposals are changes to some of the most fundamental divisions between agencies. For six decades ASIO has been the only Australian intelligence agency authorised to routinely collect intelligence on Australians. However, under a proposed change, officers from Australia’s foreign intelligence services, ASIS and DSD {Defence Signals Directorate], would be allowed to monitor Australian citizens overseas if an ASIO officer was not available." As Crikey'’s Bernard Keane reports, the proposed dramatic changes include: ¢ keeping all Australians’ telecomms and internet data for two years ¢ wiretapping Twitter, Facebook and other social media ¢ allowing ASIO to plant material on people's computers, and destroy material, and go through a third party's computer to do so ¢ criminalising refusal to cooperate with government decryption attempts, so you could go to gaol for refusing to surrender your password ¢ freeing up ASIO agents to break the law if it helps them stay undercover ¢ enabling non-ASIO intelligence agencies to work with ASIO to spy on Australians. (Sources: The Age, 12 July 2012; Crikey.com.au, 13 July 2012; Activist Post, 13 July 2012, http://tinyurl.com/7cm8khb) Melautomatically keep a specified target (dismount or vehicle) in the window." ARGUS-IR adds infrared vision to the set-up. 7. Gorgon Stare. The Gorgon Stare is similar to ARGUS-IS, except that it's named after a monster that can turn people to stone, rather than merely a giant with 100 all- seeing eyes. Hitched to a Reaper drone, Gorgon Stare is supposed to collect information from an entire small town or city and send data to troops in the field and to ground stations for deeper analysis. "Gorgon Stare will be looking at a whole city, so there will be no way for the adversary to know what we're looking at, and we can see everything," a US Air Force general told the Washington Post. 8. Wide Area Aerial Surveillance System (WAASS). ARGUS-IS and Gorgon Stare are planned for Afghanistan, but, as Wired reported in January, the Department of Homeland Security has enquired about a similar system that can scan large swathes of land in the US. The agency has solicited industry feedback on the possibility of a surveillance system that does this: "The primary objective of WAASS is to provide persistent, long-term surveillance over urban and rural terrain at least the size of 16 km’. The surveillance system shall have an electro-optical capability for daylight missions but can have an infrared capability for day or night operations. The sensor shall integrate with an airborne platform for data gathering. The imagery data shall be displayed at a DHS operations center and have the capability for forensic analysis within 36 hours of the flight.” As Wired's Spencer Ackerman points out: "If it's starting to sound reminiscent of the spy tools the military has used in Iraq and Afghanistan, it should.” (Source: AlterNet, 13 March, 10 July 2012, Attp://www.alternet.org/story/154534) NEXUS ¢ II AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 2012 www.nexusmagazine.com