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[FYI] (Fwd) The Australian Parliament passes ASIO bill




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Send reply to:  	extropians@extropy.com
From:           	<eugene.leitl@lrz.uni-muenchen.de>
To:             	"Extropians List" <extropians@extropy.com>
Subject:        	The Australian Parliament passes ASIO bill 
Date sent:      	Wed, 1 Dec 1999 10:34:16 -0500


From: "Harvey Newstrom" <newstrom@newstaffinc.com>

26/11/99 05:41

 The Australian Parliament passes ASIO bill
 William Maher, Newswire

 Parliament has passed laws that allow the Australian Security
 Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) to tap into and alter data on
 private computer systems.

 The ASIO Amendment Bill 1999 passed the Senate yesterday, giving
 federal authorities the power to tap into private computer systems
 for surveillance purposes. This is the first time in 13 years a major
 change
has
 been made to the ASIO Act 1979.

 While the legislation gained bipartisan support, some members
 expressed concern that bill was rushed through Parliament. Senator
 Bolkus noted yesterday that the Senate had waited four or five months
 to debate the
bill.
 "We could have spent more time in the analysis period," he said in
 Parliament.

 Labor has also expressed concern that the law allows ASIO to add,
 delete or alter data on remote computers. An amendment has
 subsequently been made that says data can only be altered if it is
 "necessary" to obtain access to data.

 The change hasn't appeased the Democrats, who claim that the new law
 is a serious breach of Australians' privacy. Deputy leader Senator
 Natasha Stott Despoja said that the laws could be intentionally
 misused to plant evidence. "The government has found quite a
 convenient excuse for significant new excursions into personal
 surveillance," she said.

 Privacy groups are angry that the bill gives ASIO the power to tap
 into private computer systems. Consumer group Financial Services
 Consumer Policy Centre has previously called on the Senate to reject
 the bill,
claiming
 it contains "serious flaws" (see story).


 This article is located at http://www.newswire.com.au/9911/asio.htm
-- Harvey Newstrom <mailto://newstrom@newstaffinc.com>
<http://harveynewstrom.com> Author, Consultant, Engineer, Legal
Hacker, Researcher, Scientist.

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