Whistleblower Edward Snowden has accused Australia of using mass surveillance on its citizens and passing laws on the collection of metadata that do not protect society from any acts of terrorism.
Speaking at the Progress 2015 conference in Melbourne via satellite in Moscow, Snowden criticized Australia’s new metadata laws, which allow the government and intelligence agencies to keep a constant watch on citizens.
The Federal Government’s data retention laws were passed in March. They require telecommunications companies to retain their customers phone and computer metadata for two years.
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“What this means is they are watching everybody all the time. They’re collecting information and they’re just putting it in buckets that they can then search through not only locally, not only in Australia, but they can then share this with foreign intelligences services.
“They can trawl through this information in the same way. Whether or not you’re doing anything wrong you’re being watched.”
RT reports:
“Australia’s role in mass surveillance around the world is similar to the UK and the Tempora program,” he said.
Snowden, who has been living in Moscow since June 2013 after receiving political asylum, criticized the Australian government’s passage of a metadata program that is being used, he said, to “collect everyone’s communications in advance of criminal suspicion.”
“This is dangerous,” he told the conference.
The former system administrator for the CIA said such invasive surveillance technologies had nothing in common with traditional liberal societies.
“This is not things that governments have ever traditionally been empowered to claim for themselves as authorities.
“And to have that change recently … is a radical departure from the operation of traditional liberal societies around the world.”
Snowden repeated his position that acts of terrorism in the US and elsewhere have not been thwarted by conducting mass surveillance on citizens.
“Nine times out of 10 when you see someone on the news who’s engaged in some sort of radical jihadist activity, these are people who had a long record,” he said.
“The reason these attacks happened is not because we didn’t have enough surveillance, it’s because we had too much.”
Aside from average citizens, he warned that journalists are also at risk of having their contacts exposed by the mass surveillance.
“Under these mandatory metadata laws you can immediately see who journalists are contacting, from which you can derive who their sources are.”
He excoriated such a turn of events, saying the purpose of a free press in society is to “act as an adversary against the government on behalf of the public.”
Snowden’s comments came on the same day that a US federal appeals court ruled the NSA’s bulk collection of Americans’ telephone records was illegal. In a unanimous decision, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York called the bulk phone records collection “unprecedented and unwarranted.”
The ruling, which Snowden called “extraordinarily encouraging,” comes as Congress confronts a June 1 deadline to renew a section of the Patriot Act that allows the NSA’s bulk data surveillance.
Meanwhile, Snowden seems determined to reveal more information from the National Security Agency (NSA) files, hinting there was yet more information about Australia’s intelligence work that would be revealed at a later date.
Niamh Harris
just like the us’s illegal stealing and spying of american citizens who disagree with obama’s illegal efforts.
just like the us’s illegal stealing and spying of american citizens who disagree with obama’s illegal efforts.
Russia still sells satellite image&sound from even the 1970`s anywhere on earth.Since the space cam god view&sound scanning our solar system has been a fish bowl.Howard robard hughes Jr had 100,000s of invention patents worth trillions over the years now.One person isn`t allowed to have that much power and control or intel.Summer game in japan 1964 worlds first worldwide broadcast vis hughes`s satellites.All taken away by fall 1964 by lobby owned governator`SS^^^s comm commissioners.No real human rights anywhere even for daddy warbucks hughes or mother jean peters
when howard hughes was alive 30% controlled 70% of the money in the USA since howard hughes was napped to mexico with knights of C help and netwookies now all owned by sinclar brain washed sirs&knights broadcasters.Either you work for the 1% or they murder you.You cant fire up the people as we the people are not in control-the 1% owns the world and all the goverments game over.I wasn`t allowed a name or a dime of any of my vertual slavery moneys or any of my father howard hughes`s or my mother jean peters.I was human traffied since the start by my studio owned mother jean peters and I was bait for my father howard hughes murder.NO DNA will ever be allowed or seen and I will be half dead since 1967 bullets in the brain all busted up burned beaten stabbed dragged and stomped not one inch has`nt been wounded BUT I lived though all thier hit teams and murder attempts BUT they will get me sooner or later like everyone I knew.A fox bat with covid attempt five years ago by a HHMI puppet who ripped off even my sperm in 1979 HHMI knows who I-am a hidden hughes.Russian hit teams got busted trying to doffy me off-off along with mexican gangs on and on and on it goes.Move to a island russia an`t safe either
The REAL world isn`t pretty as far as human rights go-you should have known that and not fought a war you can not win.No one ever has the rich get rich the rest get dead just like a school of fish
Turns out we know why they started their surveillance program. planned demic