{"id":37183,"date":"2013-12-02T12:00:22","date_gmt":"2013-12-02T12:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=37183"},"modified":"2015-05-05T22:20:16","modified_gmt":"2015-05-05T21:20:16","slug":"revealed-australian-spy-agency-offered-to-share-data-about-ordinary-citizens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2013\/12\/revealed-australian-spy-agency-offered-to-share-data-about-ordinary-citizens\/","title":{"rendered":"Revealed: Australian Spy Agency Offered to Share Data about Ordinary Citizens"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li><i>Secret 5-Eyes document shows surveillance partners discussing what information they can pool about their citizens<\/i><\/li>\n<li><i>DSD indicated it could provide material without some privacy restraints imposed by other countries such as Canada<\/i><\/li>\n<li><i>Medical, legal or religious information &#8216;not automatically limited&#8217;<\/i><\/li>\n<li><i>Concern that intelligence agency could be &#8216;operating outside its legal mandate&#8217;<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"attachment_37184\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/spying.jpg\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-37184\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-37184\" alt=\"The secret document shows the partners discussing whether or not to share citizens' &quot;medical, legal or religious information&quot;. Photograph: Kacper Pempel\/Reuters \" src=\"http:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/spying-300x180.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"180\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/spying-300x180.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/spying.jpg 460w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-37184\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The secret document shows the partners discussing whether or not to share citizens&#8217; &#8220;medical, legal or religious information&#8221;. Photograph: Kacper Pempel\/Reuters<\/p><\/div>\n<p><i>2 Dec 2013 &#8211; <\/i>Australia&#8217;s surveillance agency offered to share information collected\u00a0about ordinary Australian citizens with its major intelligence\u00a0partners, according to a secret 2008 document leaked by the US\u00a0whistleblower Edward Snowden.<\/p>\n<p>The document shows the partners discussing whether or not to\u00a0share &#8220;medical, legal or religious information&#8221;, and increases concern\u00a0that the agencyould be operating outside its legal mandate, according to the human rights lawyer\u00a0Geoffrey Robertson QC.<\/p>\n<p>The Australian intelligence agency, then known as the Defence Signals\u00a0Directorate (DSD), indicated it could share bulk material without some\u00a0of the privacy restraints imposed by other countries, such as Canada.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;DSD can share bulk, unselected, unminimised metadata as long as there\u00a0is no intent to target an Australian national,&#8221; notes from an\u00a0intelligence conference say. &#8220;Unintentional collection is not viewed\u00a0as a significant issue.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The agency acknowledged that more substantial interrogation of the material would, however, require a warrant.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/spying2.jpeg\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-37185\" alt=\"spying2\" src=\"http:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/spying2-300x195.jpeg\" width=\"300\" height=\"195\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/spying2-300x195.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/spying2.jpeg 460w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/spying3.jpeg\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-37186\" alt=\"spying3\" src=\"http:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/spying3-300x63.jpeg\" width=\"300\" height=\"63\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/spying3-300x63.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/spying3.jpeg 460w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Metadata is the information we all generate whenever we use\u00a0technology, from the date and time of a phone call to the location\u00a0from which an email is sent.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Bulk, unselected, unminimised metadata&#8221;\u00a0means that this data is in its raw state, and nothing has been deleted\u00a0or redacted in order to protect the privacy of ordinary citizens who\u00a0might have been caught in the dragnet. Metadata can present a very\u00a0complete picture of someone&#8217;s life.<\/p>\n<p>The working document, marked secret, sheds new light on the extent to which\u00a0intelligence agencies at that time were considering sharing\u00a0information with foreign surveillance partners, and it provides\u00a0further confirmation that, to some extent at least, there is\u00a0warrantless surveillance of Australians&#8217; personal metadata.<\/p>\n<p>The DSD joined its four intelligence-sharing partners \u2013 the US,\u00a0Britain, Canada and New Zealand, collectively known as 5-Eyes \u2013 to\u00a0discuss what could and what could not be shared under the different jurisdictions at a meeting hosted by\u00a0Britain\u2019s GCHQ at its headquarters in Cheltenham on 22-23 April,\u00a02008.<\/p>\n<p>The notes, published today by Guardian Australia, suggest that Australia was open to pooling bulk\u00a0data that almost certainly includes information about Australian\u00a0citizens.<\/p>\n<p>Clearly indicating the different attitudes between the intelligence\u00a0partners, the Canadians insisted that bulk collection could only be\u00a0shared if information about its citizens was first &#8220;minimised\u201d,\u00a0meaning deleted or removed. The various techniques used in\u00a0&#8220;minimisation&#8221; help protect citizens&#8217; privacy.<\/p>\n<p>The GCHQ memo taker, reporting on this, said that \u201cbulk, unselected\u00a0metadata presents too high a risk to share with second parties at this\u00a0time because of the requirement to ensure that the identities of\u00a0Canadians or persons in Canada are minimised, but re-evaluation of\u00a0this stance is ongoing\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>By contrast, DSD, now renamed the Australian Signals Directorate, offered a broader sweep of material to its partners.<\/p>\n<p>DSD offered to share bulk, unselected, unminimised metadata \u2013 although\u00a0there were specific caveats.\u00a0The note taker at the meeting writes: \u201cHowever, if a \u2018pattern of life\u2019\u00a0search detects an Australian then there would be a need to contact DSD\u00a0and ask them to obtain a ministerial warrant to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A &#8220;pattern of life&#8221; search is more detailed one \u2013 joining the dots to\u00a0build up a portrait of an individual\u2019s daily activities.<\/p>\n<p>It is technically possible to strip out the metadata of Australian\u00a0nationals from bulk collection methods used by the 5-Eyes countries,\u00a0such as cable taps \u2013 ensuring the information is not stored, and so\u00a0could not be pulled in to searches and investigations by agents.<\/p>\n<p>The Snowden documents reveal Australia\u2019s intelligence\u00a0services instead offered to leave the data in its raw state.<\/p>\n<p>Australian politicians have insisted that all surveillance undertaken is in accordance with the law.<\/p>\n<p>But Geoffrey Robertson, writing in the Guardian today, says if what was described in the memo took place, this would be a\u00a0breach of sections eight and 12 of the Intelligence Services Act 2001. The\u00a0act sets a strict requirement that ministerial authorisation is\u00a0required if the data of an Australian citizen is involved, and\u00a0indicates that the citizen must be a &#8220;person of interest&#8221;, such as\u00a0someone involved in terrorism or organised crime.<\/p>\n<p>The Cheltenham gathering, which appears to have been convened to\u00a0consider the issues around the burgeoning collection of metadata and to reach common positions, resolved to avoid pre-emptive efforts to categorise various materials and &#8220;simply focus on what is shareable in bulk&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>The memo flags privacy concerns around the collection of various types\u00a0of data, but the meeting, according to the record, resolved not to set\u00a0&#8220;automatic limitations&#8221; \u2013 leaving judgment calls to each country&#8217;s own\u00a0agencies.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Consideration was given as to whether any types of data were\u00a0prohibited, for example medical, legal, religious or restricted\u00a0business information, which may be regarded as an intrusion of\u00a0privacy,&#8221; the memo says.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Given the nascent state of many of these data types then no, or\u00a0limited, precedents have been set with respect to proportionality or\u00a0propriety, or whether different legal considerations applies to the &#8216;ownership&#8217; of this data compared with the\u00a0communications data that we were more accustomed to handle.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It was agreed that the conference should not seek to set any\u00a0automatic limitations, but any such difficult cases would have to be\u00a0considered by &#8216;owning&#8217; agency on a case-by-case basis.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/spying4.jpeg\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-37187\" alt=\"spying4\" src=\"http:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/spying4-300x100.jpeg\" width=\"300\" height=\"100\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/spying4-300x100.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/spying4.jpeg 460w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The document also shows the agencies considering disclosure to\u00a0&#8220;non-intelligence agencies&#8221;. It says: &#8220;Asio and the Australian federal police are currently reviewing how Sigint [signals intelligence] information can be used by\u00a0non-intelligence agencies.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/spying5.jpeg\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-37188\" alt=\"spying5\" src=\"http:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/spying5-300x65.jpeg\" width=\"300\" height=\"65\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/spying5-300x65.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/spying5.jpeg 460w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The record of the Cheltenham meeting does not indicate whether the\u00a0activities under discussion in April 2008 progressed to final\u00a0decisions or specific actions. It appears to be a working draft.<\/p>\n<p>Since Snowden leaked the NSA documents to the Guardian and the\u00a0Washington Post in May, controversy has raged around the world over\u00a0revelations that surveillance agencies are collecting information in\u00a0bulk about ordinary citizens&#8217; day-to-day activities, without first\u00a0getting a warrant.<\/p>\n<p>In Australia, the Greens party and the South Australian independent\u00a0senator Nick Xenophon have been pursuing questions about the extent to\u00a0which Australian citizens have been caught up in the dragnet, and the\u00a0extent of Australian intelligence agencies&#8217; involvement.<\/p>\n<p>So far, those questions have largely met with stonewalling, both under\u00a0the previous Labor government and the new Abbott administration.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2013\/dec\/02\/revealed-australian-spy-agency-offered-to-share-data-about-ordinary-citizens?CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2\" >Go to Original \u2013 theguardian.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2 Dec 2013 &#8211; Australia&#8217;s surveillance agency offered to share information collected about ordinary Australian citizens with its major intelligence partners, according to a secret 2008 document leaked by the US whistleblower Edward Snowden. The document shows the partners discussing whether or not to share &#8220;medical, legal or religious information&#8221;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-whistleblowing-surveillance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37183\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}