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AUSTRALIAN DIARY



ARCHIVES 1997-2007  --- ARCHIVES 2007 +
 
 
NOVEMBER 2013
 

SNOWDEN & MURDOCH & CAMERON AND AUSTRALIA

Last month I called David Cameron, PM of UK a hypocrite.

Now the proverbial has hit the fan in Australia.  Snowden papers show that ASIO (Australian Security Intelligence Organisation) has been dipping into Indonesian telecommunications.  The Indonesians are outraged.  If David Cameron can be outraged by "News Of The World's" Rebekah Brooks hacking phones in the UK, then how much more is the Indonesian government entitled to be outraged about ASIO hacking their personal communications?

The world has moved on, and old ideas of privacy just do not work.  It is ridiculous that I cannot take photographs in public spaces and not publish them (on say Facebook) without getting permission from various public bodies and persons, or be at risk of legal action for invasion of privacy.

If people do not want people trespassing on their land, they must provide unclimbable fences and locked gates.  If people do not want others to overhear their conversations, they should conduct them in secure locations.  If people do not want their image appearing in published photographs, they should only appear in public wearing clothing that covers those parts of their bodies that they want to keep private.

Perhaps the average non nerd does not realise just how vulnerable the mobile phone network is.  I am totally uninterested in buying or building a scanner and listening in on telephone conversations between neighbours and third parties.  But I know that it would be easy to do.  So if I had a communication that I wanted to keep private, I would not use a phone.

What we need to do is abolish any "right to privacy".  It is as unenforceable as are our gun control laws.  That is because criminals have handguns, but the good guys obey the law and don't.  This gives the rest of us a false sense of security, because we don't see handguns anywhere except on the belts of policemen.  Until we are confronted by the gun wielding criminal who kills or robs us.

In like manner, all the bad guys can listen in on your mobile phone calls, and because the good guys can't, you get a false sense of security.

So a message to David Cameron and Tony Abbott and Barak Obama.  Admit you were wrong.  All of you should enact laws that abolish privacy.  Otherwise you must apologise to Indonesia and withdraw the legal actions against Manning, Assange and Snowden and
Rebekah Brooks.

If you insist that invasion of privacy is prohibited for your citizens, then to remain consistent you must hold an inquiry and gaol the ministers and officials who were responsible for invading other nation's privacy.

Who was Foreign Minister in Australia at the relevant time?  Was it Rudd?  Who was responsible for foreign affairs in USA?  Was it Hillary?  Who initiated presecution of
Rebekah Brooks?  Was that Cameron?  Who runs the NSA?  OK.  I don't mind if those people serve time.


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