Australia: Web spies monitor activists online for police

mich@el · 11-27-2008, 03:08 PM

Web spies monitor activists online for police, attorney-general - report

November 26, 2008 08:45am

http://www.news.com.au/technology/st...014239,00.html

* Police hired company to spy on activists online - reports
* Anti-war campaigners, environmental activists targeted
* Clean feed: Greens could block plans for internet filter

A PRIVATE intelligence company has been engaged by police to secretly monitor internet and email use by activist and protest groups, a report says.

The company was hired to monitor and report on the internet activities of anti-war campaigners, animal rights activists, environmental campaigners, and other protest groups, Fairfax Media reported.

It was hired by Victorian Police, the Australian Federal Police and the federal Attorney-General's department.

The Melbourne-based firm has for the past five years monitored websites, online chat rooms, social networking sites, email lists and bulletin boards, the report said.

It has gathered intelligence on planned protests and other activities, and many of those on the watch list have broken no laws, the report said.
Related stories

It also prepared threat assessments and intelligence reports for government agencies that included material from media reports, speeches, academic journals and publicly available company data, but no private correspondence was monitored.

The company was not named at the request of its management for fear extremists may target the firm.

The news comes a month after Victorian police were found to have targeted community and activist groups in a long-running covert operation.

kidflash2008 · 11-28-2008, 08:17 AM

It seems the whole world is headed toward a Big Brother totalitarian state. The governments want more and more power and control over their citizens. It seems the majority of people do not care, as long as they get their reality shows and video game downloads.

Mingus · 11-28-2008, 08:59 AM

That is how it works. What they don't count on is people who can critically think to do something. I have two goals: Be a politician or manage to buy a grocery store and make the groceries free somehow.

Mingus · 11-29-2008, 07:36 AM

If I became a politician, taxes wouldn't be the only thing I'd exempt from food. It's unfortunate that I have to wait for 2016 to run.

kidflash2008 · 11-30-2008, 07:53 AM

It's the people who front the money to the politicians who actually run things. They have never set foot in a grocery store (their staff does that). They tell the politicians what to do and the politicians do it or lose their jobs.

Mingus · 11-30-2008, 03:37 PM

Nah, I want to own a grocery store and hopefully a vast area of untouched ground so I can have some dodgeball/volleyball/"streetminton" (badminton without rules)/basketball gyms that are kinda sort of private. It'll be awesome.

My goal is to basically make money on "extra" things in society, that do as little damage to the environment as possible and still benefit the community. Either that or completely end frivolous lawmaking... seriously, we have entirely too many laws.

11-27-2008, 03:08 PM	#1
mich@el Junior Investigator Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: http://hellhound.org/simplemachinesforum/index.php Posts: 76	Australia: Web spies monitor activists online for police Web spies monitor activists online for police, attorney-general - report November 26, 2008 08:45am http://www.news.com.au/technology/st...014239,00.html * Police hired company to spy on activists online - reports * Anti-war campaigners, environmental activists targeted * Clean feed: Greens could block plans for internet filter A PRIVATE intelligence company has been engaged by police to secretly monitor internet and email use by activist and protest groups, a report says. The company was hired to monitor and report on the internet activities of anti-war campaigners, animal rights activists, environmental campaigners, and other protest groups, Fairfax Media reported. It was hired by Victorian Police, the Australian Federal Police and the federal Attorney-General's department. The Melbourne-based firm has for the past five years monitored websites, online chat rooms, social networking sites, email lists and bulletin boards, the report said. It has gathered intelligence on planned protests and other activities, and many of those on the watch list have broken no laws, the report said. Related stories It also prepared threat assessments and intelligence reports for government agencies that included material from media reports, speeches, academic journals and publicly available company data, but no private correspondence was monitored. The company was not named at the request of its management for fear extremists may target the firm. The news comes a month after Victorian police were found to have targeted community and activist groups in a long-running covert operation. __________________ "Not all who wander are lost"

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11-28-2008, 08:17 AM	#2
kidflash2008 Senior Investigator Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 1,699	It seems the whole world is headed toward a Big Brother totalitarian state. The governments want more and more power and control over their citizens. It seems the majority of people do not care, as long as they get their reality shows and video game downloads.

11-28-2008, 08:59 AM	#3
Mingus Investigator Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 325	That is how it works. What they don't count on is people who can critically think to do something. I have two goals: Be a politician or manage to buy a grocery store and make the groceries free somehow.

11-29-2008, 07:36 AM	#4
Mingus Investigator Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 325	If I became a politician, taxes wouldn't be the only thing I'd exempt from food. It's unfortunate that I have to wait for 2016 to run.

11-30-2008, 07:53 AM	#5
kidflash2008 Senior Investigator Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 1,699	It's the people who front the money to the politicians who actually run things. They have never set foot in a grocery store (their staff does that). They tell the politicians what to do and the politicians do it or lose their jobs.

11-30-2008, 03:37 PM	#6
Mingus Investigator Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 325	Nah, I want to own a grocery store and hopefully a vast area of untouched ground so I can have some dodgeball/volleyball/"streetminton" (badminton without rules)/basketball gyms that are kinda sort of private. It'll be awesome. My goal is to basically make money on "extra" things in society, that do as little damage to the environment as possible and still benefit the community. Either that or completely end frivolous lawmaking... seriously, we have entirely too many laws.