Edward Snowden: should Australians be worried?

Responsibility over Australian communications security agencies is complex. At a ministerial level it is divided between the Minister for Defence (presumably responsible for all DSD activities), the Attorney-General (handling ASIO), and the Prime Minister (presiding over everyone). They must collectively weigh up security threats and not necessarily be caught up with US or UK approaches to domestic surveillance. In conjunction with careful political and administrative decisions there should be adherence to the spirit and letter of the law, including relevant communications legislation.

At other levels those "watching the watchers" include the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security and also the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, both having oversight of the Australian Intelligence Community. Another entity, the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor, reviews “the operation, effectiveness and implications of Australia’s counter-terrorism and national security legislation on an ongoing basis” .

A major safeguard that should not be circumvented in Australia is the system of warrants and the judiciary. Relevant judges who approve warrants for phone-taps must be sufficiently informed of the technical implications of these warrants. Are the warrants specific enough but still effective?

Communications surveillance is an extraordinarily complex area. Political and legal oversight might be constant, but we normal citizens are not told much. So how are we to know? But now and then, happenings in the US and even China’s semi-free Hong Kong, remind us of the possible extent of surveillance.

How closely we might be watched is a mystery Edward Snowden has partially revealed. Edward has apparently handed over “thousands” of documents to The Guardian and “dozens” may be newsworthy, so what we’ve seen so far might be minor. Whether Edward is whistle-blower or traitor is a philosophical and legal question. America’s CIA, NSA and President Obama are probably wishing we “foreigners” were not becoming so well informed.