In an attempt to combat crime in the online sphere, the Australian Government is pushing to radically expand its law enforcement powers, which some argue, will come at the cost of peoples’ privacy and civil liberties.

The Surveillance Legislation Amendment (Identify and Disrupt) Bill 2020  is designed to mitigate severe crimes such as terrorism. The Bill, if passed, will permit law enforcement officials to:

• use “network activity warrants” to digitally infiltrate individuals suspected of serious online offences;

• enforce a “convert power” to use a “data disruption warrant” and alter data during the course of an investigation, and

• conduct an “account takeover” by permitting law enforcement to seize someone’s online account without their permission or knowledge to obtain data on potential victims and crimes.

Researchers and legal experts who have scrutinised this law say that one issue with this proposed reform is that it has bypassed any community consultation. With such overreaching and sweeping powers, innocent civilians could be negatively impacted, especially when there are limited checks and balances in place.

Law Council President, Pauline Wright, provided that from the criteria, thresholds and process of the issuing and enforcement these warrants, it is evident that accompanying safeguards must be in introduced. 

Itt will be interesting to see how (or if) the Australian Government will respond and what countermeasures they will implement to address privacy concerns.

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