The Age yesterday revealed the existence of a spying agreement between Australia’s Defence Signals Directorate (DSD) and the Security and Intelligence Division of Singapore’s Ministry of Defence. Under the agreement, all communications carried along the undersea cable between Australia and Singapore are being intercepted by both nations, while the UK and US have been tapping other cables that carry much private Australian data[1].
A nameless Defence Intelligence Officer was quoted as saying that this access “gives the 5-eyes [intelligence alliance] and our partners like Singapore a stranglehold on communications across the Eastern Hemisphere.” The 5-Eyes Alliance consists of the US, UK, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
Pirate Party Australia is unfortunately not suprised by this development, given the ongoing exposure of various worldwide surveillance programs and agreements that have created an enormous web in which citizens of all involved nations have been trapped[2][3].
“We have stated previously that it appeared Australia was deeply involved in mass surveillance of its citizens and those of its allies, and now we have solid proof,” said Thomas Randle, Pirate Party Senate candidate for Tasmania. “All of our private communications are recorded for security agents in Australia and elsewhere to pore through at their leisure. The Australian people have a reasonable expectation of privacy and honest, transparent government, which is not being met. We are instead treated as suspects, our private data being secretly stored on the off-chance that we become of interest in the future.”
The secret intelligence agreement is said to have been behind the Howard Government’s approval of SingTel’s take-over of Optus as it worked in close cooperation with the Security and Intelligence Division of Singapore’s Ministry of Defence[4]. This demonstrates that there has been a long-held agenda to gain access to all of the world’s communications by the 5-Eyes Alliance and its partners, like the Singaporean Government.
“Both major parties have been complicit in this hidden agenda to access the world’s communications. The Australian public has been kept in the dark for too long, and it is only through the bravery of whistleblowers, such as Edward Snowden, that we have been able to discover the truth. Both major parties need to come clean on Australia’s involvement in mass warrantless surveillance,” continued Mr Randle.
“Pirate Party Australia is committed to improving legal oversight to control the scope of law enforcement and intelligence agency surveillance, including limiting access to private data. Private information should only be accessible where there is sufficient reason for a judicial officer to grant a warrant. Treating all citizens as suspects is damaging to democracy, dignity and the individual’s mental well-being, and must be stopped,” he concluded.
[1] http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/australian-spies-in-global-deal-to-tap-undersea-cables-20130828-2sr58.html
[2] https://pirateparty.org.au/2013/08/01/australia-complicit-in-us-surveillance-scandal-pirate-candidates-demand-answers/
[3] https://pirateparty.org.au/2013/08/26/pirate-party-demands-australian-government-answers-on-spying-involvement/
[4] http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/australian-spies-in-global-deal-to-tap-undersea-cables-20130828-2sr58.html