A leak reported by the Guardian yesterday has revealed yet further information on the extent of the US National Security Agency’s worldwide surveillance operations. The leaks, provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden, indicate that NSA analysts have been permitted near-unrestricted access to vast databases of ’emails, online chats and the browsing histories of millions of individuals’. This includes data relating to citizens worldwide, including Australia. The newly released slides are explicit in naming Australia, and prove that Australian spy agencies are recipents of information collected by this program[1].
Training materials for the program, called XKeyscore, describe how databases can be mined by filling in a simple electronic form, providing only a minimal justification for the search. The Guardian reports that the form is not reviewed by a court or any NSA personnel before it is processed. The program collects nearly everything a typical Internet user does. The lack of legal or political oversight means this could be used on anyone in this country with no real justification. This suggests that Australian agencies have full access to our most private communications. Currenty there has been no formal public debate, announcements or acknowlegement from the government.
“I’m appalled by this latest revelation,” said Qld lead Senate candidate Melanie Thomas. “Not only is the NSA conducting a clandestine, warrantless surveillance program under the guise of the PATRIOT Act, but we now know that an NSA operator can uncover the most private communications by simply completing an electronic form. This is an outrageous abuse of civil liberties and totally negates the premise of ‘innocent until proven guilty.’ In fact, it reverses this legally recognised concept and criminalises everybody. Everyone is a suspect in the eyes of the NSA.”
One of the slides (number 6)[2] clearly shows four points where XKeyscore is based in Australia. Those points roughly correspond with Pine Gap, the Shoal Bay receiving station and several of the submarine communications cables linking Australia to the rest of the world. Another slide (number 24)[2] shows that XKeyscore collects information about computer systems that are vulnerable and could be exploited, connecting to another NSA project called TAO the existence of which was revealed recently[3].
“We renew our calls for answers from the Australian Government. At this point it is completely impossible for them to be unaware of what is being done here in our name, and we want answers. Nobody voted for complicity in global, dragnet Internet surveillance, and it must stop immediately,” said Brendan Molloy, lead NSW Senate candidate for the Pirate Party.
The implications of all these revelations are troubling and it should concern all Australians that Australian spy agencies may be using US surveillance programs and information-sharing agreements to bypass local restrictions and safeguards. As Australians, the US agencies see us as “foreign” and thus not even the minimal safeguards that apply to US citizens would apply to Australians under these programs.
[1] http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/31/nsa-top-secret-program-online-data
[2] http://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2013/jul/31/nsa-xkeyscore-program-full-presentation
[3] http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-05-23/how-the-u-dot-s-dot-government-hacks-the-world