When good is not good enough
Evaluating the proportionality and necessity of the Australian government hacking warrants
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15309544 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Francis Maxwell (0000-0002-3465-8017, University of New South Wales - Kensington Campus, Kensington, Australia, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 34 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 136-154 |
| Publication date | 2022-03-19 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Current Issues in Criminal Justice (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1034-5329 • E-ISSN: 2206-9542 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/10345329.2022.2046934 |
| OpenAlex | W4220803439 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 41 |
In August 2021, the Commonwealth government passed the Surveillance Legislation Amendment (Identify and Disrupt) Act 2021 (Cth), authorising warrants that enable government hacking for investigation of past or future crimes. This article analyses the Act to understand the potential intrusions of data disruption warrants on the privacy of individuals. Taking the importance of privacy as extending beyond the individual to the collective political health of the community, it assesses whether the intrusions on privacy by data disruption warrants are limited to what is necessary to address problems that are demonstrated by the government, and whether its use is limited to what is proportionate to achieve these legitimate aims. The analysis reveals there has been some attempt by the government to ensure necessity and proportionality. However, there are significant shortcomings to these safeguards that must be ameliorated. Further, the analysis demonstrates that the government justified these new powers with disproportionate reference to the need to curb online child sexual exploitation. The Act offers a compelling case study of securitisation of online child sexual exploitation to legitimate wide-ranging changes to digital surveillance powers. Recommendations are made for the urgent improvement of the Act
Business · Commonwealth · Computer security · Government (linguistics · Hacker · Internet privacy · Law and economics · Legislation · Legislature · Political science · Politics · Proportionality (law · Public relations · Sociology · Computer Science · Crime, Deviance, and Social Control · Cybercrime and Law Enforcement Studies · Law · Sex work and related issues
Australia’s encryption laws
Security
Folk Devils and Moral Panics
Balance or Trade-off? Online Security Technologies and Fundamental Rights
Reconstructing the sexual abuse of children
The Rise and Restraint of the Preventive State
The limits of (digital) constitutionalism
Lawful Illegality
Technology, Law, and the Formation of (il)Liberal Democracy
To find the needle do you need the whole haystack? Global surveillance and principled regulation
The Police Hack Back
Moral panics and social work
Failure To Launch
Governing Liberty Through Accountability
The Two Western Cultures of Privacy
Children, civilianhood, and humanitarian securitization
A Disruptive Influence? "Prevent-ing" Problems and Countering Violent Extremism Policy in Practice
| Highly cited | No |
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