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NSA Files: Australian Spy Agency Open to Sharing Data on Ordinary Citizens

The Australian intelligence agency wanted to share more data than other Five Eyes members

Dec 2, 2013 12:11 GMT  ·  By
The Snowden files indicate Australia had no issues in sharing local data
   The Snowden files indicate Australia had no issues in sharing local data

Australia is part of the Five Eyes, alongside the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Canada, which means it agreed to share data it gathers, but also not to spy on any of the allies.

According to a new leak published by the Guardian Australia, notes from an intelligence conference hosted by the UK in 2008, the five nations discussed just how much sharing they should actually do.

Among all the nations, it was Australia’s Defense Signals Directorate that was willing to the furthest when it came to sharing data on the country’s citizens.

“DSD can share bulk, unselected, unminimized metadata as long as there is no intent to target an Australian national. Unintentional collection is not viewed as a significant issue,” one document reads. More substantial interrogation of the material would require a warrant, the agency stated.

Basically, the bulk data, completely unfiltered, would get shared by the Australian government, but getting the bigger picture on an Australian citizen required a higher clearance.

“However, if a ‘pattern of life’ search detects an Australian then there would be a need to contact DSD and ask them to obtain a ministerial warrant to continue,” the conference notes read.

“Patterns of life” are what occurs when metadata is put together. While the officials have said numerous times that it’s “just metadata,” this type of information actually covers a wide range of details that can actually paint a pretty clear picture of an individual, including their habits, religious behavior and working schedule, to name just a few.

A human rights lawyer, Geoffrey Robertson, told the newspaper that, based on the leaked files, the Australian spy agency went beyond the realm of the law.

“This would be a breach of sections 8 and 12 of the Intelligence Services Act 2001. Snowden’s evidence that DSD ignored this law (or was ignorant of its correct interpretation) raised the prospect that law-abiding Australians have had their personal data wrongfully collected and transmitted to bodies which may use it to damage them,” Robertson said.