Neighborhood watch. Iâd rather have security cameras thank you very much.
What? How is that even relavant to what the news is sayingâŚ
" Parliament should refuse to expand its use until the government can demonstrate it wonât be used to violate human rights or turn us all into criminal suspects."
Which obviously they will not and cannot do. The problem with these types of laws and systems- is that even if you âtrustâ the government that installs them (you shouldnât)- you may not be able to trust the next government. They call it âturn keyâ tyranny. The idea being that their is a system in place- and all it will take is for a fascist authoritarian government to come to power and âturn the keyâ- using this mass surveillance to control, intimidate, police, terrorise, imprison, or kill their enemies.
In this context the technology can be likened to Pandoras Box. Once it has been opened it cannot be closed. Also- it is potentially so powerful that it will prove irresistible to an entire class of Authoritarians and Corporate interests.
As AI evolves, linked with these mass surveillance technologies- we face a future worse than Gattaca- a place where the machines can see if you are depressed, antisocial, lying, or just conscientiously objecting to an immoral government. You can be denied a job- merely because of your facial expression- and you will never know or be told what happened. Once this type of power gets into the hands of corporations they could deny you insurance based on your âpersonality profileâ or âdisease markersâ they read off your face⌠and you will never know itâs happened.
And NONE of this is new: in the 1960âs ASIO routinely vetted applicants for jobs at the ABC and denied them- on the basis of their political affiliations or activism- and the applicants were never told- and had no right of reply. These types of powers have been abused in the past- and they will be abused in the future.
As we saw in the USA- many many people in Government were happy to approve such mass surveillance- and denounce Snowden for revealing the extent of such programs- right up until the point they found out that they themselves had been targeted. Suddenly they developed a belief int he right to privacy.
With systems like this in place- the machines and databases themselves will make resistance useless- as we will all potentially be blackmailed by our own data. All will fear that the power can be turned on them- and all will be silenced. Self-policing: the Pa-Opticon dystopian dream made reality.
And any fool who says only those with something to hide have something to fear: recall that ASIO has been given the power in Australia to go into someone computer and implant documents and data covertly- and that any journalists who reports on such an action faces years in prison. Thatâs right: In Australia ASIO has the power to plant evidence!
They will say- it is only to be used against the âterrorists and pedophilesâ so we mustnât worry our little heads⌠which brings me back to Turn key TyrannyâŚ
The only question left is: has the Key already been Turned?
Took it from one of the comments(from hn)
Learn about this as an american resident/citizen on an australian site:
https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/about/national-security/five-country-ministerial-2018/access-evidence-encryption
Learning from China?