ITWire

Wow, talk about spooky. If a discussion paper on “reforms” to national security ever becomes law, your Internet and phone data could be stored by ISPs for two years, so Govt spies can make sure you’re not a terrorist.

Ok, so that’s simplifying things tremendously, but take a look at the discussion paper at this Australian Federal Government website, which is, admittedly, an “inquiry” – but one “into potential reforms of National Security Legislation”.

The paper and the gov’t committee behind it has “been asked to examine a package of national security ideas comprising proposals for telecommunications interception reform, telecommunications sector security reform and Australian intelligence community legislation reform”, with submissions to this inquiry due by August 6, and both public and private hearings to come.

In other words, this inquiry is about spy stuff around the stuff you do on the computer and on the phone, and gov't agencies getting ever more power to do so.

As if we need more government intrusion into our lives! The bastards are already now taxing the air we breathe through the carbon dioxide tax.

“The Greens” rolled out its Senator Scott Ludlam, who told Australia’s Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that “I think it's unjustified. Australians should have a right to privacy online. Firstly, we will see an unwarranted expansion of security agencies and other agencies and the second thing we will see is the phone companies and internet forced to retain all of your private data for a period of years so it can be gone back over”.

Senator Ludlam’s words are hard to trust or take seriously, for any eventual “Greens” utopia would likely make Stalin and Mao look like amateurs, but let us take the Senator at his word and agree with him that “Australians should have a right to privacy online”.

Australia’s Attorney-General, Nicola Roxon, also used her powers of “Government speak” to assure Australians via the ABC that no government decisions about these worrying new spy proposals have been made as yet, even going so far as to assure Australians that “privacy safeguards” would be strengthened.

Still, how private are things really if the Government can FORCE you to divulge your password? Adelaide Now reports that if the changes go through as planned, "Australians would be forced to hand over their computer passwords."

Ultimately, if you take “there will be no carbon tax” politicians at their word, you can rest easy – you’ll never be spied on any more than you are being spied on already.

So, please, forget you ever read this – government operatives of all political stripes surely have only your best interests at heart. Nothing to worry about, right? Riiiiight. Just give us your password, thanks.