Changes to the police use of listening and tracking devices are going through the state parliament - and civil liberties people will be alarmed.
At present, police must apply to a court for a warrant to place each and every listening or tracking device they wish to install. This is time consuming and the new legislation allows a single warrant to authorise multiple numbers of such devices.
The present legislation requires that warrants be reapplied at the duration of twenty-one day periods. This will be extended to a ninety day time frame.
The new clause quietly inserted into the legislation removes the necessity for police to have a warrant at all within a five day initial period.
If this is approved the police will have absolute discretion to install listening devices and cameras in your home, your workplace or in your car and record your activities for five days.
What a wonderful opportunity for " fishing expeditions " in the hope of being able to lay a charge.
This legislation carries the usual response that it is necessary to assist our detection of terrorism - but there are no restrictions on it's use and therefore all citizens are fair game to be bugged by law enforcement.
It seems that the days of personal privacy are long gone. The concept of " innocent until proved guilty " has been modified to allow the most intimate surveillance of our living quarters - including the bedroom and bathroom - on the basis that we may be guilty of a crime - and that the police have the right to any personal information that may lead to a conviction.
The word " innocent " has been replaced by the terminology " suspect until confirmed to be innocent ".
No comments:
Post a Comment