Sam is a dedicated digital rights activist, privacy advocate and writer who regularly contributes to public debate on technology, power and human rights. She is currently undertaking a PhD at Monash University, researching the impact of emerging technologies on housing justice in Australia.
The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS) is conducting a review of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Amendment Bill 2020.
In the 20 years of the “war on terror” Australia has led from the front in expanding powers for law enforcement and ramping up surveillance at the expense of public rights and freedoms.
Facial recognition technology has been deployed across Australia and around the world. It’s in the streets, at major sporting events and at the 7/11. Most alarmingly, it’s increasingly being used by law enforcement and government at all levels – all without any of us getting a say.
There are good reasons to be concerned about TikTok, but it should be part of a larger conversation around privacy and surveillance capitalism.
While it may be easy to laugh off some of the more ridiculous things spouted by our oft-out-of-touch politicians, it would be unwise to underestimate the power, impact and potential harm of their messaging.
The government sure has asked for a lot of trust from the public recently. Australians have been asked to disregard a long history of overreach, scope creep, data breaches and abuses of power, in favour of a request to take the government on their word about the COVIDSafe App because ’this time it’s different – we promise!'