Terror threat used as excuse to invade employee privacy
April 14, 2008 – 8:03 am
New laws allowing bosses to read your private emails without your consent could be passed as early as next year in order to protect Australia from terrorist attacks. I kid you not.
Federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland told the media he is aware of the potential invasions of privacy that the proposal could allow, but insisted that it was necessary.
Of course, terrorists wouldn’t actually be impacted by these new laws. They could just use their home computers or Hotmail accounts to send emails, leaving only the privacy of everyday Australians to be breached.
And how are bosses supposed to recognize an email that is ‘terrorist’ related. It’s not like Barry from Barry’s Plumbing and Drainage is exactly trained in counterterrorism. Maybe they’ll need to forward their staff’s email to ASIO for examination?
The Government is crying out with the same the old story we heard so much from Howard and the United States; the only way to avert terrorist attacks is to continue hacking away at our rights. Someone pull these guys into line, please.
2 Responses to “Terror threat used as excuse to invade employee privacy”
This is balderdash. There is a steady progression of control by “higher authorities”.
I was hoping the defeat of the Howard government would put a brake on this. Unfortunately Ms Gillard is still pushing the same line.
My argument always has been if an employer cannot by law intercept telephone calls neither should they be able to intercept other electronic communications.
The terrorism argument is rubbish. Keep up the good work exposing what’s happening.
By Terrence on Apr 14, 2008
Looks like McClelland wanted Gillard to keep her mouth shut.
By Mike on Apr 15, 2008