Australian customs officers have been given new powers to search incoming travellers’ laptops and mobile phones for pornography, a spokeswoman for the Australian sex industry says.
Fiona Patten, president of the Australian Sex Party, is demanding an inquiry into why a new question appears on Incoming Passenger Cards asking people if they are carrying “pornography”.
Patten said officials now had an unfettered right to examine travellers’ electronic devices, marking the beginning of a new era of official investigation into people’s private lives. She questioned whether it was appropriate to search people for legal R18+ and X18+ material.
[…]
Customs has not yet commented on Patten’s claims, with a spokesman saying a response was still being formulated.However, it is understood that the “pornography” question has appeared on Incoming Passenger Cards since September last year. The change was only spotted by Patten earlier this month and it had received little to no coverage in the media.
Colin Jacobs, chairman of the lobby group Electronic Frontiers Australia, said the change appeared to have sneaked under the radar “without any public consultation about the massive privacy issues”.
Snappy enough title?
This title is so misleading!
Please summarize the entire article accurately in the title so I can decide whether or not to click it!
Otherwise I compulsively click it! I can’t help myself!
And you wonder whats happening on the US/Canada border..
tHEY DID THIS BACK IN THE bush DAYS, ABOUT 2-3 YEARS AGO..
Wonder how much porn can be concealed on a micro card?
Could be concealed quite easily I would have thought for later backloading into the computer.
I’m pretty dim, and I thought of this straight away so I can imagine that the more intelligent will have come up with this and other avoidance methods.
I would have thought that the best preventative measure would be to ban all computers from coming into the country. Also all mobile phones.
Peace on earth – at last.
Norman,
you may not know but Aussie Politicians, have been trying to restrict access to INTERNATIONAL porn sites and others, for almost 8 years(?). They are going to try a 3rd time, to control and regulate it..
The restriction is SAID to be against CHILD PORN, but includes ALL PORN.
regulations down there are being PUSHED by religious fanatics(christians) that think they KNOW what is good for everyone.
ITS fun to pass laws, that no one will/can/wants to enforce.
@ECA
How do these religious idiots get elected? Surely the Australian public isn’t against porn?
Wasn’t Mary Magdelena a prostitute? If so it would be 100% Christian to support the oldest profession and anything similar like porn.
Krystal_Steal.jpg – yeah!
I am going to have no guilt from killing politicians when the revolution comes. I will volunteer to man the guillotine. Man I hate those holier than thou frakkers.
$5 says their customs agents will do what every IT tech would do.
Copy all that shit! 🙂
Thumb drive
We don’t only need to worry about the Muslim Taliban. “Free” countries have their own, including us Murricans.
ALL organized religion is a disease on humankind.
What is the legal definition of pornography? Nudity? Partial nudity? Skimpy bikinis? Brazilian fart porn?
My Aussie Brothers…
(1) Get and install Truecrypt. Create a virtual volume.
(2) Use GRC Perfect Password to generate yourself a nice strong password for your Truecrypt. Backup this password on a couple of thumbdrives lefts at home.
(3) Stick your porn in the Truecrypt vault. It is none of the government’s biz what is on your HDD.
(4) Learn to use Porn Mode on your browser so that your web surfing history and cache aren’t there for them to review.
You actually should be putting all your private material on an encrypted volume. Other countries may be more strict than AU. If you connect through Singapore, or UAE, they have the right to inspect your HDD, and you know they are a lot worse than Oz.
Also, keep in mind that in some countries their intelligence services have a reputation as corporate espionage spies working on behalf of their own state sponsored industries. I would fully expect to have my HDD copied by China if I was there. France also has a long history of this too.
My point is, if you are traveling across international borders, then expect to have all your digital media copied and analyzed. Even if they “borrow” your laptop for 15 minutes, that may be long enough for them to make a quick copy for later offline analysis.
#5,
its NOT that they are elected.
Its a mailing campaign.. The few that ARE elected, Slam the others with all the letters and comments.
Its also Anti religious groups, against all the muslims entering the country. That WANT to live by THEIR code/laws Rather then the Countries laws.
I also think its PARTLY, about Surveillance issues. Australia, is in a Great spot to monitor whats happening in the middle East. You pass 1-2 laws to cover what is happening, other pick up on the Subject and RAM HOME protectionism.. PROTECT the kids, ends up against PORN.
http://techdirt.com/articles/20100518/0153249457.shtml
Do a search here for Australia.. They have been following it up.
http://techdirt.com/articles/20100328/2219588754.shtml
“With the latest in a long line of attempts by the Australian gov’t to censor the internet in a manner similar to China, it seems that its plans have finally caught the attention of the US government. The State Department has apparently raised concerns about the plan with the Australian government. The specifics of the comments to the Australian gov’t were not made clear beyond “we have raised our concerns on this matter.” Of course, those comments might carry a bit more weight if US politicians didn’t keep suggesting similar (if not quite as stringent) plans in the US as well…”
My comment goes like this..
If, Im leading my life to HELL, dont I have the right to enjoy it? And others shouldnt I have the RIGHT to change it.
Most people in OZ aren’t supposed to be religious. Why are these people obsessed about porn?
I can understand Priests, Rabbis, Mullahs, and maybe Shamans but why in Sam Hill would an agnostic or Atheists give a crap?
To me their behavior seems completely irrational.
#15 Deowll
God botherers have balance of power in the senate and are over-represented in government.
@#5 – Common myth which has no basis in fact.
@#8 – Yeah, it so will happen.