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The secret sauce of Coles’ and Woolworths’ profits: high-tech surveillance and control

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lauren-kate-kelly-1262424">Lauren Kate Kelly</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a> Coles and Woolworths, the supermarket chains that together control <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-20/woolworths-coles-supermarket-tactics-grocery-four-corners/103405054">almost two-thirds</a> of the Australian grocery market, are facing unprecedented scrutiny. One recent inquiry, commissioned by the Australian Council of Trade Unions and led by former Australian Consumer and Competition Commission chair Allan Fels, found the pair engaged in unfair pricing practices; an ongoing <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Supermarket_Prices/SupermarketPrices">Senate inquiry into food prices</a> is looking at how these practices are linked to inflation; and the ACCC has just begun <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/inquiries-and-consultations/supermarkets-inquiry-2024-25">a government-directed inquiry</a> into potentially anti-competitive behaviour in Australia’s supermarkets. Earlier this week, the two companies also came under the gaze of the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-19/super-power-the-cost-of-living-with-coles-and-woolworths/103486508">ABC current affairs program Four Corners</a>. Their respective chief executives each gave somewhat prickly interviews, and Woolworths chief Brad Banducci <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-21/woolworths-ceo-brad-banducci-retirement-four-corners/103493418">announced his retirement</a> two days after the program aired. A focus on the power of the supermarket duopoly is long overdue. However, one aspect of how Coles and Woolworths exercise their power has received relatively little attention: a growing high-tech infrastructure of surveillance and control that pervades retail stores, warehouses, delivery systems and beyond. <h2>Every customer a potential thief</h2> As the largest private-sector employers and providers of essential household goods, the supermarkets play an outsized role in public life. Indeed, they are such familiar places that technological developments there may fly under the radar of public attention. Coles and Woolworths are both implementing technologies that treat the supermarket as a “problem space” in which workers are controlled, customers are tracked and profits boosted. For example, in response to a purported spike in shoplifting, a raft of customer surveillance measures have been introduced that treat every customer as a potential thief. This includes <a href="https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/food/eat/coles-introducing-new-technology-which-will-track-shoppers-every-move/news-story/86ea8d330f76df87f2235eeda4d1136e">ceiling cameras</a> which assign a digital ID to individuals and track them through the store, and <a href="https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/finance/consumer/2023/08/16/smart-gate-technology">“smart” exit gates</a> that remain closed until a purchase is made. Some customers have reported being “<a href="https://7news.com.au/lifestyle/coles-supermarketshoppers-dramatic-checkout-experience-goes-viral-i-was-trapped-c-12977760">trapped</a>” by the gate despite paying for their items, causing significant embarrassment. At least one Woolworths store has <a href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/woolies-in-wetherill-park-fitted-with-500-tiny-cameras-to-monitor-stock-levels/news-story/585de8c741ae9f520adcc4005f2a736a">installed 500 mini cameras</a> on product shelves. The cameras monitor real-time stock levels, and Woolworths says customers captured in photos will be silhouetted for privacy. A Woolworths spokesperson <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/up-to-70-cameras-watch-you-buy-groceries-what-happens-to-that-footage-20230819-p5dxtp.html">explained</a> the shelf cameras were part of “a number of initiatives, both covert and overt, to minimise instances of retail crime”. It is unclear whether the cameras are for inventory management, surveillance, or both. Workers themselves are being fitted with body-worn cameras and wearable alarms. Such measures may protect against customer aggression, which is a <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-22/retail-union-staff-abuse-cost-of-living-christmas/103117014">serious problem facing workers</a>. Biometric data collected this way could also be used to discipline staff in what scholars Karen Levy and Solon Barocas refer to as “<a href="https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/7041">refractive surveillance</a>” – a process whereby surveillance measures intended for one group can also impact another. <h2>Predicting crime</h2> At the same time as the supermarkets ramp up the amount of data they collect on staff and shoppers, they are also investing in data-driven “crime intelligence” software. Both supermarkets have <a href="https://www.smartcompany.com.au/industries/information-technology/grocery-chains-surveillance-tech-auror/">partnered with New Zealand start-up Auror</a>, which shares a name with the magic police from the Harry Potter books and claims it can predict crime before it happens. Coles also recently began a partnership with Palantir, a global data-driven surveillance company that takes its name from magical crystal balls in The Lord of the Rings. These heavy-handed measures seek to make self-service checkouts more secure without increasing staff numbers. This leads to something of a vicious cycle, as under-staffing, self-checkouts, and high prices are often <a href="https://www.aap.com.au/news/retail-workers-facing-increased-violence-and-abuse/">causes of customer aggression</a> to begin with. Many staff are similarly frustrated by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jun/05/coles-woolworths-court-accused-of-underpaying-workers">historical wage theft by the supermarkets</a> that totals hundreds of millions of dollars. <h2>From community employment to gig work</h2> Both supermarkets have brought the gig economy squarely <a href="https://theconversation.com/coles-uber-eats-deal-brings-the-gig-economy-inside-the-traditional-workplace-204353">inside the traditional workplace</a>. Uber and Doordash drivers are now part of the infrastructure of home delivery, in an attempt to push last-mile delivery costs onto gig workers. The precarious working conditions of the gig economy are well known. Customers may not be aware, however, that Coles recently increased Uber Eats and Doordash prices by at least 10%, and will <a href="https://7news.com.au/lifestyle/shoppers-slam-coles-over-major-change-to-half-price-buys-that-will-affect-millions-c-12860556">no longer match in-store promotions</a>. Drivers have been instructed to dispose of the shopping receipt and should no longer place it in the customer’s bag at drop-off. In addition to higher prices, customers also pay service and delivery fees for the convenience of on-demand delivery. Despite the price increases to customers, drivers I have interviewed in my ongoing research report they are earning less and less through the apps, often well below Australia’s minimum wage. Viewed as a whole, Coles’ and Woolworths’ high-tech measures paint a picture of surveillance and control that exerts pressures on both customers and workers. While issues of market competition, price gouging, and power asymmetries with suppliers must be scrutinised, issues of worker and customer surveillance are the other side of the same coin – and they too must be reckoned with.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224076/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lauren-kate-kelly-1262424">Lauren Kate Kelly</a>, PhD Candidate, ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-secret-sauce-of-coles-and-woolworths-profits-high-tech-surveillance-and-control-224076">original article</a>.

Money & Banking

Aussie mum's outrage over neighbour's "creepy" act

An Aussie mum has slammed her neighbour for being a "creep" after spotting a surveillance camera which she claims is pointed directly into her bathroom window. A photo taken of the set-up showed the camera poking out from underneath the blinds behind a window on the property next door. "It was facing the car park, and now it's facing my window [and it has] been there for the last four days," she wrote in the Facebook post, adding that she lives on private property and is not sure what to do. "It's facing my bathroom window. Disgusting. I have two young kids here." The post blew up, with hundreds of locals urging the mum-of-two to speak to her neighbour, put privacy screens, or tint her windows, to which the mum responded: "I shouldn't have to tint my windows to feel safe enough to have a shower." "I live on private property, he comes off as a creep." Despite revealing that she had issues with the neighbour in the past over her dog, the woman went and talked to the neighbour. "[I] went and spoke with them," she wrote. "Apparently it's not facing my backyard, only theirs, but clearly it is, so I will be taking it further. "It isn't for a backyard, it's for a car park that never gets used, only during the weekdays, but it's not even pointing anywhere near that direction anymore. It's legit right into my windows." Property lawyer Monica Rouvella told Yahoo News that there are several things the woman could do if this continues. "One of them is to contact the local police and they can come out and actually request to view that person's footage to see exactly what's been looked at," she said. "And then the police can actually, I believe, request that the camera be taken down or repositioned." She also said the Hunter Valley mum could try going through local councils, but they might refer back to the police. "The other takeaway is, you know, these days everybody has a camera on their house," she told the publication. "So you know, if you don't like that then don't do things you shouldn't be doing. But yeah, if it is directed at a person's house or window then that's a violation of that person's privacy." Images: Facebook

Legal

Even if TikTok and other apps are collecting your data, what are the actual consequences?

By now, most of us are aware social media companies collect vast amounts of our information. By doing this, they can target us with ads and monetise our attention. The latest chapter in the data-privacy debate concerns one of the world’s most popular apps among young people – TikTok. Yet anecdotally it seems the potential risks aren’t really something young people care about. Some were <a href="https://twitter.com/theprojecttv/status/1548962230741487617">interviewed</a> by The Project this week regarding the risk of their TikTok data being accessed from China. They said it wouldn’t stop them using the app. “Everyone at the moment has access to everything,” one person said. Another said they didn’t “have much to hide from the Chinese government”. Are these fair assessments? Or should Australians actually be worried about yet another social media company taking their data? What’s happening with TikTok? In a 2020 Australian parliamentary hearing on foreign interference through social media, TikTok representatives <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Hansard/Hansard_Display?bid=committees/commsen/1a5e6393-fec4-4222-945b-859e3f8ebd17/&sid=0002">stressed</a>: “TikTok Australia data is stored in the US and Singapore, and the security and privacy of this data are our highest priority.” But as Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) analyst Fergus Ryan has <a href="https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/its-time-tiktok-australia-came-clean/">observed</a>, it’s not about where the data are stored, but who has access. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> 'Where the data is stored is really immaterial if the data can be accessed from Beijing at any point, and that's what we have known for a couple of years' | <a href="https://twitter.com/ASPI_ICPC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ASPI_ICPC</a>'s <a href="https://twitter.com/fryan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@fryan</a> spoke to <a href="https://twitter.com/abcnews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@abcnews</a> about Tik Tok & data security 📺 Watch the interview: <a href="https://t.co/iKIXqj2Rt2">https://t.co/iKIXqj2Rt2</a> — ASPI (@ASPI_org) <a href="https://twitter.com/ASPI_org/status/1549185634837102592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 19, 2022</a></blockquote> On June 17, BuzzFeed published a <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/emilybakerwhite/tiktok-tapes-us-user-data-china-bytedance-access">report</a> based on 80 leaked internal TikTok meetings which seemed to confirm access to US TikTok data by Chinese actors. The report refers to multiple examples of data access by TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, which is based in China. Then in July, TikTok Australia’s director of public policy, Brent Thomas, wrote to the shadow minister for cyber security, James Paterson, regarding China’s access to Australian user data. Thomas denied having been asked for data from China or having “given data to the Chinese government” – but he also noted access is “based on the need to access data”. So there’s good reason to believe Australian users’ data may be accessed from China. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> TikTok Australia has replied to my letter and admitted that Australian user data is also accessible in mainland China, putting it within reach of the Chinese government, despite their previous assurances it was safe because it was stored in the US and Singapore <a href="https://t.co/ITY1HNEo6v">pic.twitter.com/ITY1HNEo6v</a> — James Paterson (@SenPaterson) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenPaterson/status/1546957121274621952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 12, 2022</a></blockquote> Is TikTok worse than other platforms? TikTok collects rich consumer information, including personal information and behavioural data from people’s activity on the app. In this respect, it’s not different from other social media companies. They all need oceans of user data to push ads onto us, and run data analytics behind a shiny facade of cute cats and trendy dances. However, TikTok’s corporate roots extend to authoritarian China – and not the US, where most of our other social media come from. This carries implications for TikTok users. Hypothetically, since TikTok moderates content according to Beijing’s foreign policy goals, it’s possible TikTok could apply censorship controls over Australian users. This means users’ feeds would be filtered to omit anything that doesn’t fit the Chinese government’s agenda, such as support for Taiwan’s sovereignty, as an example. In “shadowbanning”, a user’s posts appear to have been published to the user themselves, but are not visible to anyone else. It’s worth noting this censorship risk isn’t hypothetical. In 2019, information about Hong Kong protests was reported to have been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/sep/25/revealed-how-tiktok-censors-videos-that-do-not-please-beijing">censored</a> not only on Douyin, China’s domestic version of TikTok, but also on TikTok itself. Then in 2020, ASPI <a href="https://www.aspi.org.au/report/tiktok-wechat">found</a> hashtags related to LGBTQ+ are suppressed in at least eight languages on TikTok. In response to ASPI’s research, a TikTok spokesperson said the hashtags may be restricted as part of the company’s localisation strategy and due to local laws. In Thailand, keywords such as #acab, #gayArab and anti-monarchy hashtags were found to be shadowbanned. Within China, Douyin complies with strict national content regulation. This includes censoring information about the religious movement Falun Gong and the Tiananmen massacre, among other examples. The legal environment in China forces Chinese internet product and service providers to work with government authorities. If Chinese companies disagree, or are unaware of their obligations, they can be slapped with legal and/or financial penalties and be forcefully shut down. In 2012, another social media product run by the founder of ByteDance, Yiming Zhang, was forced to close. Zhang fell into political line in a <a href="https://chinamediaproject.org/2018/04/11/tech-shame-in-the-new-era/">public apology</a>. He acknowledged the platform deviated from “public opinion guidance” by not moderating content that goes against “socialist core values”. Individual TikTok users should seriously consider leaving the app until issues of global censorship are clearly addressed. But don’t forget, it’s not just TikTok Meta products, such as Facebook and Instagram, also measure our interests by the seconds we spend looking at certain posts. They aggregate those behavioural data with our personal information to try to keep us hooked – looking at ads for as long as possible. <a href="https://www.aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/holding-facebook-accountable-for-digital-redlining">Some real cases</a> of targeted advertising on social media have contributed to “digital redlining” – the use of technology to perpetuate social discrimination. In 2018, Facebook came under fire for showing some employment ads only to men. In 2019, it settled another digital redlining <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/mar/28/facebook-ads-housing-discrimination-charges-us-government-hud">case</a> over discriminatory practices in which housing ads were targeted to certain users on the basis of “race, colour, national origin and religion”. And in 2021, before the US Capitol breach, military and defence product ads <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/facebook-profits-military-gear-ads-capitol-riot">were running</a> alongside conversations about a coup. Then there are some worst-case scenarios. The 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/04/us/politics/cambridge-analytica-scandal-fallout.html">revealed</a> how Meta (then Facebook) exposed users’ data to the political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica without their consent. Cambridge Analytica harvested up to 87 million users’ data from Facebook, derived psychological user profiles and used these to tailor pro-Trump messaging to them. This likely had an influence on the 2016 US presidential election. <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475064/original/file-20220720-19-dzfe0b.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475064/original/file-20220720-19-dzfe0b.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475064/original/file-20220720-19-dzfe0b.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475064/original/file-20220720-19-dzfe0b.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475064/original/file-20220720-19-dzfe0b.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475064/original/file-20220720-19-dzfe0b.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475064/original/file-20220720-19-dzfe0b.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475064/original/file-20220720-19-dzfe0b.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="A phone shows a TikTok video playing on the screen, with a person mid-dance." /></a><figcaption>To what extent are we willing to ignore potential risks with social platforms, in favour of addictive content? Shutterstock</figcaption></figure> With TikTok, the most immediate concern for the average Australian user is content censorship – not direct prosecution. But within China, there are recurring instances of Chinese nationals being <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3176605/crackdown-chinas-moderate-rights-voices-how-tweets-are-now">detained or even jailed</a> for using both Chinese and international social media. You can see how the consequences of mass data harvesting are not hypothetical. We need to demand more transparency from not just TikTok but all major social platforms regarding how data are used. Let’s continue the <a href="https://www.afr.com/policy/foreign-affairs/tiktok-s-privacy-fundamentally-incompatible-with-australia-20220713-p5b18l">regulation debate</a> TikTok has accelerated. We should look to update privacy protections and embed transparency into Australia’s national regulatory guidelines – for whatever the next big social media app happens to be.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187277/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ausma-bernot-963292" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ausma Bernot</a>, PhD Candidate, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Griffith University</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/even-if-tiktok-and-other-apps-are-collecting-your-data-what-are-the-actual-consequences-187277" target="_blank" rel="noopener">original article</a>. Image: Getty Images

Technology

Electronic surveillance considered for alleged stalkers

In 1993, Andrea Patrick was murdered by her ex-partner after a period of severe harassment and despite a restraining order being made against him. The public outcry that followed Patrick’s death impelled the New South Wales government to follow Queensland’s lead and <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/Hansard/Pages/HansardResult.aspx#/docid/HANSARD-1323879322-89176" target="_blank">enact an offence of stalking</a>. During the 1990s, all Australian states and territories made stalking a distinct crime. Evidence of stalking can also form the basis of civil law orders known as restraining, apprehended violence or intervention orders. However, there are concerns that little has changed since Andrea Patrick’s death. <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-09/celeste-manno-mother-calls-for-tougher-stalking-laws/12964622" target="_blank">There is a view</a> that stalking is not being treated seriously enough and intervention orders may be breached without serious ramifications for alleged offenders. The Victorian attorney-general has asked the <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.lawreform.vic.gov.au/projects/stalking/stalking-terms-reference" target="_blank">Victorian Law Reform Commission</a> to consider new measures for responding to stalking, including whether electronic monitoring could be a condition of intervention orders. Before considering the advantages and disadvantages of such a measure, it is worth considering how stalking is defined. What is stalking? While definitions differ, in general, stalking refers to a pattern of behaviour intended to cause harm or arouse fear. Stalking can include: <ul> <li> <a rel="noopener" href="https://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/pdf/10.1176/ajp.156.8.1244" target="_blank">surveillance</a>: obsessive monitoring through physically following or tracking the other person via technology or by loitering at the person’s home or workplace </li> <li> <a rel="noopener" href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/bsl.966" target="_blank">repetition</a>: there may be unwanted contact that occurs multiple times – it can happen over the course of one day, a few weeks, or many years </li> <li> degradation: this may involve verbal abuse, posting denigrating comments or images online, or humiliating the other person in public </li> <li> <a rel="noopener" href="https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-1-4614-5690-2_535" target="_blank">intrusion</a>: this may include repeatedly approaching the other person, interfering with the person’s property, or entering the person’s home or workplace. </li> </ul> Stalking can involve actions that would, in another context, be legal or even welcome. For example, gift-giving is usually legal. But if someone repeatedly gives another person unwanted gifts and will not stop when asked, this may amount to stalking. Intervention orders Individuals can apply to a court for an intervention order that prohibits another person (the defendant) from behaving in a particular manner towards them. In addition to acting as a restraint on the defendant’s behaviour, an intervention order can direct the defendant to comply with certain conditions. In Victoria, for example, there are two types of intervention orders: <a rel="noopener" href="http://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/consol_act/fvpa2008283/" target="_blank">family violence intervention orders</a> and <a rel="noopener" href="http://www6.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdb/au/legis/vic/consol_act/psioa2010409/" target="_blank">personal safety intervention orders</a>. The first type covers situations between family members, including current or former intimate partners and some carers. The second type covers all other relationships. Lower courts may grant intervention orders if there is sufficient evidence of stalking. Electronic monitoring Electronic monitoring generally refers to “<a rel="noopener" href="http://www.antoniocasella.eu/nume/COE_electronic_16oct12.pdf" target="_blank">forms of surveillance with which to monitor the location, movement and specific behaviour of persons</a>”. It includes the use of devices such as ankle bracelets, which use radio frequency or Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to monitor the location of the person. While the use of such devices is usually associated with monitoring offenders after conviction, pretrial electronic monitoring is used in some places as <a rel="noopener" href="http://www6.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/wa/consol_act/ba198241/s50l.html" target="_blank">a condition of bail</a>. Electronic monitoring is also permitted in South Australia and Queensland for some <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.ranzcp.org/news-policy/policy-and-advocacy/position-statements/electronic-monitoring-people-in-forensic-mh" target="_blank">individuals using forensic mental health services</a>. <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411150/original/file-20210714-13-69trd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /> Electronic monitoring devices such as ankle bracelets have been used pre-trial in some cases. Shutterstock It appears electronic monitoring has not been used in Australia as a condition of intervention orders. However, Matt Black and Russell G. Smith <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi254" target="_blank">pointed out</a> in 2003 that “modern restriction and surveillance capabilities may raise the possibility for consideration”. Pros and cons of electronic monitoring Electronic monitoring may help to ensure intervention orders work to prevent alleged stalkers physically approaching particular people. It can ensure they don’t enter proscribed areas and be used to track their movements. However, it can be expensive. The panel that reviewed post-sentence supervision of sex offenders in Victoria <a rel="noopener" href="https://files.justice.vic.gov.au/2021-06/cavsom%20harper%20report.pdf?A_rtu8pRp1SsqKDZxF2dWoGkzLvLLcmg=" target="_blank">observed</a>: <blockquote> […] the costs associated with electronic monitoring were considerable, particularly in proportion to other important functions undertaken by Corrections Victoria. </blockquote> Due to resource allocation, it is not feasible for every alleged stalker to be monitored 24 hours a day. Analysis of the electronic monitoring data is also not necessarily immediate. If electronic monitoring were an option in relation to intervention orders, it may also lead to more contested cases, thereby taking up more court time. There are human rights issues in relation to curtailing the liberty of those who have not been convicted of a crime. Wearing an electronic device may also be sitgmatising. The balance here is whether public safety considerations outweigh individual rights. A shift in focus Being forced to modify behaviour to avoid being stalked appears to be common for victim survivors of stalking. They may experience significant lifestyle changes such as: <ul> <li>avoiding places where their stalker might be</li> <li>changing routines</li> <li>quitting school or their job</li> <li>moving house.</li> </ul> A key question for the Victorian Law Reform Commission inquiry into stalking will be whether electronic monitoring can help shift the focus away from victims having to alter their own behaviour to forcing alleged offenders to alter theirs. Electronic monitoring may have a role to play, but it may be that the disadvantages outweigh the benefits. <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/bernadette-mcsherry-2559" target="_blank">Bernadette McSherry</a>, Emeritus Professor, <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722" target="_blank">The University of Melbourne</a> and <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/madeleine-ulbrick-312907" target="_blank">Madeleine Ulbrick</a>, Senior Research and Policy Officer, <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/monash-university-1065" target="_blank">Monash University</a> This article is republished from <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/victoria-considers-electronic-surveillance-for-alleged-stalkers-164320" target="_blank">original article</a>.

Technology

Dutton Continues to Build the Surveillance State

Right before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the nation into lockdown, home affairs minister Peter Dutton<a href="https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/duttons-new-laws-will-allow-governments-to-access-your-data-across-borders/"> introduced</a> a new piece of legislation into parliament that would allow foreign security agencies to access the private data of Australian citizens. Currently under review, the <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;page=0;query=BillId:r6511%20Recstruct:billhome">International Production Orders Bill</a> would <a href="https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/duttons-new-laws-will-allow-governments-to-access-your-data-across-borders/">establish a framework</a> allowing agents to require designated communication providers both here and abroad hand over stored metadata and communications, as well as providing the authority for wiretapping operations. But, then Peter Dutton became one of the first victims of the novel coronavirus in this country, when he tested positive <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-13/peter-dutton-diagnosed-with-coronavirus/12055104">on 13 May</a>. And besides a few public announcements about his health, the minister subsequently <a href="https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/peter-dutton-s-silence-speaks-volumes-20200401-p54g08">seemed to be missing in action</a>. The was until a shutdown federal parliament reconvened for three emergency sitting days a fortnight ago, and the former Queensland cop stepped up to reveal a new piece of legislation that would dramatically increase the powers of Australia’s domestic spying agency. And this showed that Dutton’s COVID moment was nothing but a brief hiatus and meanwhile, beneath the cover of the pandemic, the minister was busy drafting new laws relating to his major work, which is turning this nation into an advanced surveillance state. Access all areas “Minister Dutton seems to have a production line of repressive bills ready to trot out at the slightest opportunity,” said <a href="https://www.cla.asn.au/News/">Civil Liberties Australia (CLA)</a> CEO Bill Rowlings. “This process has been going on for years. Rights and liberties are being whittled away by waves of legislation.” A recent standout that Dutton was responsible for is 2018’s <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/Bills_Search_Results/Result?bId=r6195">Assistance and Access Bill</a>. Digital rights advocates had long warned of laws providing backdoor access to platforms using encryption, however with this, the minister managed to pass laws that get in through the main entrance. The bill established a three-tiered system requiring designated communications providers to allow access to their systems, with the third avenue involving the attorney general notifying a provider that it must build a capability that allows authorities to access the data inside. During his <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22chamber%2Fhansardr%2F6be1e50a-06c5-4722-8ba8-9036615ea93c%2F0032%22">second reading speech</a> on this bill, minister Dutton cited terrorists, criminal syndicates and those accessing “child exploitation and pornography” materials, as the reasons for the encryption-busting laws. However, some of the legislation’s provisions <a href="https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/the-afp-press-raids-towards-a-totalitarian-state/">have since been used</a> on journalists. “The bills always supposedly target the biggest baddies,” Rowlings told <a href="https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/criminal/offences/firearms-offences/">Sydney Criminal Lawyers</a>, “but the laws apply to ordinary Australians going about their business.” Broadening reach Minister Dutton’s latest Frankenstein monster is the <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/Bills_Search_Results/Result?bId=r6554">ASIO Amendment Bill</a> that for some reason he found necessary to introduce into parliament whilst the nation was still locked down and dealing with the COVID-19 crisis. This legislation enhances ASIO’s existing questioning regime to allow officials to detain people as young as 14 for questioning and removes the need for independent warrants to track citizens, while allowing agents to bar lawyers they don’t like or remove those they find too unruly mid-questioning. “It’s obvious that the government wants to increase internal spying and surveillance within Australia,” Mr Rowlings made clear. “That’s what the current ASIO bill does.” “It’s what was behind the AFP raid on journalist Annika Smethurst, when she blew the whistle on a proposal for the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) to monitor the emails, bank accounts and text messages of Australians, if approved by ministers,” the civil liberties advocate added. Last June’s raid on Smethurst’s house related to an article the journalist published <a href="https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/dutton-considers-increasing-governments-surveillance-powers/">in mid-2018</a> detailing correspondence between the secretaries of the defence and home affairs departments discussing plans to turn the nation’s international spying agency, the ASD, upon domestic targets. The truth behind the ASD proposal has long been denied, as well as admitted to, by government. And most recently, minister Dutton told the ABC <a href="https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/dutton-plans-to-set-our-international-spy-agency-upon-citizens/">right before the onset of the pandemic</a> that the plan to allow the foreign threat-focused agency to spy on locals is close to finalisation. The Capability But, it doesn’t stop there. Dutton “has another bill in his back pocket, which he began consultations on in early 2019, then suddenly stopped”, according to Rowlings. And this legislation would enable vigilante groups to run “former paedophiles who have completed their sentences” out of town. The home affairs minister announced <a href="https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/duttons-child-sex-offender-register-proposal-is-political-fodder/">in January last year</a> that he proposes establishing a national public register of child sex offenders online, which is a model that hasn’t been beneficial in jurisdictions elsewhere in the world where it’s been rolled out. And the cherry on the top of Dutton’s burgeoning surveillance state would be the establishment of the Capability, which is a national facial recognition database allowing for the matching of all citizens’ identification photos with images taken from CCTV cameras in real time. The <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/Bills_Search_Results/Result?bId=r6387">legislation relating to this scheme</a> is in limbo, after a parliamentary committee<a href="https://www.hrlc.org.au/news/2019/10/24/parliament-committee-rejects-facial-recognition-bill"> rejected the laws</a> as being too invasive. However, Dutton <a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/peter-dutton-facial-recognition-laws-concerns-for-mass-surveillance/d76444fe-4581-4566-9b6b-aee9c31e366e">has insisted</a> the government will be pressing ahead with legislating for the Capability, which he maintains has nothing to do with mass surveillance. Before it’s too late “Dutton was once a policeman,” Rowlings said. “He seems determined to turn Australia into a police state, and he’s succeeding.” But, despite the home affairs minister being the foremost architect of the surveillance state at present, this project, which has entailed the passing of numerous rights-eroding laws, began years before Peter Dutton stepped into parliament. In mid-March, the tally at the UNSW Law School showed that 85 pieces of counterterrorism legislation have been passed with <a href="https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/eroding-our-civil-liberties-is-a-bipartisan-move/">bipartisan approval</a> at the federal level since 9/11. And these contain the laws that have been encroaching upon liberties and building the surveillance state. Although, as far as Rowlings is concerned, Dutton’s endgame isn’t a given. He points out that security agencies around the globe are now acknowledging that Islamic-backed terrorism is in decline, while the threat of white nationalism is on the rise. And he suggests that a post-September 11 review of national security laws is way overdue. “We need to overturn the laws which enable security agency excesses and the scrapping of freedoms,” Mr Rowlings concluded, “and recast a new and coherent set of provisions, which balance rights and liberties against the new anti-privacy, surveillance state.” Written by Paul Gregoire. Republished with permission of <a href="https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/dutton-continues-to-build-the-surveillance-state/" title="Sydney Criminal Lawyers">Sydney Criminal Lawyers.</a>

Legal

Woolworths confirms trial video surveillance on self-serve checkouts

Woolworths have confirmed they are trialling video surveillance at its self-serve check-outs in hopes of officially stamping out theft for good. Melbourne shopper Branwell Travers was the one who first called out the change when he took to Twitter to explain how he had seen a video of himself appearing on the screen of a self-serve checkout. "For how long has Woolworths been filming me while using self-check-outs?" he captioned the photo. <img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7836311/woolies.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/902af3252a5049e0a9f1054dc722c419" /> Mr Travers told <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.pedestrian.tv/news/woolworths-security-self-serve-checkout-trial/" target="_blank">Pedestrian TV</a> he first thought the checkout must have been glitching to have recorded him. “I was kinds confused and thought maybe it was a malfunction or something,” he said. “But I looked over my shoulder and saw the person next to me had the same thing.” Another customer also shared they were “shocked” to discover they were also being filmed at another Woolies self-service checkout kiosk. A Woolworths spokesman told <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/food/eat/woolworths-trialling-video-surveillance-at-selfservice-checkouts/news-story/29b75c97c5fba310071318b6ef87a459" target="_blank">news.com.au</a>: “We know the vast majority of our customers do the right thing at our self-serve check-outs. This is a new security measure we're trialling for those that don’t. “Our stores have staffed checkout lanes for customers who would prefer not to take part in the trial.” Video taken by Woolworths at the self-service kiosk is not recorded or stored and the cameras cannot see the card PIN pad section. Image: Branwell Travers viaTwitter

Legal

Dutton plans to set our international spy agency upon citizens

Home affairs minister Peter Dutton quietly announced to the ABC <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-19/powers-for-asd-spy-dark-web-australians/11980728">a fortnight ago</a> that the Morrison government’s – <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-29/labor-blames-government-for-security-leak/9708594">often denied</a> – push to turn the nation’s international spying agency on its own citizens is close to finalisation. The minister rolled out one of the <a href="https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/true-crime-six-unsolved-australian-murders-part-2/">usual suspects</a> – child sexual offenders – as a reason for extending spying powers currently used to deal with foreign threats, so they could be applied locally to Australians as well. And he used a disturbing example of a months-old baby being tortured to make his point. This is the exact same proposal that <a href="https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/spying-shock-shades-of-big-brother-as-cybersecurity-vision-comes-to-light/news-story/bc02f35f23fa104b139160906f2ae709">was exposed</a> by News Corp journalist Annika Smethurst in April 2018, when she reported on leaked documents that revealed senior public servants discussing the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) being able to access citizen’s emails, bank records and texts. The documents detailed correspondence between Department of Home Affairs secretary Mike Pezzullo and Defence secretary Greg Moriarty regarding a proposal that would allow ASD agents to hack into critical infrastructure so as to remove threats. Although, that correspondence doesn’t appear to have been dressed up in fighting paedophile rhetoric. The AFP went on to raid Ms Smethurst’s home <a href="https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/the-afp-press-raids-towards-a-totalitarian-state/">in June last year</a> in relation to the story. And a week after the raids, Dutton <a href="https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/the-return-of-dutton-enhanced-domestic-surveilling-and-attacks-on-minorities/">appeared on the ABC’s Insiders</a> suggesting that the nation needed to have a “sensible discussion” about providing the ASD with internal spying powers. And now, the home affairs minister is back spruiking a “public debate” around enhanced domestic surveilling powers – either allowing the ASD to do so or handing the responsibility to the AFP – even though the same article asserts “the proposal is at the advanced stage within the government”. Blurring the powers At the time Smethurst broke the news, <a href="https://www.cla.asn.au/News/#gsc.tab=0">Civil Liberties Australia</a> CEO Bill Rowlings told Sydney Criminal Lawyers that the division between onshore and offshore surveillance is “to maintain the critical distinction between ordinary policing and defence and spy agencies”. Currently, the Australian Federal Police and the domestic spying agency ASIO <a href="https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/dutton-considers-increasing-governments-surveillance-powers/">are empowered</a> to investigate citizens after a warrant has been issued by the attorney general, while the ASD has no such powers to operate internally. Rowlings asserts that it’s important to keep this distinction, as police “are still far more accountable to the public than our spying agencies”. And while police are to a large extent a readily identifiable entity, intelligence agencies operate in the shadows. “Transparency and accountability are impossible when the law makes it a crime – punishable by many years in prison – to even report the name of an intelligence officer,” Rowlings said, as he threw in an example of why the future Dutton is promising is somewhat unpalatable. The directorate The Australian Signals Directorate was formed in 1947. The ASD website <a href="https://www.asd.gov.au/about">explains</a> that it’s charged with protecting the nation from global threats and advancing our national interests. It does this by covert information gathering, protecting against cyber threats, and disrupting foreign capabilities. <a href="http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/isa2001216/s7.html">Section 7</a> of the Intelligence Services Act 2001 (Cth) outlines the functions of the ASD, which all pertain to spying and gathering information “outside of Australia”. These are the powers – designed to thwart foreign agents – that could be turned on Australians. The ASD plays a major role in the <a href="https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/the-five-eyes-alliance-is-watching-you/">Five Eyes arrangement</a>, which is a secretive information sharing agreement between Australia, the US, the UK, Canada and New Zealand. It was established in 1946. And this leaves open questions as to where domestically harvested information might end up. The directorate is also allowed to <a href="https://www.pressreader.com/australia/the-sunday-times/20180429/285598150666563">conduct certain activities</a> that are against Australian law when it’s operating overseas. And over the past 70 years, the ASD has developed from a body focused on collecting defence signals into a streamlined cyber spying agency. An unnecessary venture Just after the AFP press raids last June, minister Dutton appeared on the Insiders stating that “we don’t support spying on Australians”, while in the next breath he said, “there needs to be a sensible discussion about whether or not we’ve got the ability to deal with threats that we face”. Writing in <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-we-should-be-wary-of-expanding-powers-of-the-australian-signals-directorate-119078">the Conversation</a> days later, Bond University criminology associate professor Terry Goldsworthy pointed out that the home affairs minister cited combating online paedophilia and protecting institutions against cyber attacks as reasons to turn the ASD on its own people. The professor then went on to state that there aren’t any domestic cyber attack threats coming from domestic sources. And he added that the sort of surveillance noted in the Smethurst article is already available to law enforcement agencies with a judge’s approval. And as for combating online paedophiles Goldsworthy explained that the AFP does so via the Virtual Global Taskforce – which sees it collaborating with multiple international crime fighting agencies – as well as its own Child Protection Operations (CPO) team. The academic concludes his article by maintaining that rather than simply suggesting that the powers of one agency be extended, the government should make the case as to why existing domestic strategies that are in place aren’t adequate. A creeping surveillance state While nobody is suggesting that paedophiles and terrorists be given carte blanche to conduct crimes without reproach, it does seem rather suspect that they’re cited as reasons to enact more laws and create new policies that impede upon the rights of all Australians. Back <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_au/article/gq88b7/new-australian-anti-terrorism-laws-could-see-the-mandatory-recording-of-your-private-data">in August 2014</a>, then attorney general George Brandis first announced that the federal government was looking at implementing the metadata retention regime in relation to terrorists. Today, all Australians have their data stored by telcos that can be accessed by intelligence agencies. Australia is the only western democracy in the world without a bill of rights, which means most of our rights aren’t protected. And <a href="https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/the-need-for-a-bill-of-rights-an-interview-with-unsw-professor-george-williams/">commentators have outlined</a> that this means the rights eroding laws that have been enacted in the name of terrorism go much further in their reach than elsewhere. And now it seems that minister Dutton would like to further see the nation morph into a <a href="https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/a-creeping-surveillance-state-an-interview-with-the-human-rights-law-centres-emily-howie/">surveillance state</a>, where ASD agents <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-19/powers-for-asd-spy-dark-web-australians/11980728">would be able</a> to snoop through citizens’ online and electronic space in much the same way police can access a house they have an official warrant to search. Written by Paul Gregoire. Republished with permission of <a href="https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/dutton-plans-to-set-our-international-spy-agency-upon-citizens/">Sydney Criminal Lawyers.</a>

Caring

This city is set to adopt “smart city” surveillance

As part of Darwin’s new plan to transform the city into a “smart city”, the city’s council is installing hundreds of poles fitted with CCTV cameras, loudspeakers, sensors, Wi-Fi points and LED lights that can capture large amounts of real-time data and send it to the police. Darwin Council CEO Scott Waters said that the police would use the data collected for crime prevention and that the council would use it to better understand how locals are using the city in order to identify areas of improvement. Naturally, academics are concerned about the potential for this invasive technology to take over the personal privacy of citizens going about their day-to-day activities. There are 138 CCTV cameras and 912 LED lights so far being installed across Darwin’s CBD that feeds information back to police headquarters. Due to the infrared capabilities of the lights, this allows police officers to “basically see in the dark”. However, Mr Waters says that there are results. Crime in areas that attract anti-social behaviour has already reduced by 50 per cent since installing the cameras, Mr Waters told <a href="https://thenewdaily.com.au/life/tech/2019/06/07/darwin-smart-city/">The New Daily</a>. “Crime will happen, we understand that’s a part of society, but we want to create an environment where it is more difficult to commit a crime,” Mr Waters said. “It’s all about planning, development, safety and communication,” Mr Waters said. “We can look at vehicle movements and people movements… and be able to make better decisions and solve problems in our city based on the information we receive.” However, senior business law lecturer John Garrick from Charles Darwin University says our right to privacy is going by the wayside thanks to this new technology. “There’s a very strong sales line about technology that has the seductive promise of greater protection from street crime,” Professor Garrick said. “It’s a very powerful narrative, but we need to ask ourselves: where is this technology being imported from, and where will this data go? Who has control over it and who has access to this data?” My Waters has defended the new technology saying that all data collected from citizens is anonymous. “We don’t have the ability to drill into an individual and find out who they are,” Mr Waters said. “Privacy of the individual citizen is one of the most important elements of democratic society.”

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