TOTT News

Privacy experts have hit out at reports that Victorian Police plan to operate camera surveillance drones on public beaches over the upcoming holiday period.

This announcement follows concerns over increases in drone-related surveillance in public spaces across Australia, including at sporting events, CBD locations, beaches and more.

An investigation has uncovered extensive collaborations between Australian universities and Chinese entities involved in Beijing’s increasing surveillance apparatus across the world.

The University of Technology Sydney, Curtin University and University of New South Wales have been named in an explosive report on the development of technologies used for human rights abuses in China.

A new digital driver’s licence is now legal for use across New South Wales following trials of the technology in parts of the region.

The move now makes NSW one of the few places in the world where citizens are able to choose to have a licence issued in digital format and have it displayed on their smartphones.

Australia has ushered in a host of ‘pre‐crime’ surveillance measures over the last decade that permit the mass monitoring of society, while allowing for the restraint of individuals on the basis of ‘anticipated future harm’, rather than past or present wrongdoing.

A system in which the states bear primary responsibility for law and order, combined with the absence of a national bill or charter of rights, has led to an unprecedented network of spying mechanisms used by secretive intelligence networks in Australia.

Australia’s Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security has ordered the government back to the drawing board, after rejecting laws to establish a national facial recognition database.

It is the first time since 2002 that a parliament committee has recommended new intelligence laws be withdrawn, saying the legislation needs to be redrafted to ensure citizen rights are protected.

Smart cities are being developed across Australia as part of the Agenda 2030 plan, and the mechanisms in which they are being constructed reveal a deeper plot linked to China’s dystopian ‘social credit’ surveillance.

In the following, Ethan Nash from TOTT News appeared on Ramola D Reports to discuss Australia’s move towards a similar control system.

Data has been described as the “oil of the digital era”, and tech giants that deal in data have developed an unprecedented grip on the privacy of nations and individuals across the world.

Today, data collection has become a daily occurrence in most major fields, and to analyse and store this information, Australia has played a key role in ensuring Google Data Networks can reach our shores.

Mixed reality devices, such as ‘virtual reality’ and ‘augmented reality’ systems, are perpetually on the brink of mainstream adoption with the evolution of advancing technologies.

In the following Food For Thought discussion, we examine the future of these emerging concepts and explore the effects these new gadgets will have on the future of the humanity experience.

As science fiction starts to become reality, AI products are slowly infiltrating homes and workplaces, raising concerns about the potential detrimental effects on the job market and the future of humanity.

In the following, Ralf Llanasas explores AI-driven policies around the world and comments on the desperate need for Australia to implement similar strategies.

Australian officials are pressing Facebook to give authorities access to read encrypted messages.

Police agencies claim reading selected encrypted messages is similar to wiretaps for phone calls, however, security experts say allowing such access makes messaging insecure for everyone.