EVERY word uttered in a cab could soon be recorded. Source: The Courier-Mail
EVERY word uttered in a cab could soon be recorded and stored under proposed State Government changes to the operation of taxi security cameras.
Simply opening the door or starting the meter would activate the recording of trips in an industry that claims to transport 90 million passengers in Queensland each year.
The move has alarmed civil libertarians, the state Opposition and even concerned some members of the taxi industry.
Queensland’s Privacy Commissioner Linda Matthews, who was not consulted about the proposal detailed in a Transport and Main Roads’ discussion paper, said there would be no such thing as “an anonymous taxi ride” once audio recordings were introduced.
“The public would want to be reassured the record is used for genuine law enforcement purpose and the protections that are in place should be sufficient. I guess time will tell,” she said.
When security cameras were first introduced to Queensland cabs in 2006, the recording of audio was not permitted under law for privacy reasons.
But the discussion paper states that “enabling of audio is not considered to increase any risk of breaches of privacy”.
Under the proposal, stickers in taxis would inform passengers that “security cameras and microphones are fitted, you will be photographed, conversations will be recorded”.
Once downloaded by a taxi company, the audio would be able to be held for a maximum 35 days before it had to be deleted or destroyed.
Michael Cope from the Queensland Council of Civil Liberties said the new proposal was “extraordinary and unnecessary”.
“I haven’t seen anything that justifies adding audio to the footage recorded in cabs,” Mr Cope said.
“It wasn’t considered necessary when security cameras were first introduced. You’d really need some strong evidence that it would make a difference to cabbies’ safety to justify it.”
QCCL vice-president Terry O’Gorman said audio was “a totally unjustified intrusion into people’s taxi conversations”.
“We would say that if it goes ahead, downloads should only be done on the order of a magistrate where there’s reasonable cause to think it would assist in investigating a crime,” Mr O’Gorman said.
Lee Sims, from the Cab Drivers’ Association of Queensland, who recently launched a “word of mouth campaign” against the Bligh Government, said there were already too many regulations on downloading material from security cameras.
“As far as I’m concerned we’ve gone too far with privacy and we should not have to jump through so many hoops to get access to material from the security cameras,” Mr Sims said. “A lot more fare evaders would be caught if it was easier to access downloads.”
Queensland Taxi Advisers Incorporated also raised concerns about safeguards, but spokesman John Rahilly said they supported the introduction of audio recordings.
“Greater transparency and certainty will be provided in investigations where there are conflicting statements from drivers and passengers,” Mr Rahilly said. “(But) the security and integrity of the process, especially in the area of downloading, is of paramount importance in protecting the privacy issues of all parties.”
Opposition transport spokesman Scott Emerson questioned why the discussion paper was not advertised by the State Government, with only taxi industry members aware of the document.
Submissions closed last Saturday.
Mr Emerson said it was vital the public had an opportunity to comment on an issue that had the potential to impact everyone who got into a cab.
“This would be a very significant change and it is important that the public is well and truly aware that this is being considered,” Mr Emerson said.
Top five topics raised in cabs (provided by Lee Sims, Cab Drivers Association of Queensland)
1. Personal issues, particularly relationships
2. Weather
3. Sport
4. Politics and current affairs
5. Happenings and events around the city
Mr Sims said despite the commonly held belief cabbies were barometers of social opinion, that was not really the case.
“Conversations in cabs vary greatly. Drivers are told not to initiate conversations but some do of course,” Mr Sims said.
“We do hear some very personal information, kind of like hairdressers I guess. People seem to see cabs as confessional boxes.”
The letter accompanied a subpoena delivered this week to an individual in Boston — one of a number of individuals whom investigators have pressed or tried to press for information on WikiLeaks and who have been served with subpoenas this week. A copy of the subpoena was provided to The Washington Post with the name redacted.
Though the letter does not name WikiLeaks or Assange, sources said the subpoena was issued in relation to the probe.
The letter makes clear that an array of charges are being considered, in part, experts said, to avoid First Amendment challenges that would arise with a prosecution of WikiLeaks under the Espionage Act. That 1917 law makes it a crime to “communicate or transmit” sensitive information to an unauthorized party, and using it would probably set up a battle over an individual’s right to speak freely.
“If the Justice Department concludes that a crime has been committed, it will twist itself like a pretzel to avoid using the Espionage Act, not only because it is old and vague but because it raises a number of First Amendment problems for prosecutors,” said Abbe D. Lowell, a Washington defense attorney who has handled leak cases.
U.S. officials would not comment on any subpoenas but indicated that prosecutors are likely to carefully weigh any decision to file charges under the Espionage Act, in part because of First Amendment concerns.
“The Justice Department has decided to attack on many fronts at once,” said Assange, in a phone interview from London. One reason, he alleged, “is because it is difficult to extradite someone for espionage, espionage being a classic political offense, and most extradition treaties have exemptions” for political acts.
He blasted the investigation, saying, “It is quite wrong to go after publishers and journalists for performing their work.”
In the WikiLeaks investigation, prosecutors have sought personal Twitter account information from Assange, Manning and several others linked to WikiLeaks.
The recipients are not the targets of the probe, sources said.
The April 21 letter, first reported by Salon.com, indicated that the individual served with the subpoena was to appear next month before a grand jury to answer questions concerning “possible violations of criminal law.” Possible violations include conspiracy to “knowingly [access] a computer without authorization” and to “knowingly [steal] any record or thing of value” belonging to the government.
“What they are trying to do is find proof that the WikiLeaks people were in a conspiracy with the leaker to get the information,” Lowell said. “If WikiLeaks is involved in the theft or improper access to the information, that’s not protected under the First Amendment.”
Staff writer Dana Hedgpeth and research editor Alice Crites contributed to this report.
A British man who failed to disclose he had been imprisoned for “industrial espionage” against the Church of Scientology in Denmark has been refused permission to settle in New Zealand.
Robin Scott, 62, and his wife Adrienne, 61, left their Canterbury organic farm in March after the Immigration and Protection Tribunal turned down an appeal against a direction for them to leave New Zealand, The Dominion Post newspaper reported.
In his visitor and work visa application in 2005 Mr Scott failed to disclose he had spent a month in a Danish prison before being deported in 1984.
He told authorities of the “industrial espionage” charge only four years later.
In the incident, Mr Scott waited outside a scientology property in Copenhagen while two others disguised as senior church officials entered and left with teaching materials.
A former church member, Mr Scott intended to use the materials in a business he had set up for those wanting to study scientology from outside the organisation.
The couple both admitted in their 2005 application they had served prison sentences in the 1990s for cannabis charges while living in Britain.
Mrs Scott had been accepted for registration as a teacher in New Zealand, despite the cannabis charges.
The secret post run by the CIA was used for the supremely delicate task of gathering information about the occupants and daily activities at the fortified compound where al-Qaeda chief was reportedly found and killed by the US Navy SEAL commandos this week, The Washington Post reported on Thursday, citing unnamed US officials.
The secret CIA facility was just 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the capital Islamabad and since August last year saw a small team of spies involved in gathering intelligence through satellite imagery and eavesdropping.
The reports went on to say, however, that the CIA post did not play a role in the attack that killed bin Laden and has since been closed down, because of concerns about the safety of CIA assets in the wake of the raid.
According to the report, the on-the-ground surveillance work was so extensive and costly that the CIA went to Congress in December to secure authority to reallocate tens of millions of dollars within assorted agency budgets to fund it.
On late Sunday, US President Barack Obama claimed that Osama bin Laden was killed by US forces on May 1 in a hiding compound in Pakistan, resisting while unarmed. He added that the military mission was conducted without the knowledge of Pakistani authorities due to US mistrust of their purported South Asia ally.
Former officials with Pakistan’s military and intelligence service say the US wrongfully claims it has killed bin Laden in Pakistan as part of a scheme to invade the country for harboring the terrorist leader.
Furthermore, Obama announced in a televised interview that he decided not to publish “disturbing imaged” of bin Laden’s dead body to avert “a national security risk” and due to concerns that it might be used as a “propaganda tool.”
The US has also rejected growing arguments that the US military effort against bin Laden in Pakistan was illegal, describing the operation as “an act of national self-defense.”
Car company Peugeot has a competition on its website, in which you have to find hidden 3008s. It features some astonishing panoramic shots of London, taken sometime last summer, from the top of CentrePoint. You can zoom in, and if you go full screen, it’s pretty impressive.
Here’s an overview:
One thing that struck me is the number of roof gardens and terraces in central London, with some pretty lush planting on some of the newer buildings. And another thing that struck me is that, if Google blurs number plates and faces for privacy, shouldn’t Peugeot do the same. Especially when, thanks to their viewpoint, they’re able to show far more detail than Google Streetview. Here are some examples:
Who is this man ironing in badly mismatched sports gear? Yep, you really can zoom enough to go right in through that chap’s living room window. Just as well his head is cut off…
Ok, so they probably are just asking for a cigarette. But that’s a pretty remarkable level of detail, isn’t it?
Let’s hope the driver of this van was supposed to be there. And it’s probably just as well there were no wardens around, because I bet he doesn’t have a permit – and certainly not one that covers having two wheels outside the parking bay.
Peugeot didn’t blur the numberplate, but we have
I’m sure there’s lots more to find – and if you look at Oxford Street, you have a particularly good view, as there aren’t really any obstructions in the way. Yes, it’s bit of fun, but really, Pegueot, shouldn’t you have thought about privacy a little more? ®
