Tuesday, 15 May 2018

Australian Greens Digital Rights spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John has backed calls for an immediate overhaul of digital rights protections in Australia in the face of eroding online privacy and the rise of surveillance capitalism, following the release of Digital Rights Watch’ ‘The State of Digital Rights’ report.

Thursday, 12 April 2018

The Australian Greens have called on the Federal Government to urgently update privacy protections in line with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), due to come into effect on the 25 May 2018, in the wake of the ongoing Facebook data collection scandal.

Digital Rights spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John said Australia should look to the GDPR as a model of international best practice for protecting the online privacy of Australian’s, particularly from companies that might employ surveillance capitalism.

Thursday, 22 March 2018

The Australian Greens have called on the government to acknowledge the data environment has changed significantly in the last 18 years and repeal section 7c of the Privacy Act, amid concerns around privacy and the integrity of Australian elections.

Yesterday, both the government and opposition voted down a Greens motion condemning Cambridge Analytica, and calling for a review of privacy regulations in Australia including the removal of absolute exemptions in the privacy act for politicians and political parties.

Tuesday, 20 March 2018

Australian Greens Digital Rights spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John has called for Privacy Act exemptions for political parties and members of parliament to be removed in the interest of Australian democracy.

Senator Steele-John said all political parties must be open, honest and transparent about the data they were using, or paying to access, and in particular about any links with Cambridge Analytica.

Monday, 19 March 2018

Australian Greens Digital Rights spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John has expressed alarm about the ‘Trumpification’ of Australian elections, following revelations today about the extent of data harvesting carried out by Cambridge Analytica and its potential influence on the Trump and Brexit campaigns.

Senator Steele-John said there were significant questions to be answered about where and how the data used in these campaigns was obtained, and whether it was legal to do so.

NBN Co is selling WA down the river with its worst technology - Fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) – whilst Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, the architect of this disastrous rollout, enlists taxpayer money and Departmental intervention to ensure his mansion gets 100mb per second speeds.

Australian Greens NBN spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John said today, in light of figures released during estimates showing more than 60 per cent of West Australian’s would be stuck with the existing, ageing copper network, that WA deserved better.

Tuesday, 27 February

The Australian Greens have labelled a report into the future of the National Broadband Network, which found Australia’s internet needs over the decade would conveniently peak below the 50mb/s threshold NBN co are claiming to provide, as sloppy, unfounded and deliberately  vague.

NBN spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John said the speeds noted in the report were already below international standards, and would cement Australia’s position as a second-rate digital player globally.

Monday, 26 February

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has flagged introducing legislation obligating Australian companies to assist government agencies with decryption, but his department has failed to clarify today in estimates when they plan to do so.

Australian Greens Digital Rights spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John said the lack of understanding demonstrated in estimates about the implications of such legislation was frightening, given there was an acknowledgement it was in draft stages.

Wednesday, 14 February

Australian Greens Digital Rights spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John has accused the Government and opposition of making law ‘on the fly’, after sensitive legislation concerning non-consensual sharing of intimate images online was rushed through the Senate today.

Both the government and the opposition blocked a motion by the Australian Greens to have the legislation referred to the Senate Standing Committee on Environment and Communications and ensure there was proper scrutiny of the bill, which was only introduced for debate on Monday.