A substantial amount of media and public attention on the issue of workplace surveillance has been created by an article published in the Sydney Morning Herald on Monday 14 April 2008.  That article quoted the Commonwealth Attorney-General Mr Robert McClelland as saying that Labor intended to give extra powers to intercept telecommunications to private-sector companies dealing with critical infrastructure, and that these new powers were necessary to avoid the threat of cyber terrorism.  These powers are currently only held by a select few intelligence, police, and anti-corruption organisations specifically named in legislation.

Under the law as it currently stands, it is illegal to intercept a communication passing over a telecommunications system unless the person making the communication knows it is being intercepted.  This is why, for example, when you telephone a call-centre you will usually hear a recorded message that your call may be monitored for various purposes.  Similarly, if a company’s Internet usage policy notifies employees that their Internet usage may be monitored, then that monitoring would not be an illegal interception under Commonwealth law, although State and Territory laws dealing specifically with the issue of workplace surveillance may impose additional requirements in some states.

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Filed in: General, Interception