Police are tracking commuters' movements on Brisbane public transport using their Go

[csv8]

Police watching where you Go
SEAN BAUMGART
July 29, 2010 - 3:00AM

A traveller uses a Go Card to access transport in Queensland.
Police are tracking commuters' movements on Brisbane public transport using their Go Card records.

Officers are using the technology to not only pinpoint the movements of criminal suspects but also potential witnesses.

One woman has told brisbanetimes.com.au she was contacted last month as part of a murder probe after police tracked her down via her Go Card, which is registered with her details by TransLink.


Queensland's Go Card payment card.
Police confirmed Go Card records had been used as part of an investigation into a New Farm murder last month.

The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said she felt rattled when called by a detective seeking information on a bus trip she'd taken in New Farm three weeks earlier.

Her unease grew when the officer also revealed the name of her partner.

“He was saying, 'You were travelling on a certain bus on a certain day at a certain time',” she said.

“And I said, 'That could be my partner [using my Go Card]. And he said, 'Would that be ...', and then gave his name. And I thought, 'Oh ****'."

The woman said she had little recollection of the trip and genuinely couldn't help the officer.

Police and TransLink have both confirmed the practice but remain tight-lipped about the frequency and circumstances of such requests.

A TransLink spokesman said police sought Go Card records “less than a handful of times a week” under an exemption to the Information Privacy Act 2009 (Chapter 29).

“Requests must be made in writing and the information provided can be used in court,” a Translink spokesman said in a statement.

“This is the same procedure that police and other law enforcement agencies follow to gain credit card or banking information, driver's licence data or any other detail which may help confirm a person's identity or movements.”

The records often relate to missing persons or stolen cards and a warrant is needed if the record is to be used in court.

But the practice of tracking people's movements without their consent has raised the ire of civil libertarians.

The pre-paid Go Cards have been in use on Brisbane trains, buses and ferries since February 2008 and allow faster access to the transit system, with commuters touching the cards on a pad as they enter and exit the service.

While it is not necessary to register the cards, many commuters choose to in case the card is lost or stolen.

Australian Council for Civil Liberties president Terry O'Gorman said he was not surprised to find police were accessing Go Card records as part of investigations.

“We warned when the Go Cards were introduced that the electronic records could be used for various forms of surveillance and we were pooh-poohed and told that we were being unnecessarily concerned,” he said.

“This shows that our concerns are justified.

“In the light of this I'd urge people who are concerned about their privacy to take the de-identification route so that agents of the state can't willy-nilly access information on their travel patterns.”

Mr O'Gorman said he had a Go Card but was unsure if it was registered to his name.

“My wife got it, but I'll soon be de-identifying it now,” he said.

Investigators have long used bank and phone records to track people's movements and Bond University criminology expert Professor Paul Wilson said police were quick to exploit new avenues of investigation.

“I think they are very quick to use new technology as a detection tool,” he said. “That can be seen by them being able to trace mobile phone signals easily to where people are at particular times and that's been used for years.

“This is just another variation of the use of digital technology like Go Cards. I suppose it does raise the big question of how far society is prepared to go to allow authorities to follow them in the interest of solving crime or public security.

“I suppose the answer to that is, they are allowed to go very far.”

The Queensland Police Service said it adheres to strict legal requirements when accessing information from organisations like Translink.

“Strict regulations, including legislative requirements, memorandums of understanding and operating guidelines are in place, both within the QPS and within external agencies, to monitor and regulate these processes,” they said in a statement.

But Professor Wilson said current regulations could give individuals limited protection and as technology evolved, privacy would deteriorate further.

“I think the trend is disturbing,” he said. “I don't think people realise with not only cell phone and technology that tracks things like Go Cards, but also CCTV, how little privacy is respected in modern society and I think that's a great pity.”

Mr O'Gorman said Go Cards made life easier for users, but many didn't realise at what cost.

“I don't think people knowingly trade privacy for convenience,” he said.

“The increased convenience of mobile phones, the increased convenience of Go Cards, the increased convenience of iPad use - people focus almost exclusively on the convenience and don't give a moment's thought to how the electronic track provides a ready bank of electronic information that the police can readily access.”

This down right scary !! I know if you have nothing to hide, nothing to worry about. But to do it without your permissionis another thing. Thats a worry with the new "smart" licences Q is bringing in. Big Brother is watching you. !!!

[BPXR6T]

Anonimity isn't high on my priorities. I don't see it as scary at all.

[Fev]

If it's on the same page as creditcard detail tracking then i don't see the problem. It's not being used to monitor our every move, just in extreme circumstances for good reasons. Let's just hope this doesn't change and they aren't logging this data for long.

[zdcol71]

"This down right scary !! I know if you have nothing to hide, nothing to worry about. But to do it without your permissionis another thing. Thats a worry with the new "smart" licences Q is bringing in. Big Brother is watching you. !!! [/QUOTE]

Big Brother has been watching since 1949, and I still don't see us being too much closer to 1984

[ZJ8]

Big brother has always been watching you. Anyone that doesn't realise it has their head in the sand. As for the article about the murder investigation I would expect nothing less from the police, I know if it was my family member that was murdered or attacked or whatever I would expect the police to use every avenue possible to contact witnesses to enable a conviction.

For the civil libertarians to say that the police are tracking your movements is scare mongering, they aren't tracking where you go and what you do everyday that you use the card, they are investigating individual crimes.

[FPV8U]

Time to get off the grid, stash you money under the matress and pay cash for everything :P

Seriously though bit of a wake up as to how easily our movements are tracked, not that i have huge issues with it anyways.

[vztrt]

They can track you with the city camera's/speed camers and your mobile phone. So just another thing that we allow governments to do.

Mind you they still cant catch armed criminals when they have them surrounded.

[BA-Fan]

Found this on the net:

Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 (C'th), prohibits the interception of communications passing over a telecommunications system and prohibits access to stored communications (i.e. email, SMS and voice mail messages stored on a carrier's equipment) except where authorised in specified circumstances.

The primary exception is to enable law enforcement agencies to lawfully intercept or access telecommunications in specified circumstances pursuant to an interception warrant or a stored communications warrant issued under the TIA Act. A small number of other exceptions are specified for particular purposes including tracing the location of callers in emergencies, and the operation and maintenance of a telecommunications system.

[Keepleft]

Not appropriate, certainly wasn't once, under our inherited rights (Magna Carta + 1688 Bill of Rights).

But, these days such things are routinly 'ignored' by commie type governments and academia.

[302 XC]

WOW !!!
Cant they track our movements with the GPS
They know when our cars/trucks move where we go how long for and when we get back
Welcome one and all to the new age

[vztrt]

Same thing happening with the new card system here.

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/my...ml?autostart=1

Myki is watching you: smartcard operator gives police access to customer info
THOMAS HUNTER
July 29, 2010 - 2:07PM

The operator of the myki system has given Victoria Police access to private information about the movements of smartcard users, it has been revealed.

The Transport Ticketing Authority today said police had made four requests about customers since December 2009.

The authority, however, was only able to provide information on two of those occasions.

Under the myki privacy policy, a police officer does not need to apply to a court for access to a myki user's private information, they can simply request it in writing.

The myki privacy policy states the information will be handed to police "where an authorised senior police officer certifies that the disclosure is reasonably necessary for the enforcement of the criminal law".

Further, private information will be given to law enforcement agencies "where TTA is required to do so by law, e.g. in response to a warrant or subpoena".

Today's revelations came as a Queensland woman, whom police wanted to interview as part of murder probe, said she was tracked down by investigators using data from her Go Card, the Brisbane equivalent of myki.

A Victoria Police spokeswoman would not confirm or deny investigators had requested information from the TTA, but said police "use any avenue of inquiry we can to investigate a crime".

"We're not going to confirm specifically the tools we use in our investigations," she said.

Professor Graham Currie, chair of public transport at Monash University, said the use of personal information gathered by the TTA needed to be "carefully considered" and "protections" must be built into the system.

But he said he broadly supported the use of commuter information to meant solve crimes.

He said the myki website had a comprehensive privacy policy available for all users to read, and despite there now being more scrutiny on a commuter's movements "there are also real opportunities in this to help people".

"Police may actually capture a criminal by using this information. If someone was lost you would have a better idea of knowing where they were," Professor Currie told The Age.

"We're all in a digital age. Credit cards have microchips in them and we all use mobile phones ... So I'm not too sure myki is bad because it is following this trend. There are positive sides to this as well as the negative ones."

[zdcol71]

Originally Posted by Keepleft

Not appropriate, certainly wasn't once, under our inherited rights (Magna Carta + 1688 Bill of Rights).

But, these days such things are routinly 'ignored' by commie type governments and academia.

I usually see your opinion as well founded, keepleft, but I am kinda glad we don't reference the Magna Carta and 1688 Bill of Rights every time we need to question our "rights". I for one,am glad that our "rights" have evolved somewhat since circa 1200.

[ROBBO1981]

and they still cant find my push bike look harder!!!!

[3vXT]

Originally Posted by ROBBO1981

and they still cant find my push bike look harder!!!!

I have your pushbike

[Bundy]

If it catches the BAD guys then I'm all for it, too many of them are getting away with too much these days (thanks to technology).

On the other hand though, if you can trust the GOOD guys to "protect" your data (movements and whatever else) and only release it to other "good guys" (when the proper rules are followed) then its all fine. If you can't, therein lies the problems.

[DJR-351]

Originally Posted by 302 XC

WOW !!!
Cant they track our movements with the GPS
They know when our cars/trucks move where we go how long for and when we get back
Welcome one and all to the new age

No one can track your GPS, it's a receiver only not a transmitter....

[MO]

Well give it time and some where down the track you'll be microchipped at birth and then they should have no trouble catching the bad guys.

[zdcol71]

I love reading these threads and marvelling at the modern high tech gear that people have in their homes, in their phones, and certainly under their bonnets.
I think we cry Big Brother far too quickly when the same sort of technology is used in a way that, for some reason, we are made to fear.
I have had my dog microchipped, and I hazard a guess that many members here would probably agree that is a responsible thing to do.It can now have some chance of being reunited with it's "owner" if it should end up in the wrong hands or a vet surgery somewhere.
In answer to Mo's comment about microchipping at birth, you are only a bad guy when you do something wrong.