Fed: Police, fed AG, use private firm to watch groups online
26 Nov 2008 1:25 AM
MELBOURNE, Nov 26 AAP - A private intelligence company has been engaged by Victorian and Australian Federal Police to secretly monitor internet and email use by activist and protest groups, a report says.
The Melbourne-based firm was hired by state and federal police and the federal Attorney-General's department to monitor and report on the internet activities of green and anti-war campaigners, animal rights activists and other protest groups, The Age newspaper reported on Wednesday.
The company has for the past five years monitored websites, online chat rooms, social networking sites, email lists and bulletin boards, the report said.
It has gathered intelligence on planned protests and other activities, and many of those on the watch list have broken no laws, the report said.
It also prepared threat assessments and intelligence reports for government agencies that included material from media reports, speeches, academic journals and publicly available company data, but no private correspondence was monitored.
Word of the activities of the company, un-named in the story at the request of its management for fear extremists may target the firm, comes a month after The Age revealed Victorian police had targeted community and activists groups in a long-running covert operation.
