From Dataveillance to Überveillance and the Realpolitik of the

Transparent Society

 

The Second Workshop on Social Implications of National Security

University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia

29 October 2007

 

* Special Thanks: Research Network for a Secure Australia (RNSA)

 

** To Download a Soft Copy of the Proceedings- FREE

 

*** To Purchase a Hard Copy of the Proceedings

 

Cover, Copyright, Foreword, Reviewers, Contents

Editors:  Michael, K. & Michael, M.G.
Series:  Research Network for a Secure Australia (RNSA)
Publisher: 
University of Wollongong, IP Location-Based Services Research Program (Faculty of Informatics) jointly with the Centre for Transnational Crime Prevention (Faculty of Law)
Publication Year:  2007
Format:  Book
ISBN: 978-1-74128-141-5 (print)

ISBN: 978-1-74128-142-2 (pdf)

 

Workshop Presentations

Workshop Overview

 

Workshop Welcome

Katina Michael

IP Location-Based Services Research Program

 

1        Opening remarks                                                                                    

             Doug MacKinnon

             Centre for Transnational Crime Prevention, University of Wollongong

            

2        A note on überveillance                                                                                

             M.G. Michael and K. Michael

             School of Information Systems and Technology, University of Wollongong

         

3        Keynote address: What ‘überveillance’ is and what to do about it            

             Roger Clarke

             Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd

         

4        Keynote appendix: Surveillance vignettes                                                

          Roger Clarke

             Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd

         

5        Owning identity- one or many- do we have a choice?                              

             Marcus Wigan

             Oxford Systematics

         

6        Opposing surveillance                                                                             

          Brian Martin

          School of Social Sciences, Media and Communication, University of Wollongong

         

7        Message in a bottle: Stored communications interception as practised in Australia

          Rob Nicholls and Michelle Rowland

             Gilbert + Tobin

         

8        Australia and the ‘war against terrorism’: Terrorism, national security and human rights     

          Mark Rix

             Graduate School of Business, University of Wollongong

         

9        Panel session: The case for detention without charge in suspected terrorism cases in Australia

             Nicholas O’Brien

             Australian Graduate School of Policing, Charles Sturt University

         

10      The benefits and concerns of public data availability in Australia: a survey of security experts        

          Roba Abbas

          School of Information Systems and Technology, University of Wollongong

 

11      Re-using public sector information (PSI) for profit: Who’s data is it anyway?       

             Mark Burdon
Faculty of Law,
Queensland University of Technology

 

12      The Internet as a communication medium and a social space: a social constructivist approach to the use of open data                                                                                                       

          Lucy Resnyansky
Defence Science and Technology Organisation

 

13      The Agora-Pnyx paradox                                                                       

          George Mickhail

             School of Accounting and Finance, University of Wollongong

 

14      Something smart going on: the apocalyptic aesthetics of surveillance         

          Marcus O’Donnell

             School of Journalism and Creative Writing, University of Wollongong

 

15      Auto-ID and location-based services in national security: Social implications        

          Holly Tootell

             School of Information Systems and Technology, University of Wollongong

 

16      Privacy implications of automated GPS tracking and profiling                  

             Muhammad Usman Iqbal and Samsung Lim

             School of Surveying and Spatial Information Systems, University of New South Wales

 

17      Human tracking technology in mutual legal assistance and police inter-state cooperation in international crimes                                                                                                              

             Katina Michael and Gregory Rose
School of Information Systems and Technology and Centre for Transnational Crime Prevention, University of Wollongong

 

18      ePassport security under the microscope

             Matthew Sirotich
School
of Information Systems and Technology, University of Wollongong

 

19      Improving information security management: an Australian universities case study 

             Tim Lane and Lauren May
Faculty of Information Technology,
Queensland University of Technology

 

          Author Biographies                                                                                

 

Workshop Close

MG Michael

IP Location-Based Services Research Program

 

 

Media Reports

1. Interview (26/10/07: 4.00pm): Nicole, News, i98FM, URL: http://www.i98fm.com.au/

 

2. Interview (29/10/07: 10.45am): Nick Rheinberger, ABC Illawarra: Morning Show, 97.3 FM, URL: http://www.abc.net.au/illawarra/mornings/

 

3. Bernie Goldie (8/10/07): Social implications of national security workshop, UOW Latest News,  http://media.uow.edu.au/news/UOW038143.html

 

4. Bernie Goldie (30/10/07): Social implications of national security workshop conducted, UOW Latest News, http://media.uow.edu.au/news/UOW038920.html  

 

 

Other Information

1. How do I reference a paper from the proceedings?

Clarke, R. (2007), “What ‘überveillance’ is and what to do about it”, in K. Michael and M.G. Michael (eds), From Dataveillance to Überveillance and the Realpolitik of the Transparent Society, University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia, pp. 9-26.

 

2. Will updated proceedings be published in a journal(s)?

Yes. The proceedings will be published in special issue journals. Still waiting for confirmation on special issues from individual publishing houses.

 

4. Can I view the actual presentation schedule delivered at the workshop?

Yes.

 

5. What were the submission guidelines for authors?

Download.

 

6. What was the acceptance rate of papers?

Sixty-three percent.

 

7. How many people registered for the workshop?

Seventy-three.

 

8. Ninety-seven percent rated the workshop proceedings as “excellent”.

 

9. Eighty percent rated the overall workshop as “excellent”, and twenty percent said it was “very good”.

 

 

Workshop Survey- What People Had to Say About the Workshop?

It was my pleasure to attend the workshop. Congratulations for your great work organising it.

 

It was an honour for me to present my work to the workshop, and receive great feedback. I had a really good time appreciating the different perspectives of researchers from various backgrounds. The conference was really very well organised.

 

Thank you for a very interesting conference... I was struck by how you managed, not only to be well organised and to print the papers beforehand, but to create an atmosphere of warmth and intimacy...

 

Thank you so much for organising such an excellent workshop. I have thoroughly enjoyed myself and was happy to be able to contribute in some small way...

 

Congratulations to you and Michael - yesterday was a fantastic day! We were both saying it was the best run 'conference' we had attended, as well as being

very interesting… 

 

Clearly this is a topic of great current interest. There was an excellent list of speakers and I would have liked to have been able to stay for the day and listen to them all. The whole day was run very professionally and set a very high standard for any future conference organisers.

 

It was a great workshop & well worth the travel. I think that the workshop is unique in the national security research field in Australia. It is good to have independent research being done which is able to look at the issues from a different perspective to that of law and politics. I'm certainly interested in attending/participating in future workshops.

 

The things I liked about the workshop:

     Fresh focus on national security issues, away from the pure law focus

     Interrogating the relationship between technology and national security

     Inter-disciplinary perspectives

     Immediacy, validity, real world case studies and examples

     Engaging topics and speakers, generally high quality

     Diversity of topics

     The variety of topics

     Friendly atmosphere, high density of ideas, great organization

     The importance of opposing surveillance

     The widespread issues addressed by überveillance

     The balance between surveillance and security ethics

     High profile key presenters from academia

     Simple yet elegant arrangements

     Varied content, interesting

     Roger Clarke was excellent

     Impressive facilities, especially for free- remarkable

     Incredible diversity

     All presenters were very well prepared

     GPS tracking, RFID tracking, stored interception and warrants

     Variety of presentations

     Quality of presentations

     Well organized

     Free workshop on a university campus

     Speakers from a variety of perspectives (e.g. different academic disciplines, government, business, variety of countries)

     Good to have just one track with everyone together all day.

     Broader view of national security

     Difference between “academia” and real-life experiences

     A complex world made complicated

     Good quality speakers

     Interesting and broad scope of topics

     Food

     Multi-disciplinary approach

     Range of papers

     Bound volume as output

     The opportunity to hear and learn from others interested in similar issues

     Some really interesting papers, especially location ID/GPS

     Generally really nice people and organizers

     Free entry. Academia is not about profiteering

     Merges the issues of society, technology, law and policy

     I would consider submitting a paper next year

     Topics covered and interesting themes

     Proceedings were well-organised and published before the event

     Venue

     Diversity of paper presentations

     Opportunity to meet people with common interests

     Question time and breaks for interaction

     Learning what’s going on in the field

     The range of topics covered

     Varying views on certain topics

     Presentation of new/developing technologies

     Free and on campus

     Friendly and well informed

     Easily comprehensible

     Well organized and well timed, most enjoyable

     The quality of work put into presentations

     Topics were interesting

     Coffee was great!

     Wide range of academics and disciplines

     Some industry involvement

     Excellent speakers from multifaceted domains

     Themes were topical and different

     Being in the same theatre and listening to each others’ presentations the whole day

 

What themes would you have liked to be presented that were not?

     Role of corporations and big business in shaping the national security framework/landscape in Australia

     Good coverage as is. But I would be interested on pop/political aspects- how to ‘sell’ and discuss problems with surveillance

     The themes were chosen carefully and presented different aspects of the problem. Quite comprehensive as is.

     Greater detail of the Australian laws like the ASIO Act. Why is surveillance necessary today?

     The perspective of the individual and affordability of all the various security measures.

     Surveillance by international regimes/government within Australia and the government response.

     Needed more time for each presentation.

     More focus on Australian legal acts/legislation on areas of privacy.

     More about identity theft today and related concerns into the future.

     More coverage of data protection acts.

     Security infrastructure being developed for the future.

     More detail.

     The issue of national security vs. public safety.

     Use of data by private sector. E.g. what they are doing or permitted to do with personal information (e.g. direct marketing).

     Some legislative challenges, e.g. spam, Privacy Act.

     Information security.

     More technical aspects of privacy, security and surveillance. E.g. how it works and what is the impact on social activities.

     A good selection.

     Some topics that hit a more technical point of view to show how the theory relates to “real-life” applications.

     More security practitioners

     If possible greater involvement from intelligence community

     Longer talks.

     Seminars and discussion time.

     More on the security side.