Police want more bugging powers

By EUGENE BINGHAM

A tracking device the size of a matchbox is about to become the latest counter-terrorism tool under proposed law changes expanding police and enforcement agencies' powers.

Police yesterday refused to discuss the technology, but specialists the Weekend Herald spoke to said the equipment was likely to be Global Positioning System (GPS) kits enabling investigators in control rooms to trace their target's movements.

A well-placed source said the devices would be fitted to cars or placed in bags by technicians who specialised in finding the right place to hide them.

"Half the battle is to secrete it so that it's not easily seen by the target, but where it can also transmit effectively," said the source.

A GPS antenna hooked up to a transmitter and batteries was about the size of a matchbox these days, he said. Anything smaller was "spy movie stuff".

But an Australian National University computer science and information technology expert, Dr Roger Clarke, said the devices were get smaller and more effective.

Cellphone systems could even possibly be set up so that a person could be followed even if he had his phone switched off.

Dr Clarke said the legislation was not particularly specific on what kind of tracking devices would be used, because the agencies wanted to be in a position to take advantage of advances in technology

"They want to take advantage of the [post-September 11 environment] to get everything they can on the statute books as a blatant grab for excess powers.

"Their strategy would be to avoid anything specific in the legislation," said Dr Clarke.

Under the proposal, contained in the Counter-Terrorism Bill, which is expected to have its first reading in Parliament this month, officers would need a judge's approval before installing a tracking device.

The judge would have to be satisfied the use of the device was necessary for a serious terrorism investigation, and would have to weigh up the individual's privacy considerations.

Armed with the court warrant, the officers would then be entitled to break into somewhere, or use force, to install the equipment.

Privacy Commissioner Bruce Slane said the use of tracking devices needed to be closely monitored.

He welcomed provisions forcing the agencies to publicly report how many warrants they had obtained each year.

"Conceivably this law could herald a significant expansion in the use of tracking devices," Mr Slane said in a submission to the Government on the bill.

"Were that to happen, it is only the annual reporting requirement which will alert Parliament and the public to what is going on.

"That will enable the democratic process to contribute to the enduring debate on the question of where the line should be drawn between a free society and a surveillance state."

Mr Slane said he supported the bill but believed it should also include a penalty for officers caught abusing their powers.

Police and Customs officers currently have some powers under the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Act to use tracking devices.

A spokeswoman for Customs said the service used devices to trace packages that were of interest in drug investigations.