Glenn Greenwald says Australia is 'one of most aggressive' in mass surveillance

Australia is one of the most aggressive countries in the world in terms of mass surveillance and its techniques could be the subject of future leaks, journalist Glenn Greenwald, who first reported on the Edward Snowden revelations for the Guardian, has said. Greenwald, who now works for The Intercept, said that Australia is “probably the country that has gotten away with things the most in terms of the Snowden revelations”. “Australia is one of the most aggressive countries that engage in mass surveillance as a member of the Five Eyes partnership,” he said, referring to a security sharing arrangement between the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

“There has been less reporting on Australia than the other four countries. We intend to change that. There are interesting documents about what Australia is doing to privacy rights – not just to their own citizens,” Greenwald said. “We are working on the reporting,” he continued. “We will definitely get that done as soon as we can.” New Australian laws ushered in in 2014 could see journalists jailed for up to 10 years if they reveal details of special intelligence operations. The changes to the Asio Act have been roundly criticised by Australian news outlets. Greenwald criticised Australian politicians for overstating the terror threat.