

Australia gets 'deluge' of US secret data, prompting a new data facility - ra
http://www.theage.com.au/it-pro/security-it/australia-gets-deluge-of-us-secret-data-prompting-a-new-data-facility-20130612-2o4kf.html

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thisrod
_US signals intelligence is also described as "absolutely critical" to
Australia's diplomatic campaign to win a seat on the United Nations Security
Council.

"Without intelligence support, overwhelmingly provided by US capabilities, we
would not have won the seat," one Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
officer recently said._

Spying on other countries is something Australians want our government to do
when it can't be avoided, not just because they can and Stalin did worse.
Doing it to win an election is wrong. Here's another reason to make these
activities as transparent as possible: it's obvious to everyone in Australia,
except for Kevin Rudd and a few DSD agents, that we have always gained more by
not doing things like this than we could possibly gain from some diplomat
sitting on a committee in New York.

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Volpe
I don't get it... why does Australia need to store a copy of US secret data?
Isn't this why the Defence Industry invented the internet?

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DanBC
NSA isn't allowed to spy on its own citizens.

Australia is allowed to spy on US citizens.

US and Australia pool their collected intelligence. The US gives a list of
names to Australia and asks if Australia has any information on those names.

This is pretty much how ECHELON worked, with UK, US, Australia, Canada and New
Zealand all cooperating.

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freakyterrorist
Wow, I'd never thought of that way, We'll spy on your people if you spy
ours...

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coopdog
Great, now we get access to the worlds corporate secrets too. I wonder which
companies will be the beneficiaries..

