Spy stuff. Moral, ethical and legal

grahamwhittaker.com

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:12:06 +1000

grahamwhittaker.com:

Much more uploaded. Please comment One third there! Enjoy

Fishing Underwater in Finland | Break.com

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 10:24:41 +1000

Fishing Underwater in Finland | Break.com:

love it

grahamwhittaker.com

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 08:28:08 +1000

grahamwhittaker.com:

4Th January. More added today

grahamwhittaker.com

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 09:52:13 +1000

grahamwhittaker.com

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 15:00:15 +1000

grahamwhittaker.com:

A serialized novel. Every time I get 20 comments the novel will be added to. Enjoy and please visit to comment dear reader.

WHAT THE HECK IS A DIASPORA?

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 13:42:00 +1000

And in the beginning there was Facebook. After a few years and lots of fish-feeding, farm building, netting several billion bucks it is a fine example of the ‘todally friv’lus’. Corporations love facebook. Lots of customers there. Plenty of embarrasing pictures of binge drinking, funny videos and personal secrets published that you never thought anyone but the last divorce/separation subject could possibly know. Oh damn! Google+ invited and encouraged a mass migration of techies and geeks intent on inviting only techies and geeks to discuss the latest IPhone specs and pore over pie charts, scheduling statistics and +1’ing anything from/about Steve Jobs and how Apple is going to survive without the enfent terrible. Oh damn!
Twitter tweets on like a basket of budgies in 120 characters or less chronicling the careers of everyone from Lindsay Lohan to Amy Winehouse, while creative writers concoct novels in the tweetscape in textspeak. Oh damn!
YouTube. No comment necessary. Oh damn!
Goldurn it! It’s all free! Todally free. Of course if you’re not on one or more of them, managing a million ‘friends,’ you just don’t exist. And if you don’t exist, you’re not a consumer. Just about every facebook user knows that once you’re in, it’s darn near impossible to get out. Hotel California was not a song, it was a prophecy.
Then there’s Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, International day of the Baby Boomers, Noddy’s Birthday, when you wake up all prettily packaged and can’t understand why your mailbox is full of exhortations to buy the very thing you were just talking about yesterday with all your buddies. Wow! How magic is that? And they’re just so NICE! Hello sexypants, your friend ironcrotchbob wants to share the very latest ubeaut camera you can use in the bath! Take advantage of this very special Just for you only today special offer, and we’ll give you todally free a kilo of smelly bath salts! And how do you get this special only for you once in a lifetime offer? Just click the ‘like’ button and all ten million friends will be inundated with junk mail. Allow the company to access all your personal private details, (you don’t know, or don’t care about how to protect your privacy in your settings), and hey presto you’ve just contributed another billion bucks to the coffers of your favourite social networking service. Oh damn!.
Ever heard of Diaspora? Sounds like some kind of fungus infection between your toes doesn’t it? “Urk! s/he’s got Diaspora! Better keep away, it might be infectious!”.
Diaspora? Hmm! ‘di·as·po·ra/dīˈaspərə/Noun: Jews living outside Israel.
The dispersion of the Jews beyond Israel. The main diaspora began in the 8th–6th centuries bc, and even before the sack of Jerusalem..’ What? Ohhhh! really..?
The term originally meant ‘dispersion of Jews outside their homeland.’
” Now, it means ‘a dispersion of any people from their homeland’ & the community formed by such a people. It means ’ a dispersion of an originally homogeneousentity such as language or culture.
Eg: African Diaspora in America
2.Indian Diaspora in Britain
Source(s):
Source:
The Free Dictionary By Farlex”
Oh I know what you’re saying. “What’s this dingbat blabbering on about? Who cares about a bunch of folks being dispersed from their homeland? Bit too socio-political huh? Socio-political? What’s that when it’s wheels are turning? Duh!
Well, I got an invite from a mate who finally got jack of emptying his spam that seemed strangely to be dribblling out of his spam filter into his inbox, apparently for no reason at all. Oh damn!

Diaspora now has a new definition. The dispersion of any people from social networks in which users are products for sale to business for massive fees, to resettlement in a community formed by such people. Diaspora is a privacy heavy social network where the community is free to communicate to develop its own self worth.” Hot damn! I like that!

How Your Creative work is Subjected to Legal Plagiarism

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 13:52:28 +1000

Tuesday, November 29, 2011 9:13:14 AM
I’ve long researched and ranted against Content Farms, The “information” on these sites is at best highly questionable, and at worst dangerous. Imagine searching for information on your health problems and coming across a professional looking site replete with “advice” about your symptoms, and medications. These sites are legal, show up in top Google rankings, (they always find a way to rank in spite of Google trying to stop it,) and there are now not just hundreds, but thousands of these ‘shady’ sites. TRIOND alone based in Israel and calling itself a “publishing company” has hundreds. They use Google Adsense to provide income to the “writers”. They do not pay for articles, nor are any of the articles “tested”. I have been calling for content farms to be forced to place a banner disclaimer stating that the site is exactly that, a CONTENT FARM.
Notwithstanding the fact that one of my own sites has constantly been refused an adsense account (any site I own linked to a particular email address is refused in spite of the fact that my sites are full of totally original content written by me and copyright owned by me, it irks me that Google still cannot address the problem.) It’s not hard! Just identify the sites as content farms in the search results. As a professional writer producing well researched articles based on accurate information I can no longer make an income from original material. Within hours of posting an article which may have taken hours, or days to write and cross-check, my work appears on CONTENT FARMS spun to the point of nonsense and complete inaccuracy. “Spun” mostly by non English speakers in India, Nigeria, China, Russia, (the list goes on.) Just one of my articles can be “spun” millions of times, and posted on content farms, they might make the “writer” a fabulous $10 a month, but in (say) Vietnam, where the annual income is about $1000 a year that’s a whole heap of lolly. In recent years companies have sprung up that purchase articles. These companies then post the nonsense on hundreds of sites, and reap the Google adsense cash. (This has caused me to cancel my adwords account, since I found that my ads appear on content farms and because I am not a big advertiser I don’t really get much choice about placement. Imagine one of my ads generating thousands of ‘hits’ and not a single sale. The stats look good on my account of course, but the ‘clickers’ have no intention of buying anything. How much do the companies buying articles pay? The majority pay $3 for a 600 word article with a minimum of 5 articles. 3000 words for $15! Article spinning software, article writing software is cheap, and it really doesn’t matter if you can’t speak English so long as the articles can pass Copyscape scrutiny.
Let me show you an email I received today (links removed). Oh, before I do that, I can’t see why Google can’t just provide a small piece of information in their search stating THIS SITE CONTAINS FARMED CONTENT. No complex algorithms required. They know who these sites are, so why not INFORM THE PUBLIC. Anyway, the email I received today from one of the most successful “marketers”. I have NO animosity towards this company, and what they do is not illegal even though they sell a product that can take THIS article, spin it a few thousand times, and plug it into one of the thousands of content farms to reap the Google Adsense ‘rewards. It can even be “spun” in such a way that these words become a promotional article in favour of content farms! That’s more scary than having my income reduced to almost zero. DISCLAIMER: Links in this article are NOT intended to promote any product or service. They are provided ONLY for information related to this article.
Graham, never write another article again!
Hi Graham,
What if you could punch a button and get a new article
every time, an article that would ALWAYS be AT LEAST
75% unique from every other article ever produced
when you hit that button?
And what if each article produced was HIGH quality,
human-edited, and about 500 words long?
You could post fresh content to your blogs, get TONS
of backlinks to your site (all on highly unique pages
of content), get traffic from article directories
and web 2.0 properties — you name it
Wow, what a benefit THAT would be!
Even if you prefer to write 100% of the content
on your “money” sites, there’s no sense in spending
that kind of time on content you need for building
links to rank in Google — not if you could get
a quality push-button article in seconds!
This is not a fantasy, Graham. I’ve got a tool
that lets you do JUST THAT.
It’s called a “Super Spun” article. It’s a 100%
human-edited (every word) document that is built
around of a series of complementary articles.
This is how a Super Spun article is produced:
1. Ten high quality, 500+ word, complementary
articles are created.
2. Each article title is rewritten 10 times
(100 titles total).
3. Each paragraph of each article is rewritten
10 times
4. Every sentence of all resulting paragraphs is
rewritten 10 times.
5. All of the titles and sentences are checked
for quality by a team of skilled Editors —
every single word.
6. The titles, paragraphs and sentences are put
together into a spin-formatted document
Do you know how many HIGH QUALITY article variations
these documents are capable of producing?
Hold your breath, Graham, because it’s
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
In math terms, that’s one nonillion (or, for
European mathematicians, one quintillion). I
can’t even begin to comprehend how large that
number is.
THAT’S the number of article variations you can get
from ONE of my Super Spun articles
Ready to take a look? I have to warn you, I don’t
have very many available right now. These suckers
require a SERIOUS amount of work. But I’m eager
to have you take a look, so here’s the link:
LINK REMOVED BY AUTHOR
(After reading the information on the page, click
the “VIEW INVENTORY” link at the bottom to see
what’s available.)

*** WHAT ABOUT DUPLICATE CONTENT? ***
So a Super Spun Article can generate a bazillion
variations. So what? As an Internet Marketer
or Search Engine Marketer, what you’re probably
interested in is duplicate content, not variations.
Let’s talk about duplicate content, then.
A typical Super Spun Article has 30 sentences in
it. The odds of any two articles generated from
the Super Spun document having one sentence in
common is one in one hundred, or one percent.
One sentence out of 30 is a little more than 3%
of the content. That means that for every one
hundred articles generated from the Super Spun
document, the odds are that two of them will
have 3% duplicate content. That’s certainly a
number that the search engines, can live with.
The odds of any two articles having two sentences
in common is one in one thousand. So for every
one thousand articles generated from the Super Spun
document, two will have about 6.5% duplicate content.
Still a fabulously small amount in the eyes of the
search engines.
Three sentences in common (roughly 10% duplicate
content)? One in ten thousand
Four (~13%)? One in a hundred thousand.
Five (~17%)? One in a million.
So a high percentage of duplicate content really
isn’t a problem with Super Spun documents.
Ready to take a look now? Here’s the link again:
LINK REMOVED BY AUTHOR
(After reading the information on the page, click
the “VIEW INVENTORY” link at the bottom to see
what’s available.)

*** HOW ABOUT COPYSCAPE? ***
Ah, yes, Copyscape. The Holy Grail of unique
content in most marketers’ eyes is having Copyscape
come back with “No results found.” If you achieve
that, your dreams come true….
So how well will articles generated from Super Spun
documents perform in Copyscape? Very, very well, but
not perfect (and they don’t have to be perfect).
As outlined already, there’s a 1% chance of any two
generated articles sharing about 3% of content.
Copyscape will find that 3% if it’s on a page
indexed in Google somewhere.
In completely practical terms, after a Super Spun
article is used hundreds or thousands of times,
Copyscape will probably locate a variety of documents
that match one, maybe two sentences topping out at
about 15% of what Copyscape thinks is “duplicate”
content. (The duplicated sentences will rarely be
the same in the documents Copyscape finds.)
The actual duplicate content will likely be less
than 10%, but Copyscape will throw false positives,
claiming that a few common phrases that happen to
be in both articles are also “duplicates” and
adding that to its total percentage.
But even if there was genuinely 15 full percent
of duplicated content between the two articles,
that is seriously within the comfort zone of the
search engines.
I don’t speak for Google, of course, but it’s
been my experience that even 30% of duplicated
content is not a problem — and the chance of
there ever being 30% duplication between two
Super Spun article generations is so small as
to be virtually impossible (the odds are about
one in ten billion).
*** WANT TO SEE SOME EXAMPLE ARTICLES? ***
I wouldn’t expect you to believe my claims of
high quality without being able to see some
sample articles output by the Super Spun
documents, of course
So hop on over to the site, read more about
how the documents work (if you want to),
and then click the “VIEW INVENTORY” link at
the bottom of the page.
Next to each available Super Spun article is
a link to view two samples generated by that
document. I think you’ll like what you see.
Here’s the link one more time:
LINK REMOVED BY AUTHOR

ANYTHING YOU WANT TO ASK ABOUT COVERT CAMERAS

Tue, 10 May 2011 13:27:31 +1000

ANYTHING YOU WANT TO ASK ABOUT COVERT CAMERAS:

I recently left facebook because…well, just fucking BECAUSE right? (Now I’ve got that off my chest it really doesn’t feel any better at all.) Do you ever feel that big EVERYTHING is spying on you? Well frankly it is. Not only is it spying on you and making billions of dollars fining you, stealing your personal details, even your WORDS and THOUGHTS. Did you know that the right to protect yourself from all this spying ON you is being taken away? It’s true. You might like to read my blog on the surveillance laws in New South Wales Australia. I’m not even a conspiracy theorist. But ask me anything and I’ll answer it so much as I KNOW the truth to be, and if you want a covert device from my website, or if you want to know if I can make it, supply it, or tell you where to get it, I’ll do that. No I’m not going to break the law. For myself I’m using the law to protect myself, because the law doesn’t really care about little me.. or YOU. Does it?

spy products and covert cameras in Australia

Tue, 10 May 2011 13:06:00 +1000

spy products and covert cameras in Australia:

Espy is not a band, nor is it a kind of music. Espy existed long before that! The purpose of espy.cc is to promote and sell covert devices so that you have the freedom that you deserve. Ever been ‘set up’ by officialdom? Ever thought “wow I wish I had been able to make a recording of that? Espy does not encourage you to break the law. At the same time we believe that you have the personal right to protect yourself peacefully and without harm to any other person.

PEPPER SPRAY TO STOP A TANTRUM?

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 10:29:37 +1000

With all the power the police have at their disposal you would think it was possible for a couple of grown up fully trained law enforcement officers to curtail an 8 year old boys tanty… wouldn’t you? I’ve dealt with raging monster looney kids from 4 to 14 and even if I had the right to use a pepper spray on them I would have felt somewhat ashamed and disgusted with myself if I had ever felt the need to use the stuff. I mean… really!! But that’s exactly what happened to an 8 year old boy in the Bay Area of San Franscisco USA. This kid weighing in at no more than two peoples airline carry on baggage was … oh wow! Spitting at teachers! And oh calamity threatening to kill them with his bare hands! Three of them! The child does suffer from behavioural problems and is seeing a doctor about his anger, but since when do two fully trained cops deem it necessary to PEPPER SPRAY an 8 year old child who comes up to their knees? Every year cops get away with doing things that ordinary people would spend long periods in jail for. How long will it be before they begin to use Tasers and stun guns on children? (I BET it will happen before too long.)
Amazingly the police department defended the office who used the pepper spray on the child, saying “something had to be done to calm the situation’. Well how about picking the child up under this arm and restraining him with a hug?
I’m a disiplinarian from the old school. I’ve dealt with some absolute horrors of children but never ever ever have I had the need or the desire to use what amounts to a weapon on a child. What heppens when this police officer is called to a situation where someone has a psychotic break because they closed the institutions. Taser them to death? It’s happened. If you are willing to pepper spray an 8 year old child I would say. GET SOME COUNSELLING, NEVER BE PERMIITTED TO CARRY A LETHAL WEAPON, AND UNDERGO SOME LONG TERM SUPERVISION BEFORE BEING LET OUT ON THE STREETS WITH THE PUBLIC.

Photo courtesy US Navy. Photographer unknown but with sincere thanks.

Some trick cameras are more than trick cameras.

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 08:37:00 +1000

Someone sent me a pic of one of my trick cameras. It’s the usual ball point pen with a camera and microphone included and my reporter friend who uses it for her quick notes and observations thought that it might be interesting for people to know what these trick pens are (apparently) made from. You see, the blue enamel paint was peeling off and underneath the paint was a rather attractive brass colour. So, using her fingernail she proceeded to remove the unsightly peeled paind and this was what was underneath. Now, do you see what it looks like?

It looks rather like a .762 brass cartridge case, and interestingly the bottom of the pen looks like… well you can see what it looks like. So I took one of my own pen cameras and peeled off the paint, and yes, underneath is a beautifully crafted AK47 projectile that polishes up to a stunning shine with a bit of brass cleaner. Here is the top bit. Far from being disappointed I was rapt! And so was my reporter friend. It’s almost a poetic version of turning guns into ploughshares. It’s a great talking point when I now show my ballpoint pen with 8gb flash memory and 2mp camera with microphone etc made from what is apparently old ammunition. You have to love it! I contacted one of my ‘competitors’ who have similar “spy” pens and asked them what theirs looked like. I mean, these guys are selling theirs at $188 against my $88. Guess what? Plastic!. Awww! Just plastic. I rather like mine better.

Photo

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 10:15:00 +1000

The Surveillance Act NSW 2007

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 10:11:09 +1000

Those people who are the most deserving and able to hold substantial office in government are the least likely to accept such a role. These are people who will not be corrupted (or who are aware that they may become corrupted) by the wishes of the obscenely rich, and the indecently powerful. Most often, but not always the obscenely rich are also the indecently powerful.

Not that there is not a small proportion of people who enter politics for reasons of compassion, justice, and the preservation of freedom, but they are few, and while they may serve gloriously, they seldom achieve great heights.

Almost all, for better or worse enter politics so that they can set the rules rather than blindly follow them, and there is a disproportionate number of solicitors, lawyers, barristers, bankers, and accountants. It seems that law and money make complimentary bedfellows.

On. 26/05/99 The Hon. J. HATZISTERGOS gave his inaugural speech in the NSW Parliament in support of the Walsh Bay development. That speech contained the following paragraph which is quoted here verbatim.

“I take this opportunity to particularly record three names: Special Minister of State John Della Bosca,

former Senator Belinda Neal and ALP General Secretary Eric Roosendaal. All of us met in the Young Labor council many years ago. They remain active in politics. They remain my closest friends and have contributed immensely to my

development.

Anyone from my political background realises his immense debt to one other person, namely John”

See here for full details of the Della Bosca/Belinda Neal story.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/indepth/della-bosca

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/john-della-bosca-belinda-neal-rest-easy/story-e6freuy9-1111117031560

On 3^rd September 2008 Della Bosca and his wife Belinda Neal were informed that they would not be charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

Many politicians, judges, police officers magistrates and ‘pillars of society’ still believe, and lecture their ‘clients’ with the cliché “You will be defined by the company you keep.” Mr Hatzistergos’ tenure as Justice Minister/Attorney General ended on 5^th September 2008 and there are many who, believing in the veracity of the cliché have put two and two together to make five. It must have been a heart-sickening experience to be in the position to ‘make things go away’ and not be tempted to do so. When two of one’s ‘closest’ friends’ professional and personal lives are heading towards disaster of monumental proportions one would need the wisdom of Solomon to maintain both integrity and friendship.

A little over a year earlier, on 14^th November 2007 The Hon. J. HATZISTERGOS sought leave to have the second reading speech of the SURVEILLANCE ACT 2007 incorporated into Hansard.

At the time HATZISTERGOS was the NSW Attorney General, and Minister for Justice. The time was 3.20pm.

Also speaking were the following individuals: The Hon Michael, Gallacher ex Police Senior Sergeant and Leader of the Opposition (liberal) until 2^nd March 2007.

The Hon Fred Nile Reverend Founder Christian Democratic Party, Festival of Light, anti-Gay campaigner, Call to Australia (Fred Nile) Group

The Hon Brown Robert: Member of the Shooters and Fishers Party,

Ms Lee Rhiannon (Greens)

Hon Amanda Fazio (Chair. Labor)

It is my opinion that this is an ill-informed, ill-advised, lazy and cynical piece of legislation, already outdated by technology itself, impossible to police to any degree of satisfaction. I might stick a boot in here and suggest that there exists in this bill a total lack of vision. (Though who am I but a lowly writer with a big mouth.) What an opportunity lost. To return for a moment to the gentleman’s inaugural speech. He said “For us as legislators the task is to formulate laws that govern (To control the actions or behavior of:To keep under control; restrain: To exercise political authority. To have or exercise a determining influence.)* our community. The task of the courts is to apply those laws in a large number of different circumstances, some of which might not have been even contemplated at the time the legislation was formulated.”

*My parentheses.

You can read the whole proceedings of the second reading of the Surveillance Act 2007 here:

http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/Prod/parlment/hansart.nsf/V3Key/LC20071114036

In a few years the Private Investigator could be extinct. While the Surveillance Act 2007 invests far greater power in the hands of the police, the only people who are rubbing their hands with glee are the thieves, thugs, murderers, rapists, and assorted scumbags. (To use a word popularised by the once Prime Minister Paul Keating.)

Under this act, any callow young police officer can covertly record you (so long as they say the right words to their boss) and you can be incriminated even without the traditional caution. A retired police officer having served many years in the service, who invests a decent chunk of their cash to train and obtain a PI license can do no such thing.

‘clause 31 permits a law enforcement officer to use a surveillance device without a surveillance device warrant in limited circumstances when there is an imminent threat of serious personal violence or substantial damage to property or an imminent threat of a serious narcotics offence being committed.’

Police in all States are underfunded, understaffed and are completely unable to take on “a bunch of youths recording each other with their mobile phones and posting on the internet” Those are not my words, they are the words of a police officer.

Downloadable software is available right now for around $60 which is undetectable, and will work on any brand of cell phone. The surveillance act 2007 makes this illegal, BUT any crook or mischievous youth, or jealous spouse will not be stopped from buying and using it. It works anywhere in the world FROM anywhere in the world. So much for the following clause :

Part 2 of the bill replaces the offences concerning listening devices contained in part 2 of the Listening Devices Act with new offences relating to all of the new devices that will be covered by the scheme; namely, data surveillance devices, listening devices, optical surveillance devices and tracking devices. Clause 7 makes it an offence, with specified exceptions, to knowingly install, use or cause to be used, or to maintain a listening device to overhear, record, monitor or listen to a private conversation to which the person is or is not a party. The maximum penalty remains at five years imprisonment and/or 500 penalty units. This offence is consistent with the existing listening device offence in the Listening Devices Act.

Locater software which will give an exact location of a cellphone to or from anywhere in the world is also available. Many mobile phones come with locator software installed, (though this software tends to be subject to local laws of consent).

Contrary to the popular novel, Private Investigators and Police officers can and do work well together. It’s often a case of cops, and ex-cops, and, left to their own devices there would be little or no jealousy or foot treading if PI’s were to be able to access locator databases, or use covert surveillance devices. Essentially PI’s do work that cops can’t or won’t do and occasionally their work overlaps.

However the Private Investigator will almost certainly become extinct unless radical changes are made both to the way Private Investigators work, and the surveillance Act. Radical changes do not include the illogical, kneejerk ‘ban everything and give law enforcement greater powers” approach to legislation. In 2011 technology has moved on exponentially since 2007. A computer for example purchased in 2007 is generally considered to be near obsolete in 2011. Surveillance equipment and software is now a part of everyday life in the form of affordable, easy to use, practical and labour saving forms from mobile phones in a variety of shapes and sizes, including wrist watches and tablet pc’s. Undetectable surveillance devices are now available as RDIF’s (Radio Frequency Identification Devices) so small that they can be be incorporated into the dot of an i.

When one enters politics one is confronted by the greasy pole of ambition. To begin to climb that greasy pole, one must make allegiances, curry favour, and open up to the idea that it is not a profession for idealists. Politicians make the rules that others must live by, and, wherever possible, whenever possible, circumvent those same rules if it is to one’s benefit or survival.

There is a Police Service to ensure that the rules set down by politicians are conformed to. Because the Police Service is a bureaucracy, under instruction from, and control of. a government those who make the rules, get to give themselves a level of protection. They can tell the bureaucracy through it’s senior levels, to cover up with the left hand what the right hand has uncovered.

Private Investigators will never be permitted access to and use of locator databases or surveillance equipment regardless of how qualified the are, or how much integrity they have. The simple reason behind this is that they are PRIVATE. They have CLIENTS. The surveillance act 2007 (and other legislation) is not about the privacy and protection of the society. In fact, the surveillance act 2007 can be reasonably argued to be a danger to society at large. Current legislation allows that the villains benefit most of all. It would take a very radical, ethical, and brave politician to advocate that while each and everyone of us is entitled to privacy, we also have a right to personally protect our possessions, our loved ones, our very existences. If that means using recording devices, listening devices, trackers, scanners, perhaps even jammers (though using jammers would perhaps be stretching the issue,) providing they are used with a genuine positive INTENT such use should be defensible in court. It would then be a brave villain who would argue that their privacy had been breached.

A law ceases to be an effective law when that law is breached by accident or design by the majority of citizens every day. When Private Investigators and media are unable to perform duties both condoned and expected of them by the public, then the reasons for that inability to perform must be examined with alacrity and a sense of moral purpose.

It is time to recognise and empower Private Investigators for the service they provide to the community where law enforcement cannot or will not act satisfactorily. It is time to reflect on the many valid and necessary uses for personal surveillance devices and equipment. It is time to call to account politicians who manipulate legislation which serves no purpose other than to protect politicians, and their powerful and rich allies.

More stupid clauses:

Clause 8 creates a new offence of installing, using or maintaining an optical surveillance device to record or observe an activity if the installation, use or maintenance of the device involves entry onto or into premises or a vehicle without consent. Clause 9 creates a new offence of knowingly installing, using or maintaining a tracking device to determine the geographical location of a person or an object without the consent of the person or the person having lawful possession or control of the object. Clause 10 creates a new offence of installing, using or maintaining a data surveillance device to record the input or output of information from a computer without the person having the consent of the owner of the premises or the person having control of the computer or computer network

schemes will also apply in specific situations, such as the Workplace Surveillance Act. Of course, none of the offences created by clauses 7, 8, 9 or 10 will apply if the surveillance device is used under a warrant or under an emergency authorisation. Clauses 11 to 14 create offences in relation to the publication and use of illegally gained material and also the manufacture and use of devices for unlawful use.

Clause 11 makes it an offence, with specified exceptions, to publish or communicate a private conversation or record of such a conversation that has come to a person’s knowledge as a result of a surveillance device used in contravention of proposed part 2. Clause 12 makes it an offence to possess a record of a private conversation or the carrying on of an activity knowing that it has been obtained in contravention of proposed part 2. Clause 13 makes it an offence to manufacture, possess, supply or offer to supply a surveillance device with the intention of it being used in contravention of proposed part 2. Clause 14 creates a new offence that prohibits, with specified exceptions, a person from publishing or communicating any information regarding the input of information into, or the output of information from, a computer obtained as a result of the use of a data surveillance device in contravention of proposed part 2.

PASSIVE PERSONAL SECURITY DEVICES?

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 10:16:05 +1000

PASSIVE PERSONAL SECURITY.

Wow! I’ve been checking the international sales of these little critters. It’s not just about price. The majority of them are cheap as chips. Electronic chips of course. Your basic Protect Your Child, Pet, Bag, device can be as little as $10, or for a full-on GSM device with location tracking around the world under $100. They come in a huge range, from pretty little wristbands, to smart looking executive models.

I can see why these things are so popular. They simply work, and they work simply.

Maybe you are a school teacher taking a bunch of other peoples Billy Lids (come on keep up! Billy Lids= Kids). In recent years there has been a lot of media coverage about kids and youths getting lost and/or wandering away from guided groups. Doesn’t matter if you’re a teacher or a mountain guide, when you issue the group with one each to put on their wrists, you can ramble and enjoy without worrying/. You can set the distance, cheap ones up to 25 metres, and if the child/pet/guest/ whatever, wanders away, you’ll get an alarm signal as soon as the distance you set for it is exceeded.

More expensive (but not expensive) devices will even send you an SMS with a tracking location, and with some, if the battery fails for any reason it will immediately send you the last location in latitude and longitude. No wonder they are so popular.

We live in a world of uncertainty. Whether or not the world is a more dangerous place than it used to be is debatable, but the perception is that it is. I won’t argue with that/ If these devices protect one child from being abducted, or lost, or drowned; if just one girl or woman is saved from the terror and humiliation of rape; if just one bush walker can be rescued, then the low cost and sense of security is well worth it.

I was cynical about personal protection devices for a long time. The idea of being ‘tagged’ had a sense of people giving up their freedoms. To put a wristband on a child and lock it into place seems to be (or should I say seemed to be) authoritarian and big brotherish. Prisoners are tagged, junkies you can’t put into jail are tagged. The technology is not that much different. I’ve changed my mind. When used for good and genuine purposes and a baby wandering away and falling into a pond or a pool can be saved quickly, or a school child can be saved from a potential abductor or from bullying, there is suddenly a strong argument in favour of passive personal security devices.

In the years I have been involved in electronics and gadgets, and computers and the internet, it has become very clear that for every good thing invented there is an evil purpose. Passive security is popular because they do no harm. They allay fears. They give a sense of security. Best of all they are available to everyone from all walks of society. They are not just for the rich wanting the latest gadgets. They have a real purpose and that’s why their popularity is so huge. Ok I accept that society is paranoid, but like the T-shirt said, “ just because I’m paranoid it doesn’t mean they are not out to get me” Espy has sold out of two shipments and has made a commercial decision to stock a large range of passive protection devices at www.espy.cc , This is a tangential change for a lot of security/spy/camera businesses, and it shows a growing up within the industry. In the future passive security is going to be at the forefront of the industry. Stun guns and electric shock briefcases are interesting and fascinating, and I will be writing about those devices soon, but I’m rapt in passive security. My family and my property can be protected, as much from themselves as from others.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE INANIMATE OBJECT?

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 11:59:15 +1000

The lolly jar.

WIRED OR UNWIRED

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 11:52:00 +1000

WIRED OR UNWIRED?

I’ve seen so many inappropriate security cameras in homes and businesses that I thought I’d make a few suggestions. Before you install security cameras or CCTV you really DO need to consult with a LICENSED security consultant and installer. If nothing else they will give you some food for thought because there are pros and cons for every situation.

It’s so easy to buy CCTV security systems online, and there are stores everywhere who don’t really give a damn about what you NEED. They’ll sell you what you want… what you THINK you want. They’ll even persuade you that unless you spend a load of money you won’t be protected.

I’ve been to lots of companies selling CCTV and have never yet spoken to a sales person who took the time to sit me down and ask me what I wanted to do and what kind of protection I wanted. NOT ONE!. I’m not going to go into a consultation here because our needs are unique. But here are some sound suggestions.

Wired or Unwired? Think about it. If you want to protect your home outside and inside you are going to need a variety of equipment. Bear in mind that if I were a professional intruder, a burglar who makes a living out of it, (there are thousands believe me), I would carry with me a good infra-red lens finder and wireless detector., and a jammer. To any professional crook it does not matter one bit that wireless jammers and mobile phone jammers are illegal in Australia. In seconds I can disable your wireless cameras, you mobile phones, and just about any other wireless device you are using including your wireless internet. Easy. At the same time if your CCTV is wired, it takes no effort to cover my head and cut your wires. That’s bad news you may think. Well, yes I guess it is, but it gives you a head start over the burglar. A high set CCTV camera probably won’t identify an intruder. What it may do is put a few people off, and it will record EVENTS and body language, so it is still important evidence. A low set camera would have to be covert. Too easy to vandalise. A dab of vaseline on the lens, or a hammer comes in handy too, but most burglars won’t come armed with a weapon. However, some intruders WILL come armed, so think about it. Use a mix of wired and unwired, covert and overt CCTV and if you can find the right place you can use a stand alone motion detect device that would have to be charged. However a good motion detect stand alone camera can go for over 25 hours and equipped with infra-red they usually get better result than the overt CCTV. If you put one or two CCTV cameras in a highly visible place, and a warning sign outside, an intruder might disable both of them BUT the little stand alone dvr usually gets missed. It’s about misdirection. If they disable the visible security cams they usually stop looking for more.

Inside the house, again, wireless cameras can be disabled, and wired cams can be cut. They are obvious and easily dealt with, but they are effective for capturing some scenes, and as misdirection. Inside they won’t look for the hidden stand alone devices. Motion detect and sound detect devices can record for long periods. They can be disguised in a hundred different ways. A wall socket, a ceiling fire alarm, a sprinkler on the ceiling, a clock on the sideboard, or on the wall, inside a light bulb. The neat thing about using these devices in conjunction with a wired and unwired CCTV system is that they are quite cheap, and very very effective. If you consider all these things, you will be able to choose the CCTV system based on quality for the price. You won’t need to spend top dollar on these units, but you will need to be aware that they will be the first things that get hammered. Thanks for following me at espy. If you need any questions answered please ask. There is no such thing as a stupid question. I don’t put up a lot of our hidden camera stuff on the website, so if you go to www.espy.cc and look around, you may not see what you want. Call me. Email me, ask here.

IS IT REALLY A "SPY" DEVICE?

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 13:29:00 +1000

Business Portable Recorder 6 BPR 6 Pen DVR NOW WITH 8GB FLASH MEMORY

Whenever you see SPY in a product description you’re likely to think of James Bond or… well, spying. There are lots of connotations to “spying” and some of them are just plain sleazy, not to mention illegal. Actually in the original Ian Fleming books there was very little mention of “gadgets”. In fact, “Q” the technology research and development fellow was only ever fleetingly mentioned in the original Bond novels. All those gadgets you see today, rather than being prophetic innovations invented by Ian Fleming were most likely created as a result of the movies rather than the books. In my travels to seek out weird and wacky gadgets I’ve found some doozies. Stun guns disguised as mobile phones or lipsticks, briefcases that deliver a million volt electric shock, even a mobile phone that can be pre-programmed so that when you dial a number, that innocent mobile phone turns out to be a .22 calibre weapon. A variation is a mobile phone that fires a vicious little spike with a hook in it. There’s pepper spray and mace in every disguise available, and some very lethal gadgets sold under the “spy” banner. Most of them illegal, and if not illegal they probably should be.

Which brings me to the point of this article. I was contacted by a client who had purchased a Business Portable Recorder 6 from Espy.cc in Australia. The client was worried, having come across a Chinese website that ranks highly on Google ratings stating that these great little devices can only be sent directly from China because “Customs and Excise Seize our shipment.” Believe me, it’s a ploy. It’s also bad marketing/ The Business Portable Pen Recorder 6 is perfectly legal to own and to use. I would be concerned about any website that tells you something is “illegal” and then offers to sell you it. So, what happens if your goods don’t arrive, having shelled out good money to these folk? “So sorry, we sent. Must have been seized by customs. Not our responsibility” Yeah yeah!

Let’s try to dispense with the word “spy” for the range of security and novelty gadgets. Spying is a state of mind. “Illegal” is in the USAGE of anything. You can illegally use a plastic fork if you stab someone in the eye with it on purpose. What about the multitude of brilliant LEGAL uses for many of the so-called spy products? I’ll deal only with the Business Portable Recorder 6 right now. Incorporating a ballpoint pen, a flash drive, a camera, and microphone is sheer genius. Any student knows that copious note taking at lectures can be a health hazard. So, while you are scribbling your notes, record them too. Use the video, use the mic, and write at the same time, and in moments have your work uploaded to your laptop or tablet. Great for those lectures where you are not allowed to take your mobile phone because it disturbs people. How about sales people? A definite plus for any sales person and for obvious reasons. I don’t have to fill up this article with the thousands of LEGAL uses for this great little gadget. It is obvious, Of course it can be used by people with mischief on their minds,but, as I have already mentioned, so can a plastic fork, or OMG a MOBILE PHONE! There are many good companies in Australia selling gadgets and electronics, cctv and security products. I deal with espy because they are Australian and so am I. They have products in Australia, and they deal ethically. Anyway, if you want to see the specs on the business portable recorder 6 check on the internet or you can go see the specs at www.espy.cc.

IS IT LEGAL TO OWN SPY CAMERAS AND HIDDEN SURVEILLANCE, AND...

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 11:13:00 +1000

IS IT LEGAL TO OWN SPY CAMERAS AND HIDDEN SURVEILLANCE, AND LISTENING DEVICES IN AUSTRALIA?

Simply put, in Australia the answer is yes. But OWNING one of these products does not give you the right to break the law with them. In all Australian States it is illegal to secretly record a “private conversation” Recently, Ben Fordham, a journalist on A Current affair was convicted under the New South Wales Listening Devices Act of “knowingly recording a private conversation”. But what about the media defence of being “in the public interest”?Well, I guess you can get mired in the tooing and frooing of this, and that is best left to the lawyers. In Australia laws are very strict on the use of “listening devices”. It IS illegal to knowingly record a private conversation in all Australian States, UNLESS the person being recorded agrees to it.

Well, we have all seen video recordings (with sound) posted all over the internet from youtube to personal websites. Mobile phones, hidden cameras and a plethora of surveillance devices are everywhere. OWNING one is not a problem.

Let’s have a look at some of the problems with the law and privacy issues and muddy the water even further.

Some time ago (a couple of years) I was engaged in a long running dispute with a bank. Not to bore you with the backstory, I had, in frustration asked to speak to an operators supervisor. When she came on the line she asked me if I was prepared to have the conversation recorded as the operator had said that I was “abusive”. I agreed on the basis that I too would be recording the conversation. The supervisor said “I’m sorry sir, I cannot agree to having my conversation with you recorded.” I backchatted by saying that in that case I rescinded my permission to be recorded. The supervisor shot back with “Well sir, if you do not agree to us recording your conversation, there will be no conversation and I will hang up”. Whoa! They can ‘force’ me to be recorded but refuse to be recorded themselves. It took another eight months for the banking ombudsman to find the case in my favour, but because of my “intransigence” , my “arrogance” and “refusal to cooperate with banking officials” I would not be compensated for being stranded 13,000 miles away from home in China without a credit card and no language skills. My credit would instead be reinstated. It was in fact never revoked, but my credit card had been stopped without my being informed for drawing from a ATM in Malaysia which they said had a “history of fraudulent transactions”. I won but I lost. Had I been able to record the appalling behaviour of the bank and use it in court there is a possibility that I would have been compensated in some way. If I had not been ethical, and “knowingly” recorded the supervisors comments, even if that supervisor was stepping way beyond the bounds, I would have been breaking the law! Go figure!

Now, a hypothetical scenario. I have a GSM listening device which uses a SIM card. It sends a message to my phone when it detects sound, and by using my cell phone I can listen in to the sound that triggered the message. I can do this from anywhere in the world. If a pair of burglars breaks into my home and cleans me out, and at the same time they converse between themselves naming someone who is going to fence their stolen property, and through my listening device I am alerted to this, am I “knowingly” listening in to a private conversation, and, therefore, breaking the law? Could some smart high priced lawyer make a case? What happens if my GSM device is placed in my car to protect it and a couple of joyriders break, enter and steal? By tracking my stolen vehicle through their conversation am I breaking the law?

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Let’s use another hypothetical. I’m a responsible parent of a young child. I have a nursery camera system, and hidden cameras where the child can be monitored at any given time. Purely by chance I notice some suspicious marks on the child after the babysitter has left. I need to know if the child is being ill-treated by the sitter. But I would have to tell the sitter that they are being monitored. (Doing so may make the babysitter more careful about being caught in abuse.) Not telling the babysitter is against the law, and to make issues worse, the only other alternative is to fire the babysitter (perhaps unfairly). Obviously asking the babysitter about the marks on the child could cause even more problems. It is not for this writer to make suggestions as to what to do morally, ethically, or lawfully.

I would say yes, buy your devices. Use them ethically and within the boundaries of the legal system. When you take steps to protect your own security and privacy, you have nothing to fear.