Home
About MAKO
Services
Contact
Prevention
MAKO/Files
Community Notification
Report
Referral
Profile's
Facts/ Stats
Online Dangers
Child Safety
MAKO Petitions
Research/ Resources
Books
DNA Info
Safety For Women
News/ Articles
Your Comments
Australian Politicians/ Contacts
Join
Sponsors
Donations
Links
|
QUEENSLAND Police will be given the powers to force suspected pedophiles to hand over computer passwords. Suspects who refuse to provide police with the access codes for PCs, mobile phones, hand-held organisers and other electronic devices face criminal charges and up to 12 months' jail under the legislation, which comes into effect in July. Queensland Police and Corrective Services Minister Judy Spence said amendments to the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act were intended to give authorities the tools they needed to track down and prosecute pedophiles. Police will have to seek a warrant before they can use the powers. "At the moment, people can use the right to silence to withhold computer passwords or decryption codes from police," she said. "This new law will ensure criminals can no longer hide behind passwords and encryption codes. "If they do, they may find themselves behind bars." While police can crack passwords and encryption, the techniques are not always foolproof. Similar powers are already available for investigators with the Australian Federal Police and NSW Police under federal legislation. The AFP-led Operation Auxin in 2004 resulted in charges being laid against 250 people for purchasing child pornography. Some suspects had thousands of images stored on hard drives. Although the Queensland powers have been pitched at fighting child pornography, they cast a wide net around virtually all electronic equipment, and all types of investigation, including crimes such as fraud. Queensland has promised to share information gleaned from decrypted hard drives with police in states and territories that lack such powers. NSW and federal police have powers under the federal Crimes Act to obtain a warrant requiring a suspect to help them decrypt encoded data. But Victoria has no plans to introduce password-cracking legislation. A spokesman for Police Minister Tim Holding said existing software techniques were adequate. The Australian (6-6-2006) Simon Hayes |
Child Abduction- Amber Alert
MAKO/ Files - listing Australian sex offenders online- FREE to the PUBLIC....
SAFETY FOR WOMEN - Drink spiking
Australian News
About Child Pornography
Sex Offenders- Electronic Tagging
Chemical Castration
Community Notification
| Search on: Google - Google USENET - Yahoo - AltaVista - All the Web - Gigablast - HotBot - Lycos - Teoma - WiseNut |
-2005. All Rights Reserved.
Legal/Disclaimer/
Privacy/
Terms Of Use.