Australia says spying 'for the benefit of our friends' - Straits Times

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

Indonesia is not amused by their "friend" Australia spying on them. And, Abbot needs to take some "how to CYA" lessons.

http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/world/story/australia-says-spying-the-benefit-our-friends-20140216

SYDNEY (AFP) - Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Sunday his government used intelligence material "for the benefit of our friends" and "to uphold our values" following fresh reports it spied on Indonesia.

Relations between the neighbours plunged to their lowest ebb in years in November after reports that Australia tried to tap the phones of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, his wife and several top officials in 2009.

Jakarta responded furiously to the claims, which were based on documents leaked by US intelligence fugitive Edward Snowden, recalling its ambassador and suspending cooperation with Australia on key areas including people-smuggling.

Fresh claims published in the New York Times on Sunday alleged Australian agencies spied on Indonesian officials during a trade dispute with the United States and offered to share back-room information with the Americans.

Also here:

http://www.businessinsider.com.au/tony-abbott-spy-intelligence-was-not-used-to-the-detriment-of-other-countries-2014-2

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has denied the government has ever used intelligence “to the detriment” of other countries, following reports Australian spies shared intelligence about trade negotiations with their US counterparts.

While Abbott said he could not comment on “operational intelligence matters”, he did say Australia did not use intelligence “to the detriment of other countries” or for “commercial purposes”.

He told reporters, while in Bourke visiting drought affected regions, “We use it for the benefit of our friends. We use it to uphold our values. We use it to protect our citizens and the citizens of other countries.”

Tension between the Australian and Indonesian governments is expected to heighten after documents, obtained by former US NSA analyst Edward Snowden, were today published in The New York Times and revealed Australia had been involved in spying activities and intelligence-sharing with the US.

[riderinthestorm]

1. And spying on American lawyers as well. So much for attorney client confidentiality

Spying by N.S.A. Ally Ensnared U.S. Law Firm
Source: NYTIMES

The list of those caught up in the global surveillance net cast by the National Security Agency and its overseas partners, from social media users to foreign heads of state, now includes another entry: American lawyers.

A top-secret document, obtained by the former N.S.A. contractor Edward J. Snowden, shows that an American law firm was monitored while representing a foreign government in trade disputes with the United States. The disclosure offers a rare glimpse of a specific instance in which Americans were ensnared by the eavesdroppers, and is of particular interest because lawyers in the United States with clients overseas have expressed growing concern that their confidential communications could be compromised by such surveillance.

The government of Indonesia had retained the law firm for help in trade talks, according to the February 2013 document. It reports that the N.S.A.’s Australian counterpart, the Australian Signals Directorate, notified the agency that it was conducting surveillance of the talks, including communications between Indonesian officials and the American law firm, and offered to share the information.

The Australians told officials at an N.S.A. liaison office in Canberra, Australia, that “information covered by attorney-client privilege may be included” in the intelligence gathering, according to the document, a monthly bulletin from the Canberra office.


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/16/us/eavesdropping-ensnared-american-law-firm.html

[randome]

2. I wish they would stop saying 'Snowden leaked'.

He threw all this material to the four corners of the planet and has nothing to do with it any longer.

So much for trying to make the NSA a better agency, which he stated was his goal. Funny how his goal involves giving away thousands of documents he never read.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]“If you're not committed to anything, you're just taking up space.”
Gregory Peck, Mirage (1965)[/center][/font][hr]

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

3. Without Snowden, how would Indonesia found out?

The NSA, sure as hell, wasn't going to release to our "friends".