Digital Commons Network^™

Workshop | Body Worn Video Recorders: The Socio-Technical Implications Of Gathering Direct Evidence, Katina Michael, Alexander Hayes

Alexander Hayes Mr.

- From in-car video recording to body-worn video recording

- Exploring available technologies: how do they work, pros and cons

- Storing direct evidence in secure storage: factors to consider

- Citizens “shooting” back with POV tech – what are their rights?

- Crowdsourced sousveillance- harnessing public data for forensic profiling

- Police force policies and practices on the application of new media

Are We Ready To Live In An Uberveillance Society?, Uow Media Unit, Alexander Hayes, Katina Michael

Alexander Hayes Mr.

When Google Glass hits stores later this year, not only will it transform sunglasses from fashion accessory to wearable technology, it will cause a social revolution, says IEEE Technology & Society Magazine editor in chief, Associate Professor Katina Michael.

The Sci-Fi-looking, internet-connected eyewear can do everything a mobile phone can do (and more) with a simple voice command.

Beyond the obvious functions – snapping photos, recording video, send text messages and searching the internet – some of the most exciting uses include biofeedback (monitor your heart rate on your morning run), instruction (stream step-by-step video tutorials) and navigation (map out …

Cyber In Waffle House Land, Jan Kallberg

Jan Kallberg

The epicenter of cyber is Washington, D.C., and the discourse radiates from the national capital outward. The question is how far from the Beltway it reaches. Does the rest of this nation care about the national security threat that is embedded in future adversarial cyber operations?

Panel 2- Regulation, Policy Recommendations And Responses, Jonathan Clough, Scott Mellis, Simon Brown, Graham Ingram, Alana Maurushat, Katina Michael, Jason Ryning

Professor Katina Michael

A roundtable to be held on cybercrime at ANU. Panel 1 to be on the changing nature of cybercrime: threat and trend update. Panel 2 on regulation, policy recommendations and responses. Panel 3 on technical measures to combat cybercrime. Panel 4 on the investigation of cybercrime and victimisation. Panel 2 to be keynoted by Keith Besgrove (DBCD) and chaired by Jonathan Clough.

Hamdan V. United States: A Death Knell For Military Commissions?, Jennifer Daskal

Jennifer Daskal

In October 2012, a panel of the D.C. Circuit dealt a blow to the United States’ post- September 11, 2001 decade-long experiment with military commissions as a forum for trying Guantanamo Bay detainees. Specifically, the court concluded that prior to the 2006 statutory reforms, military commission jurisdiction was limited to violations of internationally-recognized war crimes; that providing material support to terrorism was not an internationally-recognized war crime; and that the military commission conviction of Salim Hamdan for material support charges based on pre-2006 conduct was therefore invalid. Three months later, a panel of the D.C. Circuit reached the same conclusion …

Biometric Id Cybersurveillance, Margaret Hum

Margaret Hu

The implementation of a universal digitalized biometric ID system risks normalizing and integrating mass cybersurveillance into the daily lives of ordinary citizens. ID documents such as driver’s licenses in some states and all U.S. passports are now implanted with radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. In recent proposals, Congress has considered implementing a digitalized biometric identification card—such as a biometric-based, “high-tech” Social Security Card—which may eventually lead to the development of a universal multimodal biometric database (e.g., the collection of the digital photos, fingerprints, iris scans, and/or DNA of all citizens and noncitizens). Such “hightech” IDs, once merged with GPS-RFID tracking …

Societal Cyberwar Theory Applied The Disruptive Power Of State Actor Aggression For Public Sector Information Security, Jan Kallberg, Bhavani Thuraisingham, Erik Lakomaa

Jan Kallberg

Abstract – The modern welfare state faces significant challenges to be able to sustain a systematic cyber conflict that pursues the institutional destabilization of the targeted state.

Cyber defense in these advanced democracies are limited, unstructured, and focused on anecdotal cyber interchanges of marginal geopolitical value.

The factual reach of government activities once a conflict is initiated is likely to be miniscule. Therefore the information security activities, and assessments leading to cyberdefense efforts, have to be strategically pre-event coordinated within the state. This coordination should be following a framework that ensures institutional stability, public trust, and limit challenges to the …

Cyber Defense As Environmental Protection - The Broader Potential Impact Of Failed Defensive Counter Cyber Operations, Jan Kallberg, Rosemary Burk

Jan Kallberg

Key in the critique of the likelihood of cyber conflict has been the assumption that cyber does not lead to long-term and irrevocable effects – therefore it cannot be fought as a war. This might be true if cyber attacks are constrained to specific functions of a computer system or set of client computers, however, a failed cyberdefense can have wider effects than discussed in earlier debates of potential consequences and risks. The environmental aspect of cyberdefense has not drawn attention as a national security matter. We all, as people, react to threats to our living space and natural environment. …

A Regime In Need Of A Balance: The Un Counter-Terrorism Regime Between Security And Human Rights, Isaac Kfir

Isaac Kfir

Since 9/11, the UN’s counter-terrorism regime has developed two distinct approaches on combating international terrorism. The Security Council follows a traditional security doctrine that focuses on how to best protect states from the threat posed by international terrorists. This is largely due to the centrality of the state in Security Council thinking and attitudes. The General Assembly and the various UN human rights organs, influenced by the human security doctrine, have taken a more holistic, human rights-based approach to the threat of international terrorism. This paper offers a review of how the dichotomy above affects the application of UN policy …

Down To The Wire: Assessing The Constitutionality Of The National Security Agency's Warrantless Wiretapping Program: Exit The Rule Of Law, Fletcher Baldwin, Robert Shaw

Fletcher N. Baldwin

The article discusses the constitutionality of warrantless wiretapping surveillance by the National Security Agency (NSA) on U.S. citizens. The wiretapping program existed weeks after the September 11, 2001 attacks, on the justification that Congress authorized the president to wiretap U.S. citizens without a warrant, and that the president had inherent authority as commander-in-chief. But it is argued that Congress did not expressly authorize the president to conduct warrantless wiretapping and that he does not have such inherent authority.

We intend this Article to be a commentary on the constitutionality of the NSA wiretapping program solely as it relates to the …

Mission Creep In National Security Law, Fletcher N. Baldwin Jr., Daniel R. Koslosky

Fletcher N. Baldwin

Many anti-terrorism measures are enacted with broad public support. There is often a general willingness on the part of the public to accept greater civil liberties deprivations in the face of a specific threat, or otherwise in times of general crisis, than would otherwise be the case. Sweeping anti-terrorism legislation is frequently crafted in reaction to the presence, or perceived presence, of immense, imminent danger. The medium and long-term consequences of the legislation may not fully be comprehended when political leaders and policymakers take swift action in the face strong public pressure in light of a recent terrorist attack or …

Getting The Balance Right Between Information Security And Privacy Rights, Katina Michael

Associate Professor Katina Michael

- Laws, regulations, industry guidelines, and codes for new technologies and their use - The balance between encouraging innovation and future proofing technology-related policy - The difference between the existence of legislation and the enforcement of that legislation - Citizen responses to the fear of policing and security controls

Don’T Expand The War On Terror, Jennifer Daskal, Stephen Vladeck

Jennifer Daskal

Congress should reject open-ended war and embrace a return to peace. Instead of expanding the Authorization for the Use of Military Force, Congress should consider repealing it once the withdrawal of our combat troops from Afghanistan has been completed. Law enforcement, intelligence gathering and other nonmilitary counterterrorism tools ought to be at the forefront of our fight against terrorism.

A Failure To Consider: Why Lawmakers Create Risk By Ignoring Trade Obligations, David R. Kocan Professor

David R. Kocan Professor

The U.S. Congress frequently passes laws facially unrelated to trade that significantly impact U.S. trade relations. These impacts are often harmful, significant, and long-lasting. Despite this fact, these bills rarely receive adequate consideration of how they will impact trade. Without this consideration, Congress cannot properly conduct a cost-benefit analysis necessary to pass effective laws. To remedy this problem, the U.S. Trade Representative should evaluate U.S. domestic law to determine whether it is consistent with international trade obligations. Moreover, the U.S. Congress committee structure should be amended so that laws that might impact trade are considered within that light. In the …

Chapter 13: Operation Neptune Spear: Was Killing Bin Laden A Legitimate Military Objective?, Kevin H. Govern

Kevin H. Govern

In this chapter I take the killing of Osama bin Laden as a test case for considering the moral and legal status of intentionally killing individuals deemed a threat to national security, under conditions in which the object of the targeted attack is offered little or no opportunity to surrender to attacking forces. The target in such operations, in short, is treated as though he were a belligerent: a person placed on a kill list may be targeted in a way that would be legitimate if he were an enemy combatant. In such cases, we think of him as having …

Policing Terrorists In The Community, Sahar F. Aziz

Sahar F. Aziz

Twelve years after the September 11th attacks, countering domestic terrorism remains a top priority for federal law enforcement agencies. Using a variety of reactive and preventive tactics, law enforcement seeks to prevent terrorism before it occurs. Towards that end, community policing developed in the 1990s to combat violent crime in inner city communities is being adopted in counterterrorism as a means of collaborating with Muslim communities and local police to combat “Islamist” homegrown terrorism. Developed in response to paramilitary policing models, community policing is built upon the notion that effective policing requires mutual trust and relationships among law enforcement and …

Cipa V. State Secrets: How A Few Mistakes Confused Two Important National Security Privileges, Elisa Poteat

Elisa Poteat

No abstract provided.

Natural Disasters And Early Warning Systems In Australia, Emma Papaemanuel, Katina Michael, Peter Johnston

Professor Katina Michael

Australia's national emergency warning system alerts. Radio program in Greek.

Are Disaster Early Warnings Effective?, Kerri Worthington, Katina Michael, Peter Johnson, Paul Barnes

Professor Katina Michael

Australia's summer is traditionally a time of heightened preparation for natural disasters, with cyclones and floods menacing the north and bushfires a constant threat in the south. And the prospect of more frequent, and more intense, disasters thanks to climate change has brought the need for an effective early warning system to the forefront of policy-making. Technological advances and improved telecommunication systems have raised expectations that warning of disasters will come early enough to keep people safe. But are those expectations too high? Kerri Worthington reports. Increasingly, the world's governments -- and their citizens -- rely on technology-based early warning …

The Fourth Amendment's National Security Exception: Its History And Limits, L. Rush Atkinson

L. Rush Atkinson

Each year, federal agents conduct thousands of “national security investigations” into suspected spies, terrorists, and other foreign threats. The constitutional limits imposed by the Fourth Amendment, however, remain murky, and the extent to which national security justifies deviations from the Amendment’s traditional rules is unclear. With little judicial precedent on point, the gloss of past executive practice has become an important means for gauging the boundaries of today’s national security practices. Accounts of past executive practice, however, have thus far been historically incomplete, leading to distorted analyses of its precedential significance. Dating back to World War II, national security investigations …

Mandatory Foreign Language Training For All Military Members, Samuel W. Bettwy

Samuel W Bettwy

For too long now, DOD and the military services have been paying lip service to the need for foreign language capability across all ranks. It’s about time that DOD made real progress by mandating foreign language instruction at all levels of military training and schooling and by obtaining the funding needed to expand DLI’s mission to include meaningful language instruction for all servicemembers, both linguists and non-linguists. And by the way, shouldn’t the service academies make foreign language proficiency a requirement for graduation?

Multinational Corporations Are Overlooked Players In Stability, Security, Transition And Reconstruction Operations, Samuel W. Bettwy

Samuel W Bettwy

It has long been acknowledged that multinational corporations have acquired legal personality under international law. Unlike states, however, MNCs are not precluded by notions of sovereignty and territorial inviolability. In the narrative of rogue and failing states and the emerging international norm of humanitarian intervention, most observers characterize MNCs as villainous predators. In states that have a permissive regulatory environment, MNCs exploit cheap labor, enable authoritarian regimes, and pollute the environment. Some observers believe that MNCs are also positive forces that contribute to the economic and political stability of the state and its people. Either way, combatant commanders need to …

Smart Power For Hard Problems: The Role Of Special Operation Forces Strengthening The Rule Of Law And Human Rights In Africa, Kevin H. Govern

Kevin H. Govern

This article will assess the roles and responsibilities of Special Operations Forces (SOF) within the newly created U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) as an active proponent of a so-called “smart power” national security strategy. In particular, it will outline the economic, political, and military challenges faced in Africa; specifically, how and why SOCAFRICA is the U.S. force of choice for promoting human rights and rule of law in Africa. With the goals of the U.S. military in mind, questions will necessarily arise as to “what success looks like” for both the U.S. and African nations, and the roles of each in …

Through A Prism Darkly: Surveillance And Speech Suppression In The Post-Democracy Electronic State", David Barnhizer

David Barnhizer

Through a PRISM Darkly: Surveillance and Speech Suppression in the “Post-Democracy Electronic State” David Barnhizer There is no longer an American democracy. America is changing by the moment into a new political form, the “Post-Democracy Electronic State”. It has “morphed” into competing fragments operating within the physical territory defined as the United States while tenuously holding on to a few of the basic creeds that represent what we long considered an exceptional political experiment. That post-Democracy political order paradoxically consists of a combination of fragmented special interests eager to punish anyone that challenges their desires and a central government that …

Towards A Conceptual Model Of User Acceptance Of Location-Based Emergency Services, Anas Aloudat, Katina Michael

Professor Katina Michael

This paper investigates the introduction of location-based services by government as part of an all-hazards approach to modern emergency management solutions. Its main contribution is in exploring the determinants of an individual’s acceptance or rejection of location services. The authors put forward a conceptual model to better predict why an individual would accept or reject such services, especially with respect to emergencies. While it may be posited by government agencies that individuals would unanimously wish to accept life-saving and life-sustaining location services for their well-being, this view remains untested. The theorised determinants include: visibility of the service solution, perceived service …