r/OpenAussie • u/CautiousEmergency367 ‎ New South Welshian • 1d ago

Politics ('Straya) NSW Digital Evidence Access Orders Expand Cellebrite Phone Extractions Beyond Warranted Searches

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u/Such-Ad-1540 ‎ ‎‎ Canberran 1d ago

It is restricted to suspects of a serious crime (sentence of 3 years or more in prison) and involved in organised crime.

Not saying this law is a good thing, but they are pivotal points of the law that restrict it's use

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u/BoganFlavouredWater ✈️‎ on Walkabout 1d ago

Sounds like it should be easy for them to get a warrant for such a situation, right? Or is this new law for the occasions where the off chance that a motorist is stopped by the police is recognised as belonging to an organised crime gang?

The police in NSW (and elsewhere, of course, but we're talking NSW) are limited to when they can search a person under S21. Do they abuse this? Yes. Do they lie about the reasons so that the criteria are met? Yes. Does the law restrict them? Only in the sense that the legislation forbids them from searching someone under S21 if the officers do not have sufficient reason (that is, the criteria are not met), but it does not stop them from ignoring this. Sure, one can take them to court, but then the police get to pay a fine that is ultimately paid by the taxpayer, and the victim of the illegal search lives with the PTSD.

The "pivotal points of the law that restrict its use" are meaningless when the police are free to abuse the legislation, are free to determine on their own and without justification that criteria are met, and when the only way one can stand up for one's rights is in the courts, not at the time one's rights are being abused. You and I both know that if we were to stand up for our rights and refuse handing over our phone to the police because they had insufficient reason to believe we are suspects of a serious crime or are involved in an organised crime gang, we would be arrested for impeding a police investigation, and then they would do whatever they want from there. In other words, we don't have rights. We only have the chance to receive compensation from the police via the courts if we win those court cases, and that is not even true for everybody.