Confidential emails reveal extended surveillance of student activism by police and University
Fabian Robertson reports.
The SRC Chair of Standing Legal Committee has acquired over 70 private emails revealing the extended surveillance of student activism by police and the University. The emails expose the internal communications of University management in their efforts to monitor and regulate student protests from 30 July to 15 October 2020. The University released the emails in compliance with the public institution transparency requirements outlined in the Government Information (Public Access) (“GIPA”) Act 2009.
Police employed “extensive intelligence networks” for education protest
An email from the Director of Asset Management & Operations Ben Hoyle referred to the police’s use of “extensive intelligence networks” in the lead up to the education protest on 28 August 2020. According to the email, law enforcement deemed it necessary to launch a police “operation” as part of an ostensible attempt to enforce Public Health Orders. Law enforcement was heavily criticised in the protest’s aftermath for excessive police presence and egregious instances of police brutality on Parramatta Road and City Road.
Ben Hoyle on police intervention at the 28 August education protest.
“Discreet plain clothes” officers infiltrate campus
University management were informed that law enforcement had deployed “discreet plain clothes” police to “initiate engagement” with the organisers of the ‘Day of Action’ on 23 September. The ‘Day of Action’ was organised by the Education Action Group in conjunction with the SRC. Hoyle notified University management of the use of plain clothes officers in an email sent on 22 September.
Ben Hoyle notifying management of “plain clothes” police presence in the lead up to the 23 September ‘Day of Action’
AI technology used to monitor campus gatherings, disruptions
The emails reveal the University’s use of the AI online data-gathering system Dataminr to monitor campus activism. University management set up a custom alert via Dataminr to instantly notify them of any online activity with the words “Sydney university” alongside “protest”, “action”, “gathering”, “demonstration”, “rally”, or “disrupt”. This custom alert brought the 14 October NTEU Outdoor Seminar to the attention of Protective Services & Emergency Management Head Sarah Holmes, who then forwarded the alert to Hoyle and Operations Manager Cheryl Wharton.
Dataminr was the subject of controversy in 2020 when American police used the system to conduct domestic surveillance amidst the Black Lives Matter protests.
Custom Dataminr alert notifies management of student organising.
Redactions possibly indicate further systems of surveillance
Extensive redactions throughout the released emails possibly indicate the existence of covert surveillance programs employed by police and the University. Under the GIPA Act, the obligation to disclose information is superseded when such information could endanger a security system or prejudice the exercise of the University’s functioning. Forty-three emails contain redactions justified by one or both of these provisions.
Group Secretary Alex Maitland explained the redactions in the University’s response to the GIPA request.
“The safety of people within the University and protection of University assets require some level of confidentiality of security measures and processes. Withholding practical operational details assists this protection…”
“Disclosure of this information could reasonably be expected to prejudice the capacity of the University to effectively carry out its functions relating to security,” wrote Maitland.
Such redactions are emblematic of the lack of transparency surrounding the operations of police and University management on the whole. At this stage, the full extent of police and University surveillance is unclear.
The SRC’s press release on the findings can be found here.